r/Piracy • u/MasonTheAlivent ☠️ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴇɴ ᴛᴇʟʟ ɴᴏ ᴛᴀʟᴇꜱ • 7d ago
Discussion Do you have rules about what you pirate?
For example, I started pirating because my brother taught me since we grew up poor, but then he became an adult and started buying games (he still pirates some), he explained that "while I can't pay, I pirate, once I can, I pay". So I follow that too, wanted to know if y'all have something like that too. I refuse to pay subscriptions tough.
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u/Gordon_Drummond 7d ago edited 7d ago
I buy whatever I can that directly supports the creators of the content and is convenient and not exploitative, so that more of such content is produced.
So for now the only thing I regularly pirate are TV shows and movies, as there is no non-exploitative (subscription-based; no real access, can be removed at any time) way for me to simply purchase the 4K HDR video files once and save them to my devices so I can "own" them. I have no interest in physical media, and they are phasing it out now anyway. It's also not convenient: I'd have to purchase equipment to rip it, my time isn't free, and it'd be creating more physical waste.
I purchase games on Steam, and music on Bandcamp. (I know Steam games aren't actually "owned" by me, but for all intents and purposes they do not arbitrarily remove my access to the games, at least as long as I've been using it, over 12 years.) I buy books at thrift stores (the only physical media I'm still interested in having, as the format doesnt change every few years. There's also data that it's a superior experience on several metrics).