illram
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2011
- Messages
- 1,473
No, it does not give us the right. It gives us the cause.
Yeah that's where I diverge. Not being able to watch a show or listen to a song is, at most, a minor inconvenience. I don't see this as some sort of "cause," where by not paying for stuff you're "sticking it to the man" or whatever. I find that sort of silly when you consider actual real protests over real civil rights being infringed. (Like, to use a timely example, the right to privacy.)
Ripping or otherwise unlawfully downloading media, or otherwise engaging in copyright infringement because you refuse to pay the asking price or be inconvenienced is not a protest. You have no "right" to view or consume content you do not own or that you have not made some sort of bargain for. Your rights are not being violated. That's just infringing because you don't like their terms. It is similar to breaching a contract because "fuck it, I don't feel like paying you." Call it what it is and we can agree to disagree on whether that is good or not, I can grumble at your actions costing me a little bit more on my fees for paying for the service, whatever. But when people say they are protesting or this is some sort of just cause or whatever, that's where I call bullshit.