Nature of 7th Commandment and File Sharing

[smileyscout]

Alright this is a question which I have mulled over for quite some time.

Is it truly a sin against the 7th Commandment when you download something (MP3, TV show, Movie)?

The answer which I came to is yes so I stopped pirating computer games and TV shows (not much for music). I’d like to point out that I never bought these games or shows; I just downloaded them. However this issue is a little more complex. I have one particular set of circumstances I would like to discuss.

I like the television show Heroes. I also like high definition television. I cannot receive Heroes in high definition in my area because the nearest NBC DTV station is 70 miles away and I don’t think my landlord would let me put up an antenna big enough to get the signal. Now I have several ways of watching these season 2 episodes of Heroes. I have some of them recorded on my TiVo in SD and I can watch all of them streaming on Netflix.

Now is it truly stealing if I download a HD version of these Heroes episodes? I’m not taking anything physical, not profiting from it, I already have season 1 on HD-DVD and play to buy season 2 when it comes out, and the source it came from is probably a recording of the NBC DTV broadcast from another area.

I realize that if something feels fishy its probably a sin and you simply shouldn’t do it but I would really like some feedback.

I think this also could be going against the virtue of patience since I really don’t want to wait the six months plus for it to come out on HD-DVD.

 

[Spirithound]

Is it truly a sin against the 7th Commandment when you download something (MP3, TV show, Movie)?

I like the television show Heroes. I also like high definition television. I cannot receive Heroes in high definition in my area because the nearest NBC DTV station is 70 miles away and I don’t think my landlord would let me put up an antenna big enough to get the signal. Now I have several ways of watching these season 2 episodes of Heroes. I have some of them recorded on my TiVo in SD and I can watch all of them streaming on Netflix.

Now is it truly stealing if I download a HD version of these Heroes episodes? I’m not taking anything physical, not profiting from it, I already have season 1 on HD-DVD and play to buy season 2 when it comes out, and the source it came from is probably a recording of the NBC DTV broadcast from another area.

I think this also could be going against the virtue of patience since I really don’t want to wait the six months plus for it to come out on HD-DVD.

There is one error in your post, and that is where you say you are not taking anything physical. Sure, it can be a little abstract to point at the picture on the TV and say it’s a “physical” thing, but think, movie theatres see fit to charge $7.95 for the privilege of watching a movie in their theatre, so perhaps a TV show is more of a service. Anyways, it is subject to the same rules as a physical item you can hold. Is there no way you can watch the show on TV in “low-def” ?
Perhaps waiting for it to come out on DVD to buy it will strengthen you and save you a bit of conscience-ache.

 

[jmcrae]

Alright this is a question which I have mulled over for quite some time.

Is it truly a sin against the 7th Commandment when you download something (MP3, TV show, Movie)?

It depends on what you’re downloading, and what you’re planning to use it for.

In most cases, it’s obvious what you are supposed to do with the stuff you find on the Internet - you can watch TV shows, you can listen to music, and you can read articles. The tricky part comes when you want to save it and use it again later. Most publishers don’t mind if you save stuff for personal use, and if you want to share it with your friends, they would probably just ask that you give credit where credit is due.

What I would suggest is that if you can watch “Heroes” on Internet TV, then just do that, and then wait for the DVD to come out when it comes out. If you want to save the show to your hard drive for later viewing, I doubt this would cause a problem, unless you were planning to do a public screening at your house - for that, you would need a license.

 

[Thaddaeus]

I am really worried. I have a LOT of software downloaded from file-sharing sites as well as p2p programs. Somme of them are for educatonal use which are quite expensive to buy, and so my questions is whether or not I should immediately get rid of the CDs and run to the onfessional.

 

[rboo124]

Alright this is a question which I have mulled over for quite some time.

Is it truly a sin against the 7th Commandment when you download something (MP3, TV show, Movie)?

The answer which I came to is yes so I stopped pirating computer games and TV shows (not much for music). I’d like to point out that I never bought these games or shows; I just downloaded them. However this issue is a little more complex. I have one particular set of circumstances I would like to discuss.

I like the television show Heroes. I also like high definition television. I cannot receive Heroes in high definition in my area because the nearest NBC DTV station is 70 miles away and I don’t think my landlord would let me put up an antenna big enough to get the signal. Now I have several ways of watching these season 2 episodes of Heroes. I have some of them recorded on my TiVo in SD and I can watch all of them streaming on Netflix.

Now is it truly stealing if I download a HD version of these Heroes episodes? I’m not taking anything physical, not profiting from it, I already have season 1 on HD-DVD and play to buy season 2 when it comes out, and the source it came from is probably a recording of the NBC DTV broadcast from another area.

I realize that if something feels fishy its probably a sin and you simply shouldn’t do it but I would really like some feedback.

I think this also could be going against the virtue of patience since I really don’t want to wait the six months plus for it to come out on HD-DVD.

I have had the same concerns…

Why is it ok to record a TV show on your VCR, but it’s a crime to download it on the internet? (If it’s already been posted, I apologize, I haven’t read all the posts on here)

I used to download a lot of music when it first became popular. It was more out of ignorance than anything else, I wasn’t ‘consciously’ stealing…it was a new form of acquiring music and was deemed ‘legal’ by many…at the time, I didn’t put a lot of concern into it, because I wasn’t getting the ‘material’, like cassette, cover, cd, etc. I ‘assumed’ that record companies would consider it a form of advertising their product. If I liked it and wanted the full product, I would go out and buy it at the music store.

Anyway…obviously when I woke up and smelled the coffee, I realized it was in fact stealing. I actually deleted the pirated files and purchased them online to relieve my guilt.

Now, I buy music I don’t have online…I don’t download it for ‘free’. I will, at times, download music I already own for the simplicity of not having to find the CD, upload it and convert it, then burn it to another ‘compilation’ CD. Yes, it’s a fine line…I do own the music, I’ve paid for it…but should probably just stop being lazy and get the file from my CD instead of online.

I also download TV shows online that have not been released to DVD yet. I don’t believe this is even a legal issue, as most of these files are embedded so they can not be burnt to DVD. These files are offered for download by the TV stations website, so obviously there’s no issue there. I buy the seasons on DVD when they become available, so I can watch them on my TV instead of on my computer.

I have also downloaded movies and music that is no longer available…literally, they are not manufactured or sold anymore. Whether or not these movies and music are copyrighted, I don’t know. The industry is divided on this whole topic…some allow their work to be downloaded for free, others don’t. It is difficult to know if a company still owns the rights to this work, because no companies sell it anymore. Convenient? Yeah, it is…at the same time, I’m more than willing to purchase it, but it’s not offered for purchase anymore. I can usually find a used copy on eBay…not always.

I should probably NOT download it at all, because I’m truly not sure if what I’m doing is ‘stealing’ or not. Does anyone know why older works go out of print? I assume the cost of production must outweigh the demand…so, is that stealing?

 

[drafdog]

The seventh commandment is not, according to the Jews, about property but about stealing a life. You steal a life, for example, by over-controlling another person either in the family, workplace or whatnot.

That being said, the sharing of files by computer is principally one of intellectual property rights and the morality of denying the owner of just compensation: “The laborer is worthy of his hire.” If a file owner makes available a file as shareware and the contents of the file do not infringe the intellectual property rights of another, then downloading the file is permissible. The downloading of a musical performance or video involves the property rights of the performer who is paid for the performance. In this case the purchase of a copy of the performance does not transfer the property rights of the performer to the purchaser, so the file may not be transfered to another without infringing the property rights of the owner.

Matthew