Still a Pirate

                Looking at my views on piracy of digital products and my discussion of how I view the piracy of various things, I thought of something that may be questioned in my philosophy. How is the piracy of a digital item any different than that of a physical one?

                There are many anti-piracy campaigns that have tried to equate pirating to stealing a physical item from someone. The video shows images of various traditional thefts taking place, such as stealing a purse, a television, and a DVD. As it cycles through the crimes, it repeatedly cuts back to a person downloading a pirated movie on their computer. It works very hard to make the viewer consider the pirating of a digital file no different than the theft of a purse or television.

Of course, it isn’t as easily compared as they make it out to be. When stealing a physical item, you are directly removing it from the possession of an owner and claiming it as your own. Stealing is denying another the ability to possess the item, their purchase, or their claims to have possession of it. When a digital file is pirated, you are downloading what is likely a modified copy of a legal version of the product or you are obtaining a false DRM validation for the product. Already, the issue becomes much less black and white, as the item isn’t being removed from anyone’s possession, it is being reproduced for the purpose of pirating.

I can’t claim that it is a victimless crime, because there may be losses involved when a product is pirated. When a retail item is pirated, then there is a copy of that product being used that was not paid for by the user. That does mean that the producer is not paid for that item. The impact of that fact varies by medium. For music, the artist may not receive the profit for those potential purchases. For TV shows, viewership may not be properly represented. It can’t be denied that piracy can be harmful if left completely unchecked, but in many cases it can have little or even no major negative impact, and certainly less than actually stealing a physical item.