Is Online Piracy ever Justified? A Yemenis Perspective

[ewitte]

On 11/6/2023 at 10:47 AM, ToboRobot said:

Sorry you are missing the point.

Imagine going to someone and saying, "Wow, this thing you have made is incredible.  Give it to me for free."

On one hand you think it has value when it comes to praise, on the other hand you show it has no value because you aren't willing to pay anything for it.

I've worked in the book industry so I am well aware of all the arguments and value of books.  So I can easily point out the logical contradictions people make in their arguments.

 

Physical learning objects have value, not digital ones.  Certainly not $250/book worth either way.  I'd give it a pass if it is reasonably priced and not something required by a school you're already significantly overpaying for.  

[ToboRobot]

2 minutes ago, ewitte said:

 

Physical learning objects have value, not digital ones.  Certainly not $250/book worth either way.  I'd give it a pass if it is reasonably priced and not something required by a school you're already significantly overpaying for.  

Funny how people will significantly overpay for a service and a certificate, but not a physical good or digital service, that is also significantly more expensive than the unit cost.

If your moral objection is overpaying for something, skip college altogether, don't just justify textbook piracy because of the profit margins.

[Medtron]

When I was still a teenager and had no access neither a credit card nor any money, I used to pirate game whenever the download speed allowed. Afterwards when I started working I still continued pirating and would buy the games that I really liked. When I discovered Steam back in 2008, it all changed for me, moreover when steam sales were introduced. I stopped pirating games. I still pirate some movies and tv series here and there but only due to lack of services or worth of money. 
 

In conclusion personally I don’t think that it matters in the end since in my opinion there are only two types of pirates, those who do it as a lifestyle and those who do it as a necessity. In the end it only hurts the greed of the top 1% of the company. If they really cared for the employees they fire they would have lessened their own salaries and keep them employed instead of blaming it on the rest of society. 

[dcgreen2k]

On 11/3/2023 at 10:33 PM, Bitter said:

Not really. It's basically paywalling after you've payed. $250 a book times 4 or 5 classes a semester is a pretty big cost. If you can find it online for free you should. Publishers constantly push "new editions" which have small if any changes just to keep sales going by changing up some chapter order or page numbering so students can't follow along with hand me down books. At the very least try to buy used at a discount. It's so bad.

This was exactly my experience during undergrad for my computer engineering degree. For both myself and my girlfriend, who was in computer science, there were multiple times when the cost of textbooks for a semester was more than we had in our savings accounts. Furthermore, only a few of those textbooks were available at the university library.

 

Many of the professors I've talked to have acknowledged that this is an issue for students. On multiple occasions, my professors figured out a way for students to get the required textbooks for free or at a discount, usually by getting an electronic copy directly from the author or by determining when older versions of the textbook were sufficient. Interestingly, every time I was able to get an electronic copy of a textbook from the author, it was completely free.

 

50 minutes ago, ToboRobot said:

If your moral objection is overpaying for something, skip college altogether, don't just justify textbook piracy because of the profit margins.

I wish that was an option. Unfortunately, a college degree is required for many of those who want to pursue a career in a skilled labor field. Not everyone who goes to college will be able to pay the full cost of textbooks, as I know through personal experience.

 

That being said, I believe piracy is wrong in general. More specifically, one should not pirate media if they are able to pay for it instead.

[ewitte]

15 minutes ago, dcgreen2k said:

I wish that was an option. Unfortunately, a college degree is required for many of those who want to pursue a career in a skilled labor field. Not everyone who goes to college will be able to pay the full cost of textbooks, as I know through personal experience.

 

Much less than you believe.  Ironically my first year of college in the 90s I got a job to pay for school.  The same job/field that most people with a degree would have been looking for.  While I worked my way up, I took a class here in there, but it ended up dying off after about 2 years of credit.  Now with 26 years of experience, it doesn't really matter.  I probably made a bit less at first but by the time I finished school I had caught up and passed beginning earnings.  Listening to all the student loan horror stories I feel lucky.