Re: "My dad is a pirate."

[Rex Ballard]

On Feb 14, 12:34 pm, Ingoramus21499 <ingoramus21...@NOSPAM.
21499.invalid> wrote:
> I am a pirate. I download music and movies without paying for them,
> using Bit Torrent. I also share them after I download them and make
> sure that my share ratio (amount of gigabytes that I upload, divided
> by gigabytes that I download) stays above 2, so that I contribute to
> the worldwide piracy.

So you are a self-confessed felon, you did know that copyright
violation is a felony punishable by 5 years in jail.  Pirating movies
is a 15 year jail term.  In addition, you could face a fine of up to
$250,000.  This is United States law, in other countries, the
penalties are even more severe.  In some places, they just chop your
hand off.

> I do not pirate software, however, as I only use software that is
> free. I do not use proprietary software.

That's nice.  Of course, the penalty for piracy of a feature film is
greater than the penalty for piracy of Microsoft Office.

> I am completely unapologetic for it. I do not believe in im aginary
> intellectual property.

And yet, you are not posting this from a federal prison like
Levenworth.

> I do not buy the usual argument of "if no one pays for music or
> videos, no one will write music or make videos".

Oh, there are lots of people who will write music or make videos, but
these won't be promoted, advertized, played on the top radio stations,
and distributed to all of the retail record stores.

There is lots of "freely available" music, much of it intended as
promotional material, which can be downloaded from a number of music
sharing sites.

There are even legal ways to capture music for "fair use", such as
transferring music or videos you have paid for to a more suitable
medium (such as MP3 or MPEG4).  The courts have also ruled that "time
shifting" - recording a video from the airwaves or cable and playing
it back for personal use later, is also "fair use".

On the other hand, the courts have also ruled that capturing a video
and using it for a use other than that intended for the original
broadcast, such as showing it in movie theaters, rebroadcast, either
via radio waves, or via web sites, is a violation of copyrights.  Even
bars pay a premium price for the license that lets their patrons watch
the TVs in the bars or restaurants.

> The greedy people surely will not do so.

As I said, there are plenty of bands and musicians willing to share
their "free" music, but often it's more like the local city auditions
for American Idle, with some bands being horrible racket with no sense
of rhythm, and singers who are totally tone deaf.  But hey, it's free.

> But I am not going to miss their productions.
> So the music and videos, would be done only by people who
> have a non-commercial interest in art.

Yes, there are always those who will produce "art" for "art's sake".
Usually, these are horrible productions based on self-centered vanity,
and are sponsored as "events" by a tight knit clique of equally self-
absorbed
"artistes" who make up an "artistic circle-jerk".

There are also lots of Church Choirs who perform public domain music
that was written 100 or more years ago, and are performed by singers
in their late 60's.

> Those who want to make a movie
> because they want to actualize themselves. Great.

Yes, like the pornos of the fat girls with zits all over their faces,
who think they are really sexy when wearing nothing but a sports bra
and cotton panties.

> Anyhow, my question is that of child rearing. I have a 6 year old.

> Should I tell him that "your dad is a pirate" or not? Would it hurt
> him to know that his dad is a pirate?

Sure, you should tell him that you are a "pirate" and that you cheat
and steal from people, and then lie about it, but since you haven't
been caught yet, it's OK.

That way, when you catch him lieing, stealing, or cheating on tests at
school, you can punish him "because he got caught" instead of because
he was doing something wrong.  You've already given up the moral high-
ground.  It won't take long for him to realize that what you are doing
is morally wrong, even legally wrong, and any justification you use,
will be justification for him to do whatever he wants to do.

He get's caught stealing candy from a store, and you try to punish
him, he's going to figure out that he got punished for stealing 50
cents worth of candy, but you can "get away" with stealing 2000 times
that in pirated videos every year.

> He is already aware that I get his movies at "Pirate Bay".

Yep, and he probably already knows that what you are doing is
stealing.  Because you do it, it's OK for him to do it.  Because you
think it's funny, and fun, he will think it's funny and fun too.

There is absolutely zero difference between what you are doing and
walking into a Sam's audio/video store and slipping a couple of CDs in
your purse.  It is exactly the same thing.  The difference is that you
are using the internet as your "sticky fingers" and you are using your
computer or player as your "purse".

> My own answer is that I should tell him, and that he should know, but
> I wanted to hear what you think.

Six year old boys are a lot smarter than you think.  They understand a
lot more than you think.  And at this age, they are trying to learn
right from wrong, and you are making the lesson much more difficult to
learn.

Don't worry though, when he's about 15 years old, he will stop talking
to you, stop listening to you, and will be completely deaf to any of
your lectures about how premarital sex an recreational drugs are wrong
and/or dangerous, he will probably throw all of you piracy, and every
other unethical thing you have ever done, into your face, and pretty
much be ready to "drop the dime" the first time you step over HIS
line.

And if HE ends up in federal prison, after you've tried so hard to
raise him "properly", that will be your punishment.

> Thank you!