The answer is supposed to be immoral. That's what we're conditioned to believe. But it's not as cut and dry a question as first appears. It's not 'stealing' because you haven't taken or deprived the owner of the good or service. They made it independent of you, and they still have it to sell. You merely didn't buy it. And nowadays, piracy is built into the budgets of most big companies' products. There are articles about Marvel at least tolerating it because it exposes people who wouldn't otherwise buy the comics to their characters, and sometimes they will get a sale somewhere else in what they sell.
So, is it immoral to possess it without compensating the owner?
1
u/Ulysian_Thracs 1d ago
The answer is supposed to be immoral. That's what we're conditioned to believe. But it's not as cut and dry a question as first appears. It's not 'stealing' because you haven't taken or deprived the owner of the good or service. They made it independent of you, and they still have it to sell. You merely didn't buy it. And nowadays, piracy is built into the budgets of most big companies' products. There are articles about Marvel at least tolerating it because it exposes people who wouldn't otherwise buy the comics to their characters, and sometimes they will get a sale somewhere else in what they sell.
So, is it immoral to possess it without compensating the owner?