Piracy Edit Meaning

1.

will NEVER BE STOPPED!!!!

2.

Old usage: the act of sailing around on a huge boat with a bunch of other guys (all of whom most likely are missing either one of their legs, hands, or eyes) and raiding spanish galleons up and down whatever coast you happen to be on. This action usually involves a lot of town pillaging, treasure looting, booty stealing, cutlass weilding, ARRR! yelling, parrot having, musket shooting, rum drinking, accordion playing, cannon cannoning, and buggery.

New usage: the act of stealing music, movies, unlicensed software, etc off of the internet. Usually done through a variety of p2p clients. This practice is of course denounced by the industry and they have launched a campaign of legal action and anti-piracy media featuring the likes of M E Hart aimed at destroying piracy, but all indications as of now are that it will survive.

In both cases, piracy is awesome.

Up with piracy!

3.

The best thing ever to happen to the music/software industry. The customer's way of telling the corporate whorefatcats that they're charging us too much for low-quality shit.

RIAA should just ralize it's hopeless to stop piracy as long as it supports shitty, no-talent MTV karaoke lipsynchers like NSYNC.

See Jake

4.

Becoming a very serious crime according to authorities because they aren't getting any money out of it unless you're a cop or something. If the authorities made a dollar for every pirated thing they'd shut up and direct our attention to reducing citizen benefits because they don't make any money out of it either.

Piracy is a crime because the government doesn't get any money out of it.

5.

I want Windows. I get Windows.

I want Max. I get Max.

I want lotr. I get lotr.

Then I go install linux

6.

Something that enables millions of people to learn and use software you would *never* have bought for the retail price. Something people in the sw industry don't take into account...

My productivity has increased two-fold thanks to this software

7.

Originally, piracy was a form of theft, when it referred to the practice of robbing on the high seas, and arguably even when it referred to the harmful practice of copying copyrighted products and selling them, ripping off the developers of the products.

Nowadays, it's a synonym for 'copyright infringement', which is not the same thing as theft. Copying in moderation may well benefit the industries in many circumstances as it increases public awareness of the industries and individual products; it's the mass copying initiatives, and the counterfeit sales, that are most likely eroding sales.

In cracking down on 'piracy' the copyright police are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and in pissing off loyal customers with intrusive 'copy protection systems', the concept of copyright law and the relevant industries are giving themselves a bad name.

"All forms of piracy should be lumped together, because they are all illegal, therefore they are all bad, and that is why they are all illegal"

Okay, so piracy is wrong because it's against the law, and it's against the law because it's wrong. That argument doesn't work.

See copyright, copy, riaa, theft, microsoft, sony