Monday, September 3, 2007

The Anti-Piracy Manifesto


The Anti-Piracy Manifesto

I am a man.
A man who refuses to steal from those I don't know.
I refuse to steal copyrighted material like music, movies, or software.
I will not use the usual excuses:
"The companies are rich and rip us off,"
"I'll probably eventually buy it,"
"It's only illegal if I'm caught," or
"The technology has left the companies behind."
I will respect both the law and the artists who's livelihood depends on the sale of their work.
Whether an artist is rich or poor, he doesn't deserve to be stolen from.
A company, however corrupt has the right to charge whatever they want for a movie or song.
I may be tempted by the ease of ripping a song,
And I may be tempted to watch a movie before it's released on video.
But for the sake of "Thou shalt not steal" I will refrain.
For the sake of following Christ I will not give in, though everyone else "is doing it."
Nothing justifies stealing.
Nothing.

May Light increase!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey, I like this! I got harassed for years...still do actually...for taking a stand like this. Curious...did you come up with this yourself?

Mark said...

Yeah, I made it up myself. It seems like everyone I know copies stuff - but I am 100% convinced it is wrong (unless given permission of course). I have never lost this argument yet! I find most Christians who pirate (ie steal) realize their justifications are weak, they just choose to do it anyway . . .