If piracy wasn’t possible I would probably be against computers entirely

The benefit of OSS, to me, is that it’s not a black box. You see where your data goes, you get it to interact with the rest of your setup the way you want it (automation, backups, notifications, etc).

Closed source software, pirated or not, puts unnecessary limits on what I can do with my devices and my data.

I pirate everything. I started more than 35 years ago when I didn’t have any other option because of my location, so it became the norm. Later, I didn’t have much money and I didn’t want to spend it on software and games. Later I just stuck with it. I never delved into ethics of it - it seems a very tedious task to do.

I did buy some stuff here and there. But even today, id pirate games for sure, in not going to dish out 50, if I don’t even know if I’ll like it.

Interestingly, never in my life I had issues with viruses or malware. Sure I got some, but the basic antivirus software delt with it and I had no consequences.

There are three points I could make:

1. Most software that is not free these days is also stealing all your private data. The value in these applications is generally greatly reduced, and in many cases, truly free alternatives exist, so the need to pirate should be much reduced from the past.

2. Where the first point doesn’t apply, there is usually a reason. Either the company has used their monopoly powers to force people to use their software in order to do their job or to interact with government agencies (Adobe is one that often comes to mind). In this case, the ethics of the situation IMHO mean that pirating is OK. If the company is doing unethical things to force you to buy something, then doing something unethical to not pay for it is an exception in my opinion. The person would not be buying the software if they weren’t forced to and purchases should not be forced.

3. Access for the poor is another issue where I don’t see this as an issue. The poor will never be able to afford the software, so no one is losing money on the sale and it only benefits the company to have people using it if it’s a locally running application. There may be some concerns if there are essential services involved that require servers or other systems that have to be maintained by the vendor, but otherwise, Windows having been pirated for decades made it ubiquitous. Without that, poor people likely would never have touched Windows and would have learned Linux or Mac or something else instead and Windows wouldn’t have as many people locked in as it does now. So, for the poor, assuming it’s software that runs locally, I see no issues from an ethical standpoint in general.

These are just my opinions, but I’m not alone. And this is not to be used as justification for specific actions, just very general points about the ethics of software piracy. For reference, I’ve done a lot of research on software ethics from both the user and vendor side and used to run a nonprofit on this subject.

My personal preference is to use FOSS whenever it’s practical. For home use, I’ve switched to FOSS for the vast majority of my computing needs. I run Linux on both my server and desktop. Most of the software on my server is FOSS, with the one exception being a container using the Splunk free license. My desktop is running Linux, and I use LibreOffice for documents and the like. I do run Visual Studio Code, which is technically Open Source, though I would not put it past Microsoft to do a rug-pull on that eventually. And I have an extensive library of games with Steam, basically nothing of which is Open Source.

I have reached a point, financially, that piracy is not morally defensible. And I’m not willing to get into the mire of if, or where such a line would be. I believe that creators should be rewarded for their work. Though, I also agree that the limits on copyright are way out of whack with the changes Disney has purchased through the years. So, piracy as a moral question is a murky subject, with no clear answers to me. But, the end result is that I buy games, movies or TV shows. For other software, I usually look to FOSS projects (e.g. Gimp vs Photoshop, FreeCAD/OpenSCAD vs Autodesk), free licenses (e.g. Splunk) or just do without. For TV Shows/Movies, if it’s not on one of the streaming services I subscribe to, I may buy it via a digital service; or, I do without.

I prefer to use FOSS software. There is a risk of getting malware from pirated software. Even if there is no malware, commercial software usually has lots of tracking and telemetry anyways.

Generally, if software was affordable and their business model is ethical, I wouldn’t pirate it.

If a company is charging a subscription for something that has no business being a subscription, I’ll pirate it. If a business is stealing data or willingly collaborating with evil people/governments/regimes/etc, I’ll pirate it.

I’m just here because I got scurvy a couple times. Stay in school, ye’ landlubbers n’ doan’t farget to eat yarself a fruit or vegetable, least once n’ a fortnight. ccccccc.

If buying isn’t owning then piracy isn’t stealing.

Both FOSS and piracy are about freedom. The first is given, the second is taken.

History will thank pirates for keeping our cultural history preserved and safe from for profit leeches that would burn every single book in existence if it made them a dollar.

I’m honestly… In the middle.

My home network is covered by a VPN, which means I can’t use streaming services without punching a hole for my home IP and sacrificing a little privacy - which I’m not willing to do. I’ve gone through my part and contacted providers to lemme through, without success. Even Amazon who CLEARLY knows my name and mailing address still won’t let me watch things even if I own Prime…

So yes, I pirate movies and tv shows. I’ve tried to cooperate, but if my money isn’t enough, then so be it.

Video games I no longer pirate, I’m content with Steam. I also backup all my installs on an external hard drive in the unlikely event Steam goes under or a company demands pulling a game from my profile.

This is no longer true for Nintendo. Their latest attitudes have resulted in me deleting my account and becoming a loyal pirate for Nintendo games. They literally turned me into what they’re fighting, ironic right?

I also no longer pirate general software because 98% of the software I use are FOSS, self created, or just free+offline in general. The other 2% is software I purchased because it was a lifetime permanent license and for software I felt deserved the money for support.

So yeah big tech is my main enemy. If I need something and they won’t work with me without ransoming my privacy and rights, then yeah so be it.

I have been dealing a lot in piracy. I don’t really do that anymore. I’ve switched to many free or fair software creators. I don’t mind paying for the software or games I use. I do mind paying for something, and then not owning it, and being tracked by it and just paying a lot, because the software producer has a kind of monopoly.

I support FOSS and others, with small donations. Like Mozilla, LibreOffice, Inkscape, Krita, Linux Mint and a lot of others.

I think you should pirate away on unethical companies. Do it for many of the reasons other mention in this thread, and do it because they are greedy and don’t respect you!

deleted by creator

If a provided service is good and made accessible reasonably, I’ll use it and happily pay. As soon as it is intentionally obtuse or consumer hostile, say no more; I take to the seas.

But in all cases, I prefer FOSS first. It is generally better, more secure, has more vibrant communities, and represents a dying breed of freedom that we all need.