Part 1 of this engrossing series is here.
I think all my digital wares are officially 100% legal at this point. I went through our MP3 collection and purged everything Lynn and I didn’t specifically own (and probably a few things we actually did because neither of us would ‘fess up to ever buying it), and wound up saving quite a bit of diskspace on Henry, our faithful multipurpose Linux server.
I don’t have any more software I shouldn’t have, and… well…? Did I get rid of the DVDs I copied? I think I threw them out… or will next time I see them, at any rate….
Anyway, the temptation to steal is still there, but it’s easier when there are clear-cut rules in place. Like, if it’s not free, pay for it. Or… if it can only be used on one computer, use it only on one computer. My rules are very mathematical in nature… 1 is always 1, and there’s no thinking involved.
My trouble, as expected, has been all the gray areas between the clearly defined equations. Like, a friend of mine lent me a game, and actually gave me the original factory media, etc., but he still has the game installed on his machine at the moment. Is it my responsibility to rectify that? And folks are always giving me copies of things. That one isn’t sooo hard… I mean, the copies go in the trash, sure… but how do I gently remind these people (which I’ve done on multiple occasions) that I don’t want to be party to copyright violation? Sometimes it’s through great effort that these gifts are made… is it worth hurting their feelings? I don’t have any desire to do that either, but I can’t very well hide behind one ideal while I disregard another.
So… call me a wonk, or a stick-in-the-mud… or worse, if you prefer… but keep your pirate booty to yourself!
Thanks, though. It’s the thought of petty larceny that counts. 🙂
A tangential part 3 of this series is here.