[dhimes]

Actually, I'm ok with "pirating" it if they tried to legally get it first. Also, I personally probably wouldn't ask for a refund if I was going to watch it anyway- figuring that what I was doing was morally right I was just hacking the implementation- and the content creators would get their fair share.

I, like you, am disturbed by the "if it's easy to steal then it's ok to steal" argument. It really hurts people who make a living as creatives.

[dexterdog]

The problem is that it is easier to pirate than it is to do anything else because of the stranglehold that distributors are trying to place on the goods that the creatives are making. The distributors add a negative value to the product that becomes extra cost for the consumer to get his payment to the creator.

[7Z7]

My only problem with that is that you have not only paid for the content, but you've paid for the service as well. If you have to provide the service (in the form of finding a equivalent quality of work, receivable in a not inconvenient amount of time, and take the risk of potentially being flagged as a pirate on your ISP or sued by a rights holder), then it gets more complicated. The content creator certainly isn't getting 100% of the fee you've paid - so ultimately you are rewarding both the content creator and the shitty-service provider.

You may be OK losing the provider's portion to assure the creator is paid.