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this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2026
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If buying isn't owning, then piracy isn't stealing.
What is piracy then?
What buying was supposed to be: owning
And if buying isnt owning, that means you're paying 70+ dollars to rent a game that can be taken away from you at any time.. with no refund or recourse.
Would anyone be stupid enough to rent a game for 70+ dollars? especially under those conditions?
But you've never owned movies or games. Purchasing let's go really far back VHS gave you a license to watch the movie. Always has been this way.
Coming from that era myself, buying a VHS tape absolutely gave you ownership of that copy of the movie. Same with music, which is why homemade mixtapes were such a popular and permitted thing.
Studios didn't like it, but no one went after the guy with the little vinyl briefcase of 100 different mixtapes for every sort of occasion.
It’s definitely stealing. I don’t understand why people on here can’t admit it to themselves.
My guess is people here think that stealing is wrong, no matter what. They also think that piracy is moral. Because of that, they incorrectly deduce that piracy isn’t stealing.
Look up any definition of stealing, and it always boils down to: taking something that you don’t have permission to take.
No, this isn’t limited to physical items. Companies steal our data all the time.
I think people need to shift from “Piracy isn’t stealing” to “Fuck the corps, they don’t wanna play fair I’ll steal their shit and they won’t see a penny”
I know but why do people care. I don't their massive corporations if I'm stealing from them in don't care.
Absolutely! Corps can eat a dick
It's definitely denying money to someone who is asking to be paid.
But since they, nor anyone else is affected by the copying activity I don't think it can be called stealing.
How about
You can make up definitions all you want, it’s still stealing.
Piracy doesn't fit the definition of stealing, because the owners still have the property.
That’s literally wrong. If I stole all your personal data from your laptop, you’d still have it.
Companies steal trade secrets from each other all the time. That doesn’t mean the knowledge just leaves the other company.
Stop making up definitions and just accept that it’s stealing. Just because it’s stealing doesn’t make it wrong.
If you copied all my personal data from my laptop, I'd still have it.
If you stole it I wouldn't.
If you copy a secret then it is no longer a secret, so something has changed for the original owner.
You are the one changing the definition of stealing to try and apply it to piracy.
stealing /ˈstiːlɪŋ/ noun
the action or offence of taking another person's property without permission or legal right and without intending to return it; theft.
We are just going to have to disagree then. If you don’t think non-physical items can be stolen then this conversation is pointless.
Oh yes. Non-physical items can be XXXX.
We are just disagreeing on the word, not the action. I don't believe traditional words (like stolen) are 100% transferable to the digital world.
The argument goes that stealing involves taking something from someone, whearas pirating produces a copy. If you take someone's car, they don't have a car anymore, but copy their game and now you both have one.
That said, I don't think it follows from "buying isn't owning" that "piracy isn't stealing". Its a pithy slogan that captures a mood, but I don't think it really makes sense.
Your position, I believe, is more coherent: "I don't care if it is stealing". It might not technically be stealing, but its a breach of the terms of the sale that you tacitly agreed to when buying.
Something similar can be said for adblocking. People argue that it is "stealing" because there is a breach of the terms of use, and the ads fund the content. It might not really technically be stealing, but it is simpler to just say "I don't care what it is, I don't feel bad for giant corporations". You can also say this about shoplifting.
Open sourcing of operational licenses.