Is "torrenting" a sin or morally wrong?

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Please do not paint torrenting with a broad brush such as this. Firstly, not all countries of the world have the same laws about intellectual property, and certain cultures do not consider this kind of copying to be theft (I don’t even equate it with theft and I’m a Western European-descent American - I consider it a separate class of crime). Secondly, torrenting and file-sharing and other types of downloading from the Internet are morally-neutral tools. Do not confuse the tool with the uses thereof. If I use a computer to hack a bank, sure, I am sinning. If I use my computer to read the Catechism and quote it to you, then I am evangelizing. Therefore a computer is not evil, just neutral.

There are tons and tons of resources and works and documents and files out there that are freely licensed and free-as-in-beer for the taking. Why don’t you spend your time looking for these things, if you can’t afford to pay for the copyrighted “good stuff” and find that you are enjoying the free ride so much that you don’t miss the dreck that Hollywood and the Record Industry try to force-feed down our throats all day, every day?

I hereby leave you with two invaluable websites. They are but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to freely-licensed material out there on the Internet. Please do your homework and find that not everything comes with hooks attached.

Creative Commons - the new way to license
Corpus Christi Watershed - the “Reform of the Reform” and it’s all free for the taking!

I leave you with the Biblical view of intellectual property. God said “Thou Shalt Not Steal”, then Moses brought this to the Israelites and the first thing they did was to start copying and re-copying God’s word for millennia until it came down to the Modern Age, still inspired and still unchanged, because nobody bothered to copyright it all, or sue the monks who preserved it.
 
I would like to know if “torrenting” media such as games/video are a sin or is it morally wrong? Torrenting is downloading media illegally that should otherwise be purchased. Torrenting may be comparable to stealing but in a digital sense.

This was the original poster’s question. The OP defined it as taking something illegally. Therefore this type of torrenting is illegal as well as immoral and sinful.

A non-copy righted work is free to all because it is common property-- like the air.

A country that does not have laws against stealing intellectual property does not set the moral standard for Christians or the legal standard for the rest of the world.
 
atassina said:
A country that does not have laws against stealing intellectual property does not set the moral standard for Christians or the legal standard for the rest of the world.
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Well, if you’d read the article linked upthread, which was very eloquent and insightful, you would understand that the ONLY reason copyright infringement may be morally wrong is because it is violating certain laws made by certain nations. There is no writ against copyright infringement - there is not even a description of copyright - written into the Divine Law or Moral Law. The Church is more-or-less silent and lasseiz-faire about these laws. She has allowed different cultures to set their own standards about Intellectual Property without stepping into the fray. Therefore, if I belong to a culture and region where copying is not copyright infringement, I am doing NOTHING wrong, and I am a Christian in good standing and good conscience.

And the OP defined torrenting wrongly, so I am correcting both you and the OP: torrenting is a tool, what you download is a moral choice.
 
atassina said:
I would like to know if “torrenting” media such as games/video are a sin or is it morally wrong? Torrenting is downloading media illegally that should otherwise be purchased. Torrenting may be comparable to stealing but in a digital sense.

This was the original poster’s question. The OP defined it as taking something illegally. Therefore this type of torrenting is illegal as well as immoral and sinful.

A non-copy righted work is free to all because it is common property-- like the air.

A country that does not have laws against stealing intellectual property does not set the moral standard for Christians or the legal standard for the rest of the world.
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Well, we are certainly divided here. How about this scenario:

You have a friend who can’t afford software needed for class. However, you have that exact same paid software purchased legally. You decide to copy it and give it to your friend when it clearly says not to copy. However, you had good intentions of helping out.

Any different?

Also, I had a friend who would torrent on a regular basis. He ended up getting caught by his Internet Service Provider. Almost used up all three strikes, and on the third one, they cut your service for good. (Just a different view here.)
 
Stealing is stealing-- even if you have good intentions. Your friend lacks the necessary software, invite him to your house and both of you share the software, or you buy him a copy.
Copying intellectual property is a sin similar to:

Officer: Why did you steal the case of canned food and give it to the homeless?
Man: They were hungry and needed food.
Officer: Isn’t that an new leteri leather jacket that costs several hundred dollars?
Man: Oh yes! Isn’t it great
Officer: Sure is. How many cases of food could you have bought with it?
 
Unless you copy software that is licensed in this way, you are stealing:
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
You are free:
to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
to remix – to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
attribution – You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
share alike – If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled GNU Free Documentation License.
 
good. i’m glad. that means you understand the concept of free licensing distinct from protected intellectual property.
 
if its against the law in your country then its stealing but in most countries its still legal so I guess it wouldn’t be stealing. Unless your selling it.
 
For those who are saying torrenting(i.e. sharing) is wrong,I have a question.
If I own a DVD ,can I not share it with someone(no desire to make profit)
i.e. I want to make him happy by giving him something to watch?
Do the terms and conditions mention only 2 members or 5 members of the family can
watch the movie(I don’t think so).Since the world is one big family if someone wants
to share his dvd with others(for no profit) to share happiness,how is this wrong?
One can argue we are eating into the profits of the maker or manufacturer.
This is definitely true.The other truth though is before torrenting (they could charge what
they wanted ,now they cant).A good example is subscriptions on music sites like
spotify is v cheap now.Torrenting has surely created an much fairer society where the rich are not getting richer and the less privileged are not being pushed aside.
Lastly,in a ideal world it will be like this,sharing and caring among people.
I would say if you are getting free movies from someone,give something free
to you neighbour.
 
Abisko:
Morality comes from. Morality is not dependent on the law. The logical consequence of your reasoning is this: Certain countries had or have laws allowing the killing of certain groups of people. Is it ok to exterminate them because it is legal in their country? No.

Torrenting is stealing. We may not steal from anyone- rich or poor.

Shail:

DVDs and CDs may be shared by you, of course. That is as long as you share the original DVD itself and not a copy or an image. Of course you can invite the entire neighborhood into your house for a private viewing. Keep your bathroom clean, hundreds will be using it.
 
davyvfr said:
Thats interesting you mentioned it, since I did the exact same with my computer. Deleted $800 worth of pirated software/video. Really does make me feel better 🙂
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Davyvfr,
you feel better. that feeling is virtue. you actually are better. continue to seek the truth of Jesus, the one who is truth.

atassina
 
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