QOTD: Do You Think the Word 'Piracy' is Too Sexy?
Anti-piracy advocates say the word piracy needs to be changed because as it stands, it makes the act of pirating seem too cool.
Speaking at a recent press conference, Agnete Haaland, the president of the International Actors' Federation, said that the word 'piracy' is too adventurous and reminds people of Johnny Depp.
"We should change the word piracy," Haaland said. "To me, piracy is something adventurous, it makes you think about Johnny Depp. We all want to be a bit like Johnny Depp. But we're talking about a criminal act. We're talking about making it impossible to make a living from what you do."
Reuters reports that Agnete was speaking at a press conference organized for the unveiling of a report that showed 1.2 million jobs in the European Union could be lost over the next five years if more is not done to clamp down on illegal downloading. However, she does raise an interesting point about the terms we use to identify people who download illegal content.
"There are a million other words you could use for file-sharing ... Piracy was chosen to frame the issue as inherently negative," said Jeremy de Beer, an associate professor of law at the University of Ottawa. "So it's fascinating that people now are suggesting piracy is sexy — as if you're an outlaw, a rebel, with positive attributes."
"Half the battle is the framing, which is what leads people down different paths in terms of understanding and forming a basic response," said Gabriella Coleman, an assistant professor in the department of media, culture and communication at New York University. "I've been expecting this (about-face) for years. I couldn't believe it when the copyright industry chose to use a term like piracy, which is extremely two-sided."
Today's Question of the Day is: Do you think changing the word pirate to something with more negative connotations, like thief, would deter people inclined to download music and movies?
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get a real job, how the hell is acting advancing the human race?
Pirates shud be known as public enemies. Oh wait...
I don't think it matters that much what we call pirates and even if it does the term piracy/pirates will live on anyway. I'm not sure that calling someone a thief deters people from stealing that much anyway. If they need/want to steal they'll do it no matter what they're branded as.
Theif reminds me of Zidane from Final Fantasy IX. Not as well known as good ol' Jack Sparrow... sorry, Captain Jack Sparrow, but he's still pretty cool.
Priracy != Filesharing. Please, someone terminate this man for the sake of humanity. For some reason altruism is wrong in his mind.
Maybe they should call it "child rape" or something, if they're going to go down the path of labelling things based on how they want them to be percieved rather than what they actually are.
Oh wait, they're already doing that when they call copyright infringement "stealing" or "theft" when it's a totally seperate matter, both legally and morally.
well now, piracy is not sexy, and we know what that word characters.
problem is that we are using that word for something it is not done.
people earning money from stolen property is a thief and i pirate, but people that are sharing things that they own are not. you can quote me laws and bs agreements, but things need to change. so word piracy is zexy today, because we dont STEEL.
umm, thats f**king retarded.
"Oh i download music because i just love being a pirate, its so cool."
umm, thats f**king retarded. "Oh i download music because i just love being a pirate, its so cool."
i payed for that song over and over again, trough taxes, tv subscriptions, when i purchase it on tape, cd, mp3 format. how many time do i need to pay for it!¨!!!! same is whit video, the only thing that is not fair to download is games.
It's way too late.... While you can change what the officials call it, everyone is still going to refer to it as piracy!
I suppose what they could do is remind those that do think like such that software pirates look very unlike Johnny Depp...
Still - stupid idea. It's like when some women's rights group at my uni tried to tell everyone to start using the word c**t in a good way....
Do I think the term 'pirate' is sexy? Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
If pirates are thieves – which is legally incorrect anyway – then the RIAA/MPAA and friends are the mafia. Pot, kettle. I've played guitar my whole life, I'm not a rockstar – I've got a real profession. My girlfriend is an artist; some months she sells her paintings and fabrics, some months she gets nothing. She doesn't go around blaming the world for owing her a steady – and preferably large – paycheck. Maybe a handful of people can survive on acting, doing art or making music alone, all the rest should just grow up and get a real profession next to their respective passion. Not everyone can be rich and famous. Some musicians and actors have had a wild ride for the better part of a century, now the game is over for lots of them while society and technology evolve. One would almost wish for another all-out world war to teach younger generations (such as my own) to get their hands dirty and fight for survival, being happy when there's food to be had instead of failing to grow up and keep on living in an infantile dream world.
Short answer, No.
Longer answer, No, because people who are braking copyright laws by downloading music, films etc for personal user (note, this is not illegal in every country) aren't little kids who will change there mind about it just because they call it something different.
Always good to see another one side report funded by the people who have a vested interest in what it says.
Terrorists, that's it, since it's such a popular word.
eye patches, bad teeth and amputated limbs are sexy? freak.
I was chatting to a friend the other day who works for Codemasters, and he was telling me of someone who applied for a job but had he criminal conviction "piracy" listed on his application. Obviously this had to be questioned...
His response? "It's piracy of the high seas!"
Turns out he'd got drunk and decided to steal a boat to take a shortcut home across a small bay and got caught by the coastguard!
Not entirely relevant, but sure made me laugh!
aarrrrrr!! yer skallywags be forgetting pirate talk!! t' sexiest language in t' seven seas! T' aayet way t' bed many a lass ! Yo ho ho!
Software ninja?
Music ninja?
Film ninja?
Even I'm tempted to start illegal downloading if I can be a ninja!
I've been trying to think of a term that describes people who download films, tv and music. I've come up with the snappy and memorable "everyone"
Cheers,
Kyser Soze
I know. Corsair, same thing as pirates but no johnny depp