Downloading Pirated Software and Music

[servant33]

This has been troubling me for a while...downloading pirated software and music. It's so easy now, and some of that software can cost several hundred dollars if you bought a valid license. And a lot of programs you can even use to benefit the church (Adobe video editing, website making, etc.). As cheap Egyptians it's hard to force yourself to pay all that money, when you could easily just download it for free, especially when that's what all your friends are doing. What are your views / comments?

[Crazy4Christ1]

It dishonest and stealing.

You can compare and contrast this with this situation.

Someone wins the lottery wins, and in the goodness of his heart he wants to give ALL of it to the church and leave nothing for himself, but the church will not accept this money because it was acquired through sin, the sin of gambling.

Same goes for pirated software and downloading music using certain file sharing programs. It's dishonest and theft. Think of it as if a friend stole two snickers bars, and gave one to you thinking that he is doing you a service out of his love for sharing.

Believe me i know how hard it is to turn down a free product key for Microsoft Office 2007.

[ophadece]

I agree with Crazy4Christ1. Man you have woken me up. Just the other week I sat daily on the internet to download free songs and programmes. I think these are the small foxes that can spoil our spiritual maturity...
Oujai qen `P[C

[Andrew]

This has been troubling me for a while...downloading pirated software and music. It's so easy now, and some of that software can cost several hundred dollars if you bought a valid license. And a lot of programs you can even use to benefit the church (Adobe video editing, website making, etc.). As cheap Egyptians it's hard to force yourself to pay all that money, when you could easily just download it for free, especially when that's what all your friends are doing. What are your views / comments?

(emphasis mine)

Haha! Come on servant33, don't pin this on Egyptians only. This is a human problem. Who wants to pay for something you can get for free? No one. But as others others have said, we as Christians should be careful to not let the little things slide.

He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

[Aegyptoc]

If you want to discover the counterarguments against the prevailing opinion on intellectual property, read this:
http://mises.org/journals/jls/15_2/15_2_1.pdf

[Andrew]

If you want to discover the counterarguments against the prevailing opinion on intellectual property, read this:
http://mises.org/journals/jls/15_2/15_2_1.pdf

Why are you providing him support to steal? The fact is that it is illegal whether we like it or not.

[Κηφᾶς]

+ Irini nem ehmot,

It's not 'support to steal'.  It's another perspective on the issue. It's not as black and white as some people would like to believe.

[dzheremi]

Software and music generally have some legal structure supporting their originators in one way or another, so pirating them is not really a gray area, legally-speaking. I wonder, however...in my field, a great many (I would say most) materials are shared without expense due to the known limitations and resulting high price of the academic press (i.e., if every pupil must buy every book from which an article discussed in a course is taken because using a photocopy or downloaded pdf is inherently immoral, the price of learning quickly becomes prohibitively expensive for basically everyone). There is a case, therefore, to be made in some very limited situations for a sort of non-profit, limited use in order to advance whatever the charitable aim of the use of the text would be (advancing the field discussed in the text, for instance).

I would say that unless such a legitimate non-profit usage can be established (or, of course, if the material is meant to be available for some greater good to begin with, as is I'm assuming the case with the hymn library on this website, for instance), then you are just stealing and it is wrong.

[Andrew]

+ Irini nem ehmot,

It's not 'support to steal'.  It's another perspective on the issue. It's not as black and white as some people would like to believe.

My point is that we can debate/discuss/philosophize all we want about property rights - whether they be tangible, intellectual, or whatever - but that doesn't change the fact that pirating is illegal. There are various laws that prohibit it. If the point of reading the article is for some intellectual stimulation - by all means go for it. But if it is to somehow justify doing something illegal, of course I advise against it.

[servant33]

I just read this verse. Thought it was pretty relevant :

13 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right... 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the king

1 Peter 2

[caji]

technically piracy is not stealing. Stealing means taking the original, ex: stealing a car means taking a car that someone owns. Piracy is only making a copy of the original, I wouldnt mind if someone pirated my car because my car would still be there where i left it, but there would only be a copy of it somewhere...... lol 

[deaconwannaB]

along with marenhos epchois' post, what about generic medication or generic anything? your payin less for the same product. is that bein unfair? it's almost the same as pirated music cause someone spent a lot of time on a product, but ure getting the same thing for free/cheaper price. in the long run, the majority of the people are still buyin tylenol (or music off of itunes), so it shouldnt be wrong/illegal lolol

[dzheremi]

That's silly reasoning, Deacon. Generic medicines exist specifically for people who can't pay for the expensive kind. Taking something for free isn't the same as paying less because you can't afford to pay more.

[deaconwannaB]

i dont agree. people who r cheap pay for the generic meds too. and im not a deacon. im a girl.

[avvakaras]

Even pope shenuda has addressed it because people were doing it to the coptic movies... its plain wrong... its stealing and taking what people spent millions in making and hard work and not paying for it.... dont be cheap and if u really need it just buy it!