[jbigelow76]

Weird, I have the exact opposite impression, I always thought the common HN hivemind mentality was EXTREMELY pro piracy, usually rationalized with one of the following justifications:

1. "I wasn't going to buy it anyway so the author isn't losing a sale"

2. Zero incremental cost!

3. "If I like it I'll eventually maybe buy it" (if only I could use that defense after stealing a Porsche)

4. Paul Graham's oddball (in my opinion at least) "stealing the smells" re-imagining of property. [http://www.paulgraham.com/property.html]

[gurkendoktor]

5. They should just sell T-shirts/concert tickets/support plans instead 6. Art must be performed for free, otherwise it's commercial crap

I think whether HN is pro piracy depends very much on which comment thread you look at: If "DRM" is part of the title, the mood will be very different from "Show HN: My New Book", in my experience...

[untog]

Ah, the old "piracy is not stealing because nothing is taken from the owner" card. To be fair, I don't see it often in HN- on Reddit, however...