A pirate is one who robs or plunders at sea without a commission from a recognized sovereign nation. Pirates usually target other ships, but have also attacked targets on shore. These acts are known as piracy. Unlike the stereotypical pirate with cutlass and masthead sailing ship, today most pirates get about in speedboats wearing balaclavas instead of bandanas, using AK-47s rather than cutlasses. Source wikipedia
Lets take a look, today look in the mirror and ask yourself “Am I a Pirate?”
Did you wake up and adjust your eye patch?
Do you sail the high seas in search of plunder?
Funny enough I don’t look like one, however lets discuss this with and open mind.
Piracy is the enrichment of ones self through plunder or robbery of another’s personal property or Riches. Now its time to be brutally honest what your doing right now as you are reading this article is a self enriching action by plunder of another’s property, much like what I am doing while writing this article is the same so in this sense you and I are pirates.
However various reasons exist that I use to Justify my actions, one being I am about as broke as a damn glass on concrete. I get paid by-weekly, I pay bills then I obsesses about where the hell my money could have gone. Therefore to make worthy purchases I feel its not good enough just taking a handout, I need to see what I am buying. This is also a common attitude among most downloader’s.
Yes I know some people have no intention of buying anything and are trying very hard to achieve those goals. With those exceptions though allot of people end up buying what they truly like even if they download it, This is the basis of misunderstanding between the trade moguls and the consumer.
A funny blurb from the RIAA Nationwide anti piracy enforcement Bulletin http://www.narm.com/RIAA/December2004EnforcementBul.pdf Half way down under “Piracy Hurts Everyone” on the right hand side it says “Consumers lose because the shortcut savings enjoyed by pirates drive up the costs of legitimate product for everyone, Plus good luck returning a pirated tape or cd when quality is inferior or defective as often is.”
~I have to break away and quickly point out the quality of the music I download is EXCELLENT ~B.M
Correct me if I am wrong but aren’t they CUTTING cd prices? Its a laughable thing only because they apparently think that 17.99 for an average new release with 2 good songs is incredible savings passed on to you and me. Since the beginning of the RIAA campaign they have slashed average cd prices to 12-13 dollars, Quite a contradiction in my eyes.
This brings up the other side of the plate, do you think the Record executives are pirates?
They do plunder other peoples riches by charging inflated prices for mediocre product and beat people down with their cutlass in a court of law but there is one thing different, ” A pirate is one who robs or plunders at sea without a commission from a recognized sovereign nation.” the RIAA have the backing of the U.S Government so they are fully commissioned and enabled, so they are not pirates, just greedy.
So does that make you or I a pirate? Well I still don’t think so, lets explore another take on this. The logic employed by the recording industry is that by ripping music and then sharing it you are turning away a fan who might have bought the album otherwise.
As previously mentioned though, many people do buy what they like ultimately (a wine connoisseur would never settle for boxed wine as opposed to bottled). If looked at this way file-sharers are actually silent promoters giving exposure to an artist to people who might not have listened to it in the first place.
Perhaps with recent price decreases and a new sincere embrace of the internet as a potent distribution model they might start turning profits again and lure back the people they drove away when launching their ugly legal campaign against helpless seniors who don’t even own computers or underage kids downloading “its a small world” and “happy birthday”. The pirate label is to guilt us into thinking our actions are immoral and that we are nothing but criminals. So prove them wrong, make a copy of your favorite album and find a friend who would like it and give it to them and encourage them to do the same. What they pay good money for in the media for (exposure) we give them for free.
Am I a Pirate? Hell no, do I look like I sail and rob people. No, I am sure you don’t Either. In the end we will pay money and respect to the artists we feel deserve it and not what they put through the cookie cutter and EXPECT everyone to buy it.
So now can you tell me are YOU a pirate?
By:Bryan M. (Moneoa)
~Lead Zeropaid News Admin
