Sep 12, 2014, 09:35 am
(Sep 11, 2014, 10:27 am)gcjm Wrote: [ -> ](Sep 11, 2014, 08:03 am)bobwilson Wrote: [ -> ]Can they blame us if they go out of business because we're pirating their products? Yes.
what tosh.
If you create something in a medium which the current market deems to be of a value equal to, or more than, that which you are requesting, you can expect your creation to be monetised.
... but how will it be monetised if people can get it for free? For example, would you choose to pay for something when you can download it for free? Of course not.
Take for example a small one or two-man software company. Lets say a man spends a long time training and working hard to create a piece of software. His software has market value and he starts making a living from it, but then a week or month later, his creation is stolen / pirated and distributed without his permission, for free, on suprbay or the likes. As a direct result of this piracy, his income goes to zero and he is unable to make a living from all his hard work. After all, why would new customers pay for his software when they can just take it for free?
Imagine it another way: a lady makes loaves of bread. She sells them on a market stall. Some pirate comes along, takes all her loaves of bread and gives them away for free. Is this the kind of society you're advocating for?
You argue that these things in society should be free, but why shouldn't artists, musicians, and software programmers and other creators have a right to make a living from what they do? They need to pay the bills & get a roof over their heads. Not everyone is as rich as Bill Gates.
(Sep 11, 2014, 14:23 pm)stormium Wrote: [ -> ](Sep 10, 2014, 12:42 pm)bobwilson Wrote: [ -> ]As for a cure for disease, it's perhaps a little more contraversial, but have you considered the possibilities? What if a man gets a bank loan and spends a huge amount of money and time researching a cure for a disease. Why should we all benefit from his discoveries while he goes bankrupt unable to pay the loan back? Does he not at least deserve recognition and the ability to live a life (pay for his food and roof over his head). All he needs is to get paid for his hard work, like anyone else. Perhaps there are two sides to every coin.
researchers and doctors receive grants and funding to research and find cures for diseases... usually after they make a proposal. a portion of that money is their salary.
but, when you look at the big pharmaceutical companies... and find out that they have a potential cure for ebola but decided it wasn't cost effective to continue development... do you really think they deserve anything other than our contempt?
true story. read about it here.
cures for diseases like aids, cancer, als... whatever aren't being driven by people seeking to improve the lives of those afflicted. the cure is being driven by profit and that's wrong.
George Merck Wrote:We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow, and if we have remembered that, they have never failed to appear. The better we have remembered it, the larger they have been.
in the case of music and movies... if you liked it, pay for it... that's what i do (physical copies only). also, in the case of digital downloads... nope... they can say i am only renting a license all they want and if that is truly the case then i'm not paying a full retail price... also, if they utilize drm and i'll pay even less... if at all. my money... my rules.
There are some really big assumptions there. You're assuming that everyone who creates a cure is a big pharmaceutical company. I was in fact referring to the small men, the entrepreneurs who start off the street and try to make something of their lives. It would seem in your 'utopian society' where anyone can steal anything they like, you're forgetting about the small men. If you're saying these rules should only apply to the large firms, how would you qualify that on sites like pirate bay? At the moment, it doesn't seem to differentiate between the size or wealth of the creator(s).
"my money... my rules."
Can you go into a shop, put 1p on the counter and take whatever you like?
You get to choose how you spend your money, not dictate whether you have to pay or not. How do you think a society like that would function? No one would pay for anything!