Are we a Culture of Theft?

edwardspoonhands:

So, I noticed a funny thing while on the Tour de Nerdfighting. Not only was the biggest cheer of the night for the part where I stuck “Benedict Cumberbatch” into Book 8, but pretty much everyone had seen season two of Sherlock.

Don’t get me wrong, I had also seen season two (or should I says “series two”) of Sherlock. John, however, had not. This is either because John actually doesn’t believe in piracy, or because he can’t be bothered the extra trouble of piracy.

See, there is no legal way to acquire season two of Sherlock in America, so every one of those people wearing “I believe in sherlock” shirts were theives, at least in the eyes of the law. Also, y’know, in the eyes of rational people who understand intellectual property.

John got into a kinda big fight with one girl at one of the events. She kept insisting that she’d watched it legally. John was like “Oh, were you in the UK?” Eventually, she was like “I streamed it, it’s totally legal.” AGH! What?! Streaming is just downloading without the saving.

To be clear, unless you flew to the United Kingdom or ordered a Region Two DVD from Amazon.co.uk (and a Region 2 DVD player along with it) you have not legally watched Sherlock in America.

So, yes, I and all of the rest of the American Sherlock fans stole the series. I’m willing to bet that a healthy number of us have done this with other UK series…QI, Dr. Who, Downton Abbey, etc.

The question is, why do we do it? There are plenty of television shows in the good ol’ USA. But apparently our appetites cannot be satiated by such droll pastimes.

I have a theory about this, and please correct me if I’m wrong.

We want to work for it. If it’s being dumped into our houses on that fat coaxial pipe, it seems like a bore. “Anybody can watch those shows…that can’t possibly be cool!” we think. We’re not those people…we know about better programming…something that normal Americans can’t access because they aren’t part of our culture and don’t have our knowhow.

Acquiring Sherlock could potentially be a days-long affair (especially now with Megaupload gone.) Networks of people sharing links and flash drives and burned DVDs, convincing each other that it’s worth it, and then enjoying the fruits of their labor when it’s done.

Buying something? Meh…again, boring. There’s a twinge of adventure in going after content that hasn’t been sanctioned for viewing by you. A bit of a “shove it up your bum” kinda feeling. Like we’re rubbing their old broken system in their face just a bit more. And that, maybe more than the content, is what really makes us love it.

I’m not saying the show isn’t fantastic…it totally is. But I think a big part of the interest of our little corner of the internet is beyond entertainment, it’s cultural, almost a rite, something to go through. And if you don’t have the right mindset or the right abilities then you miss out and the whisper of that sub-culture takes over…maybe you’re not one of us.

Nerdfighteria is like that as well…you have to work to be part of it. You couldn’t fit all of the inside jokes into a 200 page book. And there are other internet cultures with the same barriers to entry. Homestuck is a great example. At this point, if you don’t have a good 40 hours of time to spare, you’re never gonna get Homestuck.

It’s part of the new way cultures are being defined, and it’s pretty pervasive among internet-enabled young people. I would prefer that theft not be a part of that, but I actually don’t seem to care that much.

And that’s a little worrying.

TL;DR: We download / steal unavailable content not because it is the best content, but because we have to work for it and only a small number of people will do that work. For that reason, we can use that as a test with which to define our sub-culture. But I don’t know what it means that that sub-cultural entrance involves not only work…but theft.

I don’t know if that’s the case for most people, but for me it’s a bit different. I do download a lot of british shows, but I don’t have any access to them in a legal way. I really like how they do television in Britain and I don’t usually find things that I enjoy watching in brazilian tv, so I download the foreign shows.

But I also feel really bad about it and I buy region 2 dvds everytime I have the extra money to do it, even though I don’t have a region 2 dvd player and a british pound is worth three brazilian reais, which makes the dvds a bit pricey. I want to give my money and time to things that I actually like and think are worth it, not just sit and accept that here we have a tv culture that is awfully repetitive and scared to death of change and there’s nothing that can be done about it.

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fringewithbenedicts reblogged this from lacuna1024 and added:

This is definitely an interesting read, and I do quite agree with most things said here.
lacuna1024 reblogged this from akapine006 and added:

AGREE STRONGLY with most of what akapine006 said. And all in all, an interesting issue to think about =).
wanderingandfound reblogged this from edwardspoonhands and added:

Hank, I love you, but you are assuming Sherlock (and Doctor Who) are the only television shows we do this to. You’re...
romanticofthehopelessvariety reblogged this from edwardspoonhands
jayeryane reblogged this from browneyednonsense
browneyednonsense reblogged this from hashtag-wholock and added:

^ yeah. I agree with the comment above.
hashtag-wholock reblogged this from edwardspoonhands and added:

respect your theory and all,...and watched it. And also Benedict Cumberbatch.
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nightsinwonderland reblogged this from excitableocelot and added:

This is exactly why I don’t buy the whole “if we make it illegal enough pirating will stop” thing. I don’t do it because...
excitableocelot reblogged this from edwardspoonhands and added:

In reply to Hank’s post on SHERLOCK. Honestly,...just feel like most
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meghanagain reblogged this from edwardspoonhands and added:

do with ownership. If “being a fan” is about enjoying something very much, “fandom” is
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nerdeebirdee reblogged this from edwardspoonhands and added:

really interesting point. I’m not sure...only reason that people watch shows illegally...
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realmaco reblogged this from edwardspoonhands and added:

player? My laptop came from...manufacturer set...region 0...
impressionableyouth reblogged this from haleykrunk and added:

I totally agree - it’s not about the theft, it’s not about having to do the work, it’s because I find damn good shows...
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haleykrunk reblogged this from edwardspoonhands and added:

i disagree. have...seen american acting?...atrocious. also,...
boney-eyes-jefferson reblogged this from edwardspoonhands and added:

Very interesting commentary. I Think It’s ture. I wonder what it means for us as a generation or society?
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