Piracy Etiquette (Come walk my cyber-plank)

"Don't be selfish - share! It's polite." - my Mum (1990), Surrey.


Anyone who's ever watched a film knows of Odeon.
Anyone who's ever bought a DVD knows of HMV.
Anyone who's ever downloaded a film knows of aXXo.


This morning I recall pondering about piracy, when my girlfriend was downloading the latest episode of some American sitcom, and I queried as to why she had left fully-downloaded past episodes as 'live' on the program. "I like to seed!" was the response. How polite!

So, therefore, where do you draw the line? When your entire bandwidth is taken up with people leeching your music and films? When said files are classed as not new? Or when you feel that any more and it would go from amateur politeness to professional profiteering?

Personally, I do download illegally. I've paid for music before, too, but merely because I was given a voucher as a present. If I recall, Jack Penate and Boy Kill Boy promptly took pride of place... in my iTunes folder. But not in my CD rack, because it wasn't tangible. And not on my mp3 player, because the file format was too obscure and security constricted. So what did I then do? Downloaded the same 2 albums again, but this time illegally. Only then could I listen to the music on my mp3 and on CD in the car. In a round about way, I kind of justified it to myself in that I had formerly paid for my share of the music.

In the past, I've regularly shared CD's - you get talking with a friend about a new band, and lend them your CD. They may listen to it (personal use, only), copy it, or rip it to their computer. Then they themselves may share it with their friend, by sending it over a local network. Before long, butterflies have caused hurricanes and it ends up being shared to all and sundry online. So, should fingers be pointed, who gets the blame?

What about 'rare and obscure' music? I've got some rare early 1990's live Oasis tracks in my collection - could it be socially beneficial to share them? Or by doing so would they lose their rarity value? It's only polite to share!

Two questions - who is to blame, and where is the line drawn? I'm inclined to blame my Mum for not bringing me up properly...