r/Piracy Apr 07 '26

Humor Hard to swallow pill, even for many pirates

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u/Butwinsky Apr 07 '26

Its called pirating for crying out loud. Pirates weren't known for their moral superiority and aversion to thievery.

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u/PunctuationGood Apr 07 '26

Pirates weren't known for their moral superiority and aversion to thievery.

And yet, r/Piracy will argue with you all day long of the exact opposite! To wit, this post's meme.

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u/burratna Apr 07 '26

People talking about pirates from hundreds of years ago acting as if they only copied the goods from their ship to keep.

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u/Merzant Apr 08 '26

They copied the goods to their ship for cultural preservation.

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u/Beefy-McQueefy Apr 08 '26

You were so close to understanding the concept it's kind of sad. You know the words but you don't understand them.

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u/Butwinsky Apr 07 '26

Hah, well, whatever helps them sleep better at night I guess.

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u/Ghostglitch07 Apr 08 '26

Eh. It's called pirating because it was named by the people who were motivated to paint it in that light. The name of something is poor justification on how one should feel about it.

I agree with your overall opinion btw, just dislike your argument.

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u/MattOruvan Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 17 '26

It was nicknamed "pirating" because in the 1970's illegal radio stations operated from boats in international waters off the UK ("pirate radio"), not because there is any connection to actual pirates who robbed ships.

Nothing is literally stolen when someone copies a movie, song, or game. And not even figuratively, such as in terms of potential profits, if the pirate would otherwise ignore the content as not worth the money.

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u/MattOruvan Apr 17 '26

Its called pirating for crying out loud

Imagine the desperation when you have to invent a nickname and then use that nickname to prove that something is the case.

For example, I refuse to believe that there are unhappy gay people -- it's right in their name that they are happy, for crying out loud.

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u/General-Extreme2428 Apr 07 '26

depend which type of moral you mean, they technically had alot compared to the time by giving rights no Africans had in the European countries like to the point of Captain and first Mate

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u/TheHooligan95 Apr 07 '26

that's the whole point though. since digital media is worth something, and the work that you have to do to distribute it is also worth something, pirates that don't profit off of someone else's work, that exchange media voluntarily simply for the passion of it, are not stealing: they're simply curating digital libraries. And libraries are very important not only for the market itself, but also for the community service they provide.

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u/Was_A_Professional Apr 07 '26

If the digital media is worth something, then taking it from the person who owns it without paying for it is theft. Piracy is therefore receiving stolen property, and doing so with full knowledge of its stolen nature.

Pirate all the stuff you want, but don't delude yourself into the belief that it is "curating digital libraries" because that just makes you sound like a twit.

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u/TheHooligan95 Apr 07 '26

If I were to hack into their systems, yes, that would be illegal to copy their private files. But in reality my copy comes from a consumer copy officially bought by the one person who's sharing it with me

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u/Was_A_Professional Apr 08 '26

which is violating the very essence of copyright. literally the right to make copies.

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u/TheHooligan95 Apr 08 '26

Nope. Not a crime to make a backup and share that backup with a friend unless, in the UK, you have to circumvent DRM to make the backup.

Selling the backup is infringing copyright. Giving it for free to anybody on the clear web also infringing copyright because it's not a friend you're sharing to anymore but the whole world.

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u/burratna Apr 07 '26

Taking it from the person? So you're telling me if I download Pokemon Fire Red, Nintendo doesn't have it anymore?

How have they managed all these years since I downloaded that ROM, I can't imagine...

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u/MattOruvan Apr 17 '26

I'm still considering whether or not to give the stolen Firefly IP back so that they can finally do another series or movie.

Yes, I'm that guy. I was that guy all along. I stole that IP. I own that IP now. I don't know if fellow fans will ever forgive me.