Bear Luke, Campus Carrier photographer

Remember the advertisements on DVDs and home movies in the mid 2000s that described recording and reselling of movies as illegal? Well, this crime has become so common that there is little to no effort made to combat it. Piracy, ever since the mid 90s, has been an element of everyday consumer life. Ever since people could burn information onto disks, there have been efforts to pirate media and entertainment, whether it be the ROMs of video games or recordings of movies. These efforts have advanced to the point where everyday people have learned and gained access to pirated entertainment, including games and movies that have come out recently. So, should piracy still be a common place and how does it impact the consumer? 

The initial answer when asking if piracy should be a part of daily life is no. After all, it is a crime, even if not heavily enforced. However, piracy is not just theft. Piracy, specifically emulation and video-saving, does allow for the preservation of art, culture and history. As time goes on, various forms of art may deteriorate and fade over time, either due to lack of production or storage. For instance, many mediums of animation have been lost to fires and/or dust over the years, resulting in various forms of media being lost and unrecoverable. 

What about the piracy of modern entertainment, however? The argument stands that these art forms can be preserved through piracy, but they can be acquired legally for years. Ultimately, it depends on the consumer. Since piracy is not usually produced legally, the choice falls on the person wishing to pirate. There are plenty of pros and cons to piracy. As prices increase, so does one’s inability to experience a product. Many consumers have complained about Nintendo Switch 2 games priced at $80 – $90, a steep price increase from $60 – $70, some said they would pirate these new games as soon as possible. However, piracy does not mean quality. When many movies are pirated as soon as they come out, they are often low quality recordings made in movie theaters, meaning one’s ability to experience said entertainment is limited by the means through which said media is pirated.  

Despite the drawbacks, piracy cannot be stopped. It is becoming more well known and practiced within society, and corporate efforts to stop piracy are usually fruitless. Therefore, since piracy is here to stay, it should be examined through what it can provide, and it should be up to the consumer to decide how to pirate.