Like you would admit that you didn’t anyways, right…?
I remember in High School I had tens of thousands of dollars of software that I didn’t pay for. It was sort of a game to me. “Cracking” the apps and software and video games and using them free of charge.
Ah…
Then, I was born again. Fun-time had to stop.
But when I went to college I was shocked at how many of my fellow Christ followers were still pirating hardcore.
Huh. I know this happens a lot in the corporate setting and I bet it happens just as much in the Church sphere too.
Sad story.
Tom says
Almost the same story here. From middle-school to high-school, I had a lot of software that I still couldn’t afford today.
…stopped with music, movies, and software.
Kinda even did a 180º: I’ll even make donations to free software. People have done it for me so I wanna reciprocate.
Kevin says
Yep. Big reason to choose open source software. It’s free. It’s legal. It’s shareable. It’s copy-able. It also makes it a cinch to upgrade…you don’t have to figure out how to crack it or whether it’s worth it if you pay for it. You just decide when you want to make the move and then do it.
I will say that part of the problem is the fact that the companies don’t enforce their policies uniformly. They only wait for the big ticket law breakers to make examples. If they enforced it more strictly, then I think more people would be interested in open source style licensing. As it is, the companies get to have the free distribution in file sharing networks to help widen their market and maintain dominance, but also have the big stick to wield when it matters. They seem to be talking out of both sides of their mouths which just causes more confusion and is probably part of the reason this discussion even exists.
Kevin
http://opensourcechurch.com
Yohan Perera says
Yes, I did the same and my conviction was so heavy I simply got rid of all the pirated software.
I even blogged about it…
http://www.virtualpreacher.org/contemporary-issues/what-does-the-bible-say-about-software-piracy-part-1/
Don Dudley says
My story sounds like yours. Cracks, hacks, and pirating was what I was into. To make matters worse, I was part of an IRC channel where all we did was pirate movies.
Jesus saved me and now I am clean. I think working in IT has really helped me simply because I get all the cool stuff I want on a companies dime. I don’t have to pay for it. And, in reality, I am not on my computer(s) as much at home anymore. Three kids takes a lot of my time, thankfully.
Kevin says
btw, this issue isn’t a slam dunk from a moral perspective. In fact, the term “intellectual property” that props up many of the “piracy” claims is pretty sketchy too. Until the 1700’s copying was considered fair use; it was the services of the copying that made money, for instance building a copy of a table you bought from someone else. But with new tech starting with the printing press, it was much easier to copy things and copyright was born and has kept evolving. We now have convoluted (and unfair in my opinion) copyright law. This is why I think open source style licensing started; it is a positive market reaction to bad and overly restrictive copyright law.
However, the law is the law and I try to abide by it unless I find it conflicts with my rights or morals. This is why I choose open source software as I mentioned before. 😉
Kevin
http://opensourcechurch.com
Kevin says
I should have included this article about the morals of copyright from a theological perspective as well.
Kevin
http://opensourcechurch.com
John Saddington says
thanks for this!