[astalwick]

And one last thing: It is actually quite insulting to be reduced down to 'free is better than having to shell out money'.

No, it's not. I buy books (audible.com is amazing), I buy music, I buy software - all of which are just as easy to pirate.

I go to shows, I buy prints of photographsy that I like, I support artists. I am fully aware of how hard it is as an artist (my wife is an illustrator).

So, please don't reduce me down to "cheap bastard just doesn't want to pay". It's insulting and untrue.

[chasing]

I apologize -- I went off on you as a straw man instead of as someone who had literally just said that they didn't pirate music or software. That was unfair.

You touched a nerve. The "I'm not doing any harm" line is the general defense to the piracy question and I think it's very much wrong. I think I'm right in saying that too many people attempt to use it as a moral cover for the fact that they just want stuff for free.

[astalwick]

Yeah, I totally get that.

And there's definitely a part of me that is biased to "free is better than not-free," so for sure, that's a part of my decision-making process. But unless the content companies actively work to make it difficult for me to consume their content, I try very hard to inhibit that "i can get it for free" mentality.. Precisely because I do know how hard it can be for artists.

Anyway, thanks for the apology (and sorry for getting a bit defensive there). Cheers.