Piracy is a form of theft, which is a sin ( Deuteronomy 5:19 ). But the issue of piracy is very complex and has no easy answers. Today there are several legal alternatives to piracy.
What is piracy?
Piracy is using a product without authorization. This product can be a book, a movie, a song, a computer program … The law protects the creator of the product, who has the right to receive money for publicizing his work. Whoever pirates the product acts against this copyright.
Pirating a product to sell at a profit is a sin. It is dishonest gain, because the person who created the product receives nothing but the person who sells makes a big profit ( Jeremiah 22:13 ). Often the product is a poor quality imitation and those who buy it also lose out. In addition to promoting dishonest gain, buying pirated is taking the risk of buying a bad product , losing money.
See also: can a believer watch soap operas?
And piracy for personal use?
Piracy for personal use is a very complicated matter, because it happens everywhere. On the one hand, original products can be very expensive; on the other, we shouldn’t steal . The price may be exaggerated but if the producer is unable to pay the expenses he will not be able to produce more.
The two reasons why people pirate products for personal use are:
- because you want– entertainment products like movies, books and games can be very expensive but it is better to wait and save money to buy a legal version. After some time these products tend to drop in price
- why you need it– students mostly have the problem of needing expensive books or computer programs for school or college. But before embarking on piracy it will be good to look for other alternatives, such as borrowing or seeing the resources that the school offers
If you feel you have made a mistake by hacking, ask God for forgiveness ( 1 John 1: 9 ). Gradually replace piracy with legal alternatives. It may be complicated at first, but your conscience will become lighter.
Alternatives to piracy:
Open Source
“Open source” means “open source”. Products with an open source license were created to be shared for free. Anyone can take an open source movie, book, song or program and use it without paying. There are many “Open source” computer programs that are a good alternative to more popular paid programs. Just do an internet search for “open source” alternatives.
Legal free or cheap services
There are several companies dedicated to providing cheap or free entertainment, paying copyright to creators. These companies work over the internet and make money from advertising. Some services have very cheap monthly fees, because their market is the whole world.
Legal services, such as Spotify (music) or Netflix (movies and series), are also good because the products are always good quality, organized and have no viruses that spoil the computer.
It is also possible to buy books and computer programs over the internet at a lower price . And, of course, there are libraries with books, CDs and films. Use your creativity and explore the legal alternatives to piracy!
