Congrats for understanding what the hell he is writing about.

But see, you're doing exactly what I said. You're finding a way to explain away your stealing so you don't feel guilty ... just like all the other thieves I represent. ("Those people already have plenty of money, so they won't miss what I took.")

Under the law, downloading stuff like that is stealing. And there's a reason for that -- people who create things (movies, books, music) do so for income; it's their job. They expect to get paid for it just like you expect to get paid for your job.

Downloading stuff without paying people for it gives you something of value that you are paying nothing for. You're getting the creator's work for free, and is as wrong as if I made you work for me all day at your job and then didn't pay you a cent.

The only justification there is for downloading illegally is for unknown musicians who may not have their product listened to by very many except for downloading. If illegal downloading didn't exist, then they wouldn't have any exposure, or minimal at best.

Of course, I don't know if there are any unknown artists who became known via illegal download, but I suppose it's possible.

Stretching it, though, is if you download an old film that you cannot access through legal means.

What about this? I stream or d/l episodes of TV shows that are, at that moment, simply not available to me by any other means. If I like the shows, I sitll buy them later on for my collection.

Yes, mostly tv shows from America taht don't start in MExico weeks later.

I used to DL music and movies and other stuff, but thanks to Spotify and Netflix I don't do that anymore.

Really not at all. Laws are man-made. Not every person lives by laws. My moral compass is not guided by laws. It is guided by necessity and common sense. I have no guilt at all for downloading films as I know that these people do not make films in the hope that nobody watches it. I know that they would rather 1.4 billion Chinese people have access to their film than not. So file sharing has a place in society. And as I already said, research clearly shows that torrenters, file-sharers etc. actually attend the cinema MUCH more than regular people (as I do), so we are actually supporting the industry much more than people who go once a year, so it's fair game that we see more movies, in any capacity. It's not finding a way to explain my stealing, because it's not theft. America doesn't own the world. In China, there is no anti-piracy law. So you can shove your argument up your ass, you clown.

I, of course, expected no different from you Algren. I would have been surprised had you shown a sign of morals or empathy toward another person. So thanks for your consistency!

Here's what I think is a valid question: does PVR or Netflix exist without illegal downloading? I suppose a service like Tivo existed before illegal downloading hit its peak, but I know when I first started using a PVR, it cut down on my reason to even consider downloading TV.

Meanwhile, Netflix has made it easier and more affordable to watch movies, and now new TV and film content as well. Say what you will but it's a lot easier and more reasonable to not even consider illegal downloading as an option.

Dr. Lecter may not feel bad about stealing, but that does not change the fact that it is wrong. Simply not caring about the rules personally does not mean that they shouldn't be followed.

Algren, you are missing the point. The point is do you feel guilty breaking the law, not trying to justify it by saying that artists would rather their work be sampled. Obviously you are not alone if you don't personally feel bad about stealing.

But I'm not breaking any law, so no. You're actually missing the point.

It is against the law. Whether it is wrong or not, is a more complictaed thing than just "a fact", but requires a philosophical discussion.

I'm not sure that the downloading part is against the law. Surely the uploading part is against the law. If it is so against the law, why are these sites not shut down or blocked?

Many of them are, on regular basis. Also, their domains are often in countries such as, umm, Tonga or wherenot.

I see. But one of the most famous torrent sites is not blocked by the US (I know because I use a US VPN and I use the site frequently). So if the US government really cared about their law and the artists, they would have a Chinese-level tolerance to it, but they just don't care that much. I guess because they know that the file-sharing culture actually creates more wealth than it removes.

Very, very rarely. I only purchase my absolute favorite albums/songs, and just go to Youtube to listen to anything else, really. And I like to physically own the DVDs/Blu-rays I want and again, only purchase absolute favorites (less than five a year, normally) and Netflix (or stream foreign films on various sites) anything else.

I've downloaded one album this year, which I purchased a week later considering it's by my favorite band and wanted to physically own it and support them.

However, I used to download a lot of music back in High School via Limewire and other such methods. I had limited funds, nowhere to purchase music besides a Wal-Mart in my hometown, Youtube was brand new, etc..