Its the feds! They are in here trying to guilt us because they know no other way to make us stop. May the redcoats end up in Davey Jones Locker!
I don’t pirate because I’m opposed to paying for things. I pirate stuff because I don’t want to support scumbag corporations that don’t give a shit about me. In fact, I buy most of the media and games I consume, in order to support the devs behind it.
And that’s not a “new piracy gen”, that’s how piracy has always been for most people. You’re the odd one out here.
Yea, I’ll pay for things. The problem is, what I want (DRM free media I can use on anything that will open them) is not generally for sale.
I’m a bit astonished how often I see this kind of thread, even here. It’s like when people complain about FOSS apps charging subscriptions or standalone fees. How many times does it have to be pointed out that piracy as an activity does not define piracy as a movement or a collective?
I’m certain this simplistic “piracy = not paying for stuff” take can only come from a kind of ignorant individualism, one that lacks any structural analysis of why, when, and for what content people turn to piracy (and why, when, etc, they stop).
There are times when I just but the app/service to support the devs (mostly small devs). Eg for Apps I have bought: Nova Launcher (long back and don’t use), PowerAmp, MiXplorer Silver & Pano Scrobbler.
Could I get them for free? Definitely yes. Did I ever used Pirated version of them? Yes, of course.
Pirating gives me the option not to support shit corporations that fuck over consumers with no business ethics. I can pirate the content I choose and pay for it when I want to support creators.
Historically, pirating and underground markets for good and services begin to proliferate in a society as a sign that their economic system is failing. IMHO, unbridled capitalism and corporate shitification in the US is turning the Internet into a hellscape with 5 companies basically controlling the entire Internet with so much lobbying muscle behind them they remain untouchable through what remains of the democratic system.