Some notes on piracy

I liked this video. He talks about how Gen Z grew up in a world where no one actually owns anything. From a Kindle library to music, movies/TV shows and even video games, we don’t really own our media anymore. I have exactly four physical games for my Switch and I think two or three for the PS 4. The rest, adding up to a sickening amount of money, are all digital copies that I’m not guaranteed access to forever.

I saw this quote from @amerpie earlier today and really liked it too:

If buying isn't ownership, then piracy isn't theft. If I go to the bookstore and purchase a novel, I can loan it to you, or sell it to a used book store. If I buy the same book in electronic form, big tech says I can't loan it or sell it, even though I paid the same amount of money. That's bullshit.

Between my partner and I, we almost spend a used car payment each month on streaming. And it’s like how people used to joke about digital cable and satellite TV in the 90’s: there are 500 channels and nothing to watch.

When Netflix was new, or when streaming became their thing anyway, it started out pretty affordable. Same with Hulu.

It’s like crack. The first one’s always free and it’s fit for a 1980’s Wall Street guy. Then the next thing you know you’re stealing catalytic converters to buy some shit that was scraped off the floor.

Fifteen years ago streaming services were this silly little $5/month novelty and now you have 12 of them and they’re all $15-$20 a piece. I have Netflix, Hulu, Prime, Max, Paramount+ with Showtime, Disney+, YouTube Premium, Peacock, some others I can’t even think of right now… others I probably forgot about but I’m still paying for.

It’s easy to justify because you can only get the first and third part of a trilogy on Netflix, but in order to watch the second one you need Starz.

If I want to watch something that’s intentionally obnoxious to stream, I’m flipping on the VPN and downloading it. Same with older games–I’ve handed Nintendo and Sony so much cash over the years, just for licenses to things I don’t actually own, I feel zero guilt downloading a few ROMs and building a cozy little retro library.

I do believe in supporting devs for games that are still on the market. That’s why I have spent so much on digital copies. It’s okay to steal from Walmart, but it’s never okay to steal from your neighbor. Unless they’re the CEO of Walmart.

On the flip side, music streaming is almost like piracy you still pay for. Spotify and Apple Music make it so cheap and convenient to listen to all of your favorite bands in lossless quality. You get new releases instantly, without ever setting foot in a brick and mortar. Back in the Napster days I pirated so much goddamn music. I don’t do that anymore because musicians who aren’t top 100 pop stars are more indie, you know? They’re not all millionaires and most of them make almost nothing from streaming.

I like owning physical things. If it’s something I see true value in, I’m buying it. When one of my favorite bands announce a new album, I pre-order it on vinyl ASAP.

Piracy is a messy subject but it’s here to stay.