Ripping DVD's, morally wrong??? Or Not?

[SSP]

I think it?s a trade off really. If you want DVD rips, you have to wait couple of months longer. Then actually have to buy/rent it to rip in to divx anyway (or spend hours downloading them). So you are watching an old movie in divX format, which is not exactly DVD quality (close, but not close enough). Same goes for those cheesy asf rips you get on the net (I don't even bother with them anymore). Don't you just hate it when a person walks in front of the camera?

Above all, you are NOT really experiencing the movie the way you should (like watching Episode 1 on a tiny screen on your computer- pod racer scene). If you think a DivX rip of a movie can be compared to the quality you get on a theater, then I feel sorry for you.

Ignore my spelling/grammer.. too tired to care.

 

[Ponyboy25]

I just wanted to add my $.02 in to what people were saying about the companies ripping people off. I too feel that some of those big corps mislead people with their ads, put out crappy products sometimes, and sometimes just altogether ditch the customer after they have taken their money. I think it's fine that people illegaly burn, copy, distribute,... whatever you want to call it. A lot of artists/companies are already making too much money. Maybe they shouldn't overcharge people so much, and possibly people would be more willing to shell out their money for something that they felt was fairly priced. I recall a several months ago that it was revealed that record companies were overcharging for CD's and that prices were gonna come down after it was revealed to the public. WTF was up with that bullsh!t. I'm glad people are now ripping off those damn companies and getting the consumer's money back. I'm also glad that movie companies are losing money too! The companies should stop paying those actors so much money, and lower the prices at the theaters and for the purchase of the movies. What do those actors do that's so damn special, they only work like everyone else does and that's it. I think I could keep going on about this crap, but I'll just leave it at that. I'm getting hyped up about nothing, and should just go back to work...:|

 

[Zucchini]

Zenmerzolt,

Sounds good, only 4.50 wholesale for a cd. Now where did you get such a figure. I've seen breakdowns that are much higher. Your forgetting that there are more costs associated with a cd then simply the production and royalties. There are distribution/promotion/music videos/label fees etc. You may not like it, but these costs are also part of the cost. As for stores that markup too much, i agree thatn ~19 bux is too much. But you can't use that as an arguement because you have the choice to shop at other stores that sell cd's for $11-13.

As for copying being perfectly legal, the law states that it is legal to make ANALOG copies not digital.

 

[Madcowz]

2 wrongs don't make a right guys... just because you feel like you are being ripped off by these big corporations doesn't give you the right to steal and pirate their software/music/movie's.

In fact I believe there is only one wrong and it should be placed on us. These people aren't exactly using unfair business practices. Last time I checked, in the Free Market you are allowed to set prices where ever the hell you want. If you have a good product in high demand than you have the royality to gauge. No wrong-doing in that... it's your friggin right. Since when was profit maximizing illegal (not literally illegal; I mean when was it considered wrong)? What really is wrong is the people whining out the prices and decide to go the shady route in obtaining these goods; ie, ripping, copying, hacking, etc. The real issue here is not, well I couldn't afford it, or I wouldn't have bought it anyways... it's well I can get it for free so I will. EVEN if you wouldn't have bought and paid for it anyways, the fact of the matter is, you are STEALING. You are committing a sin. Call it what you want: an act against society, an act against god... Criminal behavior, an act of deviance, but there are no 2 ways about it or anyway around it!

However, the laws being passed as Leo describe are a different matter. Really though, it isn't such a horrible thing; these companies are simply protecting their interests and doing what they can to prevent such pirating and copying of their software. Yes, call them greedy, but unethical?... ehh, I would question that

 

[Aboroth]

Actually, I think that the mechanisms put into place to prevent us from copying our movies and software is unethical. Yes, that's what I said. What is so wrong against protecting our investment? Why not let me back up what I BOUGHT WITH MY MONEY so that if it is stolen or destroyed I DON'T HAVE TO BUY IT AGAIN? That is just mean. I sure as hell am NOT buying anything again if I don't have to. I have a habit of not wasting money.

UCITA is a menace to our way of life and should be fought to the death. UCITA, along with the DMCA, are thought up for the purpose of taking away end users rights to fill the pocket books of large corporations.

Go read up on the DMCA and UCITA. They will scare you out of your mind. If they don't you don't understand them. I am sure you can find a huge number of articles about how horrible the DMCA and UCITA really are like, I don't know, this one.

The problem is that the industry wants to stop piracy by making all forms of backup illegal as well as only letting us watch what they want us to watch where they want us to watch it and that is unethical. It is also unethical to not allow me to back up my DVDs onto other DVDs to assure the backups are of equal quality to the originals. It is also unethical to not allow me to watch a DVD in Linux just because you don't want me to. It is also unethical to not allow me to watch a DVD I bought in the US just because I took it with me on a vacation over in Europe and now can't watch it because of region locked DVD players.

Fine, think pirating is immoral. Don't pirate anything, that is fine by me. I don't care. I'm not even going to tell you what I think because that doesn't matter and would just cloud the real issues. I am just disgusted by the way piracy is currently being dealt with.

 

[NicColt]

The music industry's immoral dilemma by overcharging and ripping off the consumer is being faced with the consermer's moral dilemma by ripping mp3's from overpriced cd's.

 

[Lord Gwynz]

Happiness alone is probably morally wrong in someone's book, so just don't worry about it.

Life's too short to give a damn what anyone thinks anymore.

 

[NicColt]

LOL Oh Lord that's true, in 700 years from now we'll all look back at this and laugh