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As somebody that interacts with college students on a daily basis, I get to hear about things they want to impress their peers with. One of these things happens to be piracy. If you’re unaware, piracy (as defined by everyone trying to be unique) is simply copying information, sharing it with the world because hey, information should be free, right?!

I agree that information should be shared, but I don’t agree with the idea that music, movies and video games are considered “information” in this aspect. If something was created to be free, I’m all about sharing it. But many people do make a living off of their music, movies and games that they may have produced. One popular counter-argument to this is that it doesn’t hurt the creator, as nothing is being stolen and the original still exists! It’s only a copy, right?

Right, it’s exactly that, acopy. By copying and sharing somebody’s work, you’re devaluing the work someone has put into their product, and by extension, the value of the product itself. A few years ago, a game called “Spore” was released by  Maxis, published by EA games. Many people were very excited for this game, with many lined up (metaphorically speaking, PC users seem to be a fan of digital distribution these days) to buy this game. However, it was announced that the game would have a form of copy-protection called SecuROM. This was introduced to combat piracy, though the protection didn’t last long and was very quickly cracked.

In response, many users pirated the game through Bittorrent out of protest. Many developers became aware that intrusive copy protection was not the way to go, so many looked to other methods. None of these methods have been effective, of course, but the point was well-made. Steam has become a popular form of anti-piracy, mostly through good service and great deals.

But where exactly am I getting with this? Piracy, as of late, has become very popular. Many internet users saw piracy with Spore to be a noble act, but rather than leaving the protest as successful, they still cling to piracy as a beautiful metaphor for the sharing of information. This is where my issue lies, it’s in the reasoning, not the act.

Many pirates download media because they really honestly do not want to pay for it. They don’t brag, they just download. I disagree with the act, but I won’t harass (or judge) anyone about it (though I will promote great services such as Spotify or Steam). My issue lies in the people that brag and try to impress others with their pirating knowledge or reasoning. We live in an age where everyone knows how to download uTorrent. It’s not difficult to pirate anything (at least namedrop Usenet or something). Preaching that it’s “only copying and it should be free” does not make you interesting. It makes you ignorant to the issue you’re causing.

However, if you shut up about how you get everything for free, you might realize that maybe some people think you’re not as interesting as you thought you were. Piracy doesn’t make you interesting, knowledge does.

Before some of you start pulling out image macros, keep in mind that it demonstrates a lack of knowledge on your part. If you disagree with my opinion, please share why you disagree rather than post Willy Wonka memes. Thanks!

First the funny picture blogs have people taking off clothes, now Hideo Kojima is showing off his underwear on Twitter! What is going on??