And the "physical item" aspect fails to, especially when you begin looking into services...should we decide not to pay doctors and make hospitals free because we have determined the value to be less than what they charge?

Alright then

Think like this

You don’t like what a company does

No, don't tell us how to think.

What do you do?

You don’t give them money

I don't support the company, but I also don't use their products.

Theft is wrong, whether you agree with the company or not.

But I’m saying piracy can be used as a boycott

Do you know what goes into making a movie? My father is an actor and producer for several films that have been pirated. It costs them heavily and it makes it harder to pay the actors and crew. And if they can't pay them from the profits of the film, it has to come from pocket. This will also typically damage relations between the actors and crew, making it harder to hire them and when nobody is willing to work with a business then the business dies. And when a business dies, so do countless jobs.

its different because almost all physical products you could buy can be bought from a dozen other stores, and several different companies produce something basically the same. you dont have that option with games, game devs, and game publishers.

No...piracy is theft. Not boycotting. I fear you have misunderstood what a boycott is. If I go to a restaurant, eat the food, and then leave without paying, it is not a boycott, but theft. If I decide not to eat at the restaurant, that is a boycott.

The spirit of the boycott is to show that you don't need them. Pirating only shows your dependence

If you boycott a company

You effectively cripple the company, as they don’t receive money from as many people

Yes. But, boycotting is not theft. The definition is: withdraw from commercial or social relations with (a country, organization, or person) as a punishment or protest. By continuing to use their product, you are not withdrawing from interactions, but stealing their product.

Lets say you want to boycott Ralphs, what you would do is go shop at Vons instead. Give the competitor the money. Not rob them.

Stealing because we disagree with their political standpoint makes us no better than the looters we see in the riots

> Lets say you want to boycott Ralphs, what you would do is go shop at Vons instead. Give the competitor the money. Not rob them.
@Porcupioneer with games you don’t have a bunch of choices like you would in that case

Sure you do.

Then don't play the game! or play a different game!

it's not hard

You could choose to play other games made by other developers or not play any games. Or better yet, make your own game!

There you go

I make my own game

Company sees game

Commie you are wrong on this one I’m afraid. No amount of argument will convince anyone that pirating is a form of boycott or that its not harmful for the company

Great! Then we can buy it for the value you determine.

“Ooga booga game too similar to ours”

I have now been thrown into a lawsuit

See, but that's on you. Make a unique game.

You shouldn't be so dependent on video games that you have to steal them because the price is too high

> See, but that's on you. Make a unique game.
@Froski that’s not the point though. If I wanted to play a different game I’d play a different game

Lets say I really wanted a gaming PC, but all I could afford was a old Mac laptop, does that make me entitled to a gaming PC?

I’m not entitled to a game

then why pirate it?

But it doesn’t mean I can’t go out of my way to get it

Okay, well, if you are so dependent on playing that game, then the issue is whether you will take a morally wrong path and steal the game, or actually boycott the game. Does the value boycott get outweighed by your "want" to play a game? Does your want to play a game outweigh the moral wrong of theft? Short of the online marketplaces for most games, it is the same as going into a store and grabbing it off the shelf.

I’m not arguing whether or not piracy is theft or whether it should be legal

I’m arguing that it shouldn’t be as much of a punishment as it is