Youtube is a perpetual source of entertainment for many people, myself included. I don't know what I would do on the weekends if I couldn't sit and watch a pirated movie in ten-minute segments online.
There was one movie in particular that I'd grown fond of, and I'd watched it several times. One day I opened it up, however, and was told that the video had been removed due to copyright infringement. I was indignant. How dare they take away what I was so used to stealing?
Copyright infringement and piracy are the norm nowadays. It's a crime, always has been. There are laws against it, threatening hefty fines and even time in jail. I remember a time when people were truly afraid that such laws would be enforced, but that fear has long since faded. When did we develop the notion that everything belongs to us? Media is created for our entertainment, but that doesn't mean that it is by nature free. It costs money and energy to create music and movies, and asking a price for the result is perfectly fair.
Of course, there is a limit. If something costs wildly more for a comsumer than for the ones who produce it, then something is out of balance. But the piracy trend seems just as bad, as far as honor and fairness go. Maybe it just doesn't matter because movie producers and famous musicians have more money than we could wrap our heads around. Maybe not.
The missing concept, in either direction, is what we earn. Who has a right to entertainment? Those who work hard. Those who produce it. Those who pay for it.
On the other hand, here's the first in a series called "Piracy is Good?" presented on a TV station in Australia.
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