I’ve been on the internet for a majority of my life, at first I always found shareware/freeware and that which is known as open-source general public or copyleft software, like Linux, as I do not have a lot of money. As time went on I started to use p2p programs to download shareware and freeware, but noticed that there were some files on these p2p programs that were the full version of the program, so I became slowly conditioned into downloading it without payment telling myself at first “I’ll use it for a short time and delete it” thinking that this way I am ethically and morally sound in my judgment.
I had more and more become at ease with the idea of downloading music or programs for free, it became second nature and I even argued as to why it should be free, I stopped deleting the files after a short time and would argue why it’s more “sharing” than piracy, but now today I question my ideas on this matter, I’ve started to buy my music now, to rent or buy my movies, and to watch them in the theaters, however, there are often software programs I simply cannot afford and I feel torn between the side of me that believes it is ethically sound to download, and the side that believes it is not okay.
laws can be corrupt, laws can be unfair or absolutely make no sense at times, legal or not, I prefer to operate by ethics and morals. I fear that my past ideas may have been unethical and ignorant but I can’t be sure.
I would appreciate everyone’s views on this matter. Why it is okay if it is, why it is wrong if it is.
I thank you all in advance for your insight, flames, or support.
