Do you use torrents to illegally download media and/or software?

No – I don’t watch any media illegally.

No; we purchase our music downloads, and watch videos from Amazon, iTunes or Netflix – if not on Netflix or Amazon Prime, we pay the rental fee. We know enough creative people that we like to support the creative industry – this is especially true for music, because many of the artists we follow are not well-known and don’t have big-budget studios behind them. We try to purchase music through links on the artist’s site, if they offer alternatives to the larger media outlets.

We go to see movies in the theater pretty often too, as we have a great indie cinema near us, and we like to support that part of the industry. In our consumerist society, I believe we vote with our dollars as much as – if not more than – we vote at the election booth. This is one of the reasons we also try to buy as much of our food as we can directly from the farmers.

No, not because I’m sanctimonious, I want:

* High-quality media. For movies, I either watch HD or Blu-Ray. I don’t watch anything that is SD or even DVDs and the sound must be at least 5.1. I’m not going to watch/listen crap just to save a few bucks. Along the same wise, that’s why I bought a Macbook Pro with a Retina display—I want visual perfection. I have a thousand dollar receiver and a multi-thousand dollar sound system. I expect (and get) audio/visual perfection.

* I don’t want to deal with any malware. That’s a biggie with me. I’m not going to take any chances no matter how remote.

* For software, I want support. If there’s a problem, I call and expect answers. Good luck getting support for stolen software.

On the other hand, some stuff is so stupidly overpriced that they deserve to get their shit stolen left and right and I don’t feel a twinge of sympathy for them.

Once upon a time there was a superb programming package that was priced so low, it became known informally as “too cheap to steal”. I bought several copies (one for each of my computers since I needed the book) and I wouldn’t have dreamed of giving away a copy (no copy protection.

Another software package I bought gives me unbelievable good support. If I have any type of problems, the developer will email me back within hours. I wouldn’t be surprised if they would answer a question about how to fix a squeaky door. Although it’s a multi-hundred dollar package, I wouldn’t dream of stealing or giving it away (again, no software protection).

No. I switched to streaming and rapidshare-clones.

Yes. I steal pretty much everything. And I don’t try to justify it. I know it is wrong and I don’t really care.

Sure, all the time. If the content providers made stuff available in one place at a reasonable price, I would be happy to pay $10–15/month for things that I download.

But the providers have fragmented the sources (how many different services are there for download – not streaming?), and how much to they wrap it in their DRM?

Give me a good selection and a good price, and I will happily pay for it.

I pay 40 a month for a server in Canada that runs rutorrent and Plex. It streams to my computer, TV, and phone. Commercial free and I get stuff on east coast time. I can watch three hours before it airs here.

If Comcast offered a similar service I would happily pay 100 a month for it. Running a server is a bitch and I would rather not do it.

@johnpowell: “I know it is wrong and I don’t really care.”

Well….at least you’re honest about it.

@elbanditoroso – So, you feel it is ok because you don’t find the price reasonable? I’m assuming this relationship to paying or not paying only applies to digital? Do you feel you are owed this content in some way, and that it is only right that you take it for free?

Once upon a time I did, but a combination of two things caused me to stop. One was the flurry of reports a few years ago about all the lawsuits being brought against companies and individuals engaged in illegal downloading, and the other was the guilt inflicted on me by my brother with his constant nagging not to do it. Nowadays I pay for everything.

I don’t. Contrary to popular belief, I am not into pirating. However, I really don’t give a shit who does it. It’s more of a personal thing, rather than issues of morality or legality.

Like @Naked_Whale_Tamer says, I also like to see my stuff with good quality. Has to have a good picture. I’m not as picky as him though, as I enjoy a lot of DVD’s. I have a PlayStation 3 and 4, however as far as movies go, I haven’t made the jump to Bluray yet, unless it’s a digital version from PSN, which I don’t recall ever actually seeing, so…their HD versions aren’t exactly Bluray yet.

I have pirated a movie once though, Cannibal Holocaust. I was dying to see it, and could find it nowhere. So I said fuck it, and torrented it. (which took forever because I had no idea how this worked) Otherwise though, ah gets mah shit fair n square.

I have and will continue to do so. And, no, I don’t care to justify it. We live in a society that worships the market and I’m going with the lowest market price available to me.