said by ITALIAN926:It doesnt break down, because when someone is pirating something, they are less inclined to subscribe to that channel, or buy an album, etc. If everyone and their mother used torrents, dont you think HBO would go out of business?
The shoplifting analogy is fine.
It costs money to produce this media. I would argue its no different than having to pay for water or electricity. Would you bypass your water or electric meter? I guess that wouldnt be classified as stealing either, right? What about going into a cable tap and hooking up coax into your house? Not stealing either right? Its just information.
Theres no justification in breaking these laws. People can cherry-coat them all they want, but in the end, its still illegal.
I am not going to argue that piracy is right, or legal, or anything of the sort. But I do find major flaw in your argument. In every example you listed, there is product loss. Whether it be in the form of using electricity or water, there is a physical product that has to be produced PER USE, and is thus used PER USE. If someone shoplifts a CD, that CD is no longer available for purchase. And while not as severe, even in the case of cable theft, the extra tap degrades the signal to a degree, requiring more expense to deliver the product.
There is no such product harm or loss when it comes to someone downloading a TV show. No product is used, or made unavailable for sale to someone else. No additional cost is incurred by the creator if a copy is downloaded. Is it a lost sale? Maybe. But only if the downloader WOULD have paid for the TV show if that was the only way to watch it.
Not that any of that matters to THIS thread, since the issue at hand is HBO refusing to sell a product to those who want to buy it, thus encouraging them to obtain it as a download.