Is downloading a sin?

Kostilaks said:

can it count as borrowing something, forever?

I am confused. i cant understand if it is a sin or not.

I mean, there is a game that I want to play. I would never pay to play it, because I think, it does not worth the money. But I would like to play it when I am bored.

I know, if downloading did not exist, I may have paid 60 euros to buy it, so, with that thinking, it may count as stealing 60 euros? But, I am not that interested to pay 60 euros.

So, even if I do not download it, the company will not get money. I do not know if I am justifying sin.

Click to expand...

If it is for sale by the rightful owners, and you do not pay for it, you are stealing. Also putting people out of work. And encouraging sin in the losers that do these sorts of things.

Kostilaks said:

i do not think i put people out of work

Click to expand...

How does the product exist if people aren't paid for making it? People depend on it for a living.

Kostilaks said:

can it count as borrowing something, forever?

I am confused. i cant understand if it is a sin or not.

I mean, there is a game that I want to play. I would never pay to play it, because I think, it does not worth the money. But I would like to play it when I am bored.

I know, if downloading did not exist, I may have paid 60 euros to buy it, so, with that thinking, it may count as stealing 60 euros? But, I am not that interested to pay 60 euros.

So, even if I do not download it, the company will not get money. I do not know if I am justifying sin.

Click to expand...

are you talking about downloading pirated content? although there is an argument that pirated content increases market saturation which can increase legitimate sales it still is a form of stealing regardless of how you justify it.

this may be an eye-roller for you but our actions should reflect in some capacity positive impact towards Christ and if you're unable to do this than I think you already know your answer (which you probably did before you made this thread).

I engage in NPO (not-for-profit) work where budgets are low and software is too expensive so it is very tempting to just get the pirated version and you justify it because you're doing something good so the "stealing" part is ok. What this also means is it makes the NPO not sustainable because with a simple update all the pirated software may be rendered useless and you're forced to either find an alternative or buy the product which may halt the NPO's activity because you can't afford to buy it. This is the moral fault of the person who chose the pirated software and had they made the choice from the beginning to run honestly regardless if it still is showdown or activity halted because of lack of funding this is not the moral fault of the person who chose to run honestly.

if morals like honesty are true then either they are always true or else they are relative and are based on if you deem them to be true or not which is a utilitarianism view where you do whatever is needed to keep the most people happy. For you since downloading games doesn't make anyone unhappy and it makes you happy it is justified because no one is getting hurt.

This topic is approached in Kant's Axe, a moral philosopher, who argues that if something like lying is wrong, then it is always wrong no matter what the consequence where a utilitarianism view would allow you to lie so long as the cause is worthy enough. Some may think Kant goes too far and we should be able to lie when it's appropriate but then how is that line drawn? When we never lie, whatever the consequence it is not from rolling the die from a relative judgement that it happened and we are morally absolved from the consequences no matter how harsh.


This may seem too intense for you're pirated game problem. But you are pirating a game and playing it because you are bored otherwise the game isn't worth buying. So what happens when life changes for you and you no longer have access to content like this and are forced to buy? all of a sudden your personal budget goes up per month and maybe you can't afford this or your have to drop something else in order to do it. it may create a domino type effect and have negative consequences on your life and those closest to you. If you live within your means and honestly today then whatever happens tomorrow won't be the result of the dishonest choices you make today even if they are negative. This is just sustainable living and it is good to practice on a personal level because believe it or not getting everything you want on-demand isn't a good way of living.

Kostilaks said:

since, they make millions, they probably, never run out of work.

Click to expand...

So stealing is OK? You are still putting people out of work.

There are alternatives. Some games are available as free software. Maybe you don't see any of them as quite as exciting, but they should still help relieve your boredom.

People make these games available for free, because they want as many people as possible to play them. You are encouraged to report any problem using the game or suggestions for improvement, which may help make the game better for everyone. You can also donate money, in which case you decide how important it is to you to help the game improve and how much to budget for that.

Kostilaks said:

since, they make millions, they probably, never run out of work.

Click to expand...

You seem to not know very much about the gaming industry. There's not much job stability there, it's essentially project-to-project for many of the staff. You do not make millions of dollars being a game developer or artist. The company you work for might make millions of dollars, but there is quite a bit of expense involved in a brick-and-mortar game development operation - computers, electricity, paying the developers, paying the artists, paying the marketing people, paying the legal team, etc. The reality is that most game developers do not make big money and they do not have steady employment and they do work long hours to put out games that people are expected to pay for so that they can be paid.