I do actually want to discuss something of a semi-serious nature here. DVD Piracy. YOU WOULDN”T STEAL A CAR WOULD YOU??? No actually, I wouldn’t. But a movie? Tempting…
Piracy has been going on for a long time. I grew up with hundreds of movies at my disposal that were either recorded off of HBO/premium channels, or straight copied from rentals. FBI warnings be damned, my family made sure I was to be entertained. Yes, I missed out on human affection for most of my childhood as such, but I saw Return of the Jedi over 100 times growing up, it’s practically the same thing.
Today, we hear more and more about how bad piracy is. It’s reached the point of these awful PSA’s before some DVDs even begin, illustrated with circa-1992-stylings of “street crime” being associated with this multi-billion dollar industry that is apparently bleeding money. It’s a hard knock life trying to pirate movies these days, between stealing cars and mugging old ladies in dark alleyways.
I was once staunchly opposed to copying DVDs, but then I realized this was how I got familiar with movies in the first place. I wouldn’t have seen almost any of the movies I did growing up if it weren’t for bootlegging. My family wasn’t made of money. Obviously, my copying Star Wars didn’t hurt George Lucas’ wallet enough to prevent him from making three more movies and millions of more dollars; if anything it secured my necessity to see them later in life. I do still buy DVDs, not as much as I used to, but there are still some films that I simply have to own.
It all comes down to (like most things in life) what people do with the power given to them. If you are pirating DVDs to sell them on the streets, that’s one thing, but if you pirate DVDs to have a film you enjoy but couldn’t afford to buy otherwise, more power to you. Is there really a difference between copying a DVD and being able to see it on television, borrow it from a friend, or even rent it?
All in all, I suppose the point of this article is to say to everyone, if your going to copy DVDs, copy these DVDs. Wow, there really weren’t enough “pirate” references in this entry…
Arr…there we go, that’s better.
