Not AIBU so much as WWYD - illegal download

[randommoment]

A good friend has just mentioned in passing on the phone she's watched War Horse tonight at home, and how brilliant it was. But War Horse is still only legally available to watch in cinemas. I said 'but that's only just out in the cinema - we went to watch it last week as birthday treat' she replied 'oh, download off the Net of course'. AIBU to feel that she's let the side down - I truly thought she was a thoughtful person who realises that illegal downloads mean that the production people etc who slaved away to make the films/music/tv we love don't get paid properly for their effort. What would you do?

As I've said on many threads, Bunbaker - you buy cheap stuff every day and people in China/India/other developing countries pay for it. Except they pay for it by having to work for next to no money from a ridiculously early age.

So why not just stop the cheap, easy moralising, because everyone in the west is as complicit in this as everyone else.

Those arguments don't justify anything. So if I buy a jumper that was imported from China that makes it OK to buy a pirate DVD?

"everyone in the west is as complicit in this as everyone else."

i don't believe that. some people put a huge amount of energy and effort into trying to find the most ethically sound products - fairtrade or just going without things they don't feel are ethical. In a consumer society, the only power a consumer has is how they spend the pounds in their pocket, and finding enough information to make an informed choice is very difficult.

Is that what I said, Bunbaker?

Maybe instead of worrying about the relatively minor crime of illegally downloading (which many people are not morally against, and actually have ethical reasons for doing it), you could put your effort into being an ethical consumer.

Basically I get entirely pissed off with people acting so moralistic when their actions fuck up other countries.

Buying a fair trade banana now and then does not begin to cancel out the shit that petrol/gas/flying/cotton/coffee-buying causes.

There's not a hell of a lot that we can do about it, unfortunately. But FGS get off your high horse.

Are you worried she is taking bread out of the mouths of those poor, hungry impoversihed Hollywood types?
FFS!! I thought this one was a wind up!