Well, they really haven't yet lived in a world where a digital pirate did face any consequences. Certainly they didn't through much of the 90s and early 2000s. That whole "The road goes on forever" thing comes to mind. Even when the whole Napster thing hit the fan, those I knew who were most active with piracy just moved to another system they thought was farther off the radar.

What's kind of interesting is how when some move comes along to defend IP rights, it often seems to get dressed in the cloaks of a dark, oppressive, censoring of free speech around the world.

People who self identify as pirates- not just people who pirate but who actually define themselves that way still for some reason don't think they can swing like a pirate. This is what's particular to these self-described groups. Brag about it all day long, then quickly act like it's an act of oppression when they get busted.

The problem is both sides are wrong, just in different ways. The whole "send us money or we take you to court" system is a farce that should not be legal. You want to prosecute? Go ahead. That's what LAWS are for. They realize, though, that many of these people don't have enough money to make it worth their while to hire a lawyer and go thru the courts. Instead they try and just get a few thousand here and there from people, even in cases when it's been proven that the person they're accusing could NOT have done it.

So they cry victim while at the same time extorting what are often poor and/or innocent people for money they feel "entitled" to have.

The real criminals are a small percentage of those they drag to court or extort from, but they can't really get to those easily, so they bide their time bullying the little people. It's like a corrupt police department--you can't argue with the laws, they're sound, it's the ENFORCEMENT of those laws, in this case not even by law enforcement personnel but by employees of some company, that is at issue.

Of course, some of these chronic offenders DO think it should all be free for some odd reason, but I have no sympathy for the either side. As far as I'm concerned, they should carry out their threat. Shut down music and film and TV. Just don't make any. Then there's no money to be lost. With the quality of stuff coming out in the last 10 years, I think that wouldn't be a bad thing.



The Jedi Master

There's only one wrong side in this. First, criminal prosecution and filing a civil action are two different things for two different ends. By definition, using the courts to enforce a claim is by definition both legal and proper. As opposed to hiring leg breakers or something when you can't turn to anyone else for help. Second, these people are committed to theft no matter what, they can't be reasoned with, the courts have to be a first resort because nothing else matters to them. The wrong notion that both sides are somehow at fault just gives currency at least in part that the pirates have a valid point. The notion that it's not their property to distribute is not in their vocabulary, threats and all, they get what they ask for, the recognition as pirates when they are pursued as pirates.

i think (besides prices pratices) ,it's more a rebellous man against the system you know ? "EA DRM sucks, they ruined my series,nerfed this,blah blah,so i'll pirate them!! that will learn them !" Remember that creation game that had millions of pirates on first day or something ? i dont know how much that impacted sales,but that sure was a voice to be heard from EA.

Yes, in the same way that other kinds of people are more defiant, for example, may ruin or deface something because there is a sign on in saying, "Keep away, no tress passing". You can tell tell they really get their jollies and get off on what they're doing, it's very smug and self satisfied- until they get themselves into some kind of trouble, though. At least street gangs recognize that they will end up dead or in prison at some point and accept that. These guys just have contempt for reality even as they want to wear the badge of being a pirate.

There's no justification for it though. Someone's IP rights will never feed some poor person's family or reverse some injustice inflicted on the public. Ripping off movies or music or software, these are just luxuries that they want they aren't willing to pay for.

The international treaty actually forbis copyright or patent of plants,animals,etc. My country battled in justice japan when they used one of our mushrooms and copyrighted it in a vitamin product.