By Russell Omo

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“Just once” is the thought that usually pops into a person’s head as they decide to pirate a piece of content. Little does one understand, in that fleeting moment, that “once” becomes many on the internet. Piracy has become more of a colloquial term than a derogatory name as more people find themselves immersed in a sea of leaked content.

However, popularity is not something that justifies a crime. “(Pirating is) like stealing. You can’t justify it but it still happens. Its not justifiable, I don’t see it as, or ever being,” expressed Senior Aaron Kaya.

But this doesn’t stop people from attempting to apply some sort of reasoning to their actions. The mass that pirates media (films, music, video games) gives the generic excuse that sooner or later, they’re going to end up purchasing the product if they like it. And if they don’t like it, well, then the creators don’t deserve any money in return, which is a fallacy in itself. A person doesn’t enter a restaurant, order a steak, eat it in its entirety and then not pay for it when the check comes because it wasn’t to their satisfaction. Why continue to eat and wait until the last moment to make your decision? It’s insulting to its creator and simply criminal.

But by far, the most flawed philosophy that attempts to justify piracy is that piracy, in itself, is not stealing. I’ll admit, that this is indeed technically true. The definition of stealing is to take one’s property without the intent of returning it; with piracy, there is no property taken. Take, for instance, a person who steals a DVD film from a store. Because the DVD had been stolen from the vender, the production company and the people who worked on the film don’t receive the profit they should have. Now consider the same film but as a file on the internet. The file had been leaked to the public for free download and people take advantage. But unlike the aforementioned scenario, the retail versions and official release files are still up for purchase. A pirate’s reasoning is that the vender and affiliates won’t have to lose profit because there was no property taken, a copy was merely made to give out to others.

Those who believe that piracy is not stealing fail to realize that their philosophy is indeed another fallacy, because companies and creators are still losing profit. People want free things, and most find themselves succumbing to temptation. When it comes to piracy, there is a choice to be made: pay for content or pirate it; in other words, do the right thing or steal. While piracy doesn’t fit the definition of stealing, it is indeed in the spirit of it; it is taking advantage of someone’s hard work, those who are entitled to the sweat on their brow.

These things that we take for granted, be it some film that you wanted to watch on a whim or an album that a friend recommended, are made by people. It is their career and they, like all people, should be paid for working. Piracy blooms into popularity because we have conformed to the notion that there will always be people who buy the content that is pirated, and it is this notion that was incepted through trivializing the people and the work that is put into this content. “People think it’s just a minor crime and that’s why people just do it,” explained Kaya.

In the grand scheme of things, money is what drives industry and this is the reason we don’t see sequels to video games or films or will never listen to an artist’s new album. We do not return the favor through pirating.

So, instead of finding justification for something that we know is immoral, let us use our reasoning to understand what is right and what is wrong. Let’s come to realize that in this world, when we are given something, it is simply the right thing to do to give back.