Illegal downloading, i have done plenty of that

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 7:54 pm

According to the bible, illegal downloading should be a sin im afraid.
Ive done lots of illegal downloading. Maybe 80% of my computer is illegal.

Has anyone thought about this before?

Jac3510 · Post by **Jac3510** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 7:53 pm

A couple of times in the past, but I got convicted the same way. If it's not 100% legal, I don't do it anymore

Prodigal Son · Post by **Prodigal Son** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 10:26 pm

i illegally download--alot of it is now christian music! of course i feel guilty. still, it's kind of not really illegal. it's just people putting their music on their computer and then giving it to you--sharing. how is that really illegal? if i recorded a song off the radio on a tape (like the old days) and then you copied my tape, would that be illegal?

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:28 am

Yeah but the same will go for all files that are shared.
I think this is my most pervasive sin because illegal downloading gives me so much. I have heard music i wouldnt be able to hear otherwise.

Prodigal Son · Post by **Prodigal Son** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:51 am

so, you think it's a sin? i can't decide myself. if i didn't download it i wouldn't buy it and then i would miss out on it enriching my life...

i'll ask some of my christian friends what they think.

Mastermind · Post by **Mastermind** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 2:35 pm

I still think it's wrong to take something which is not yours(physical or otherwise). Unless you are completely broke, and you know for sure you wouldn't buy their music(which you don't, unless you're God), you should try to avoid it whenever possible. I try to keep my illegal downloading restricted to games and music I can't buy in stores(older stuff in other words).

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 1:49 pm

I don't really mind. A lot of my stuff is illegally down;oaded, but it's not like I download any bad stuff.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 6:37 am

I really don't see how it could be legal or right to download copyrighted music. Just because you are broke doesn't mean you should steal things. I can't afford a car, don't have any credit yet to buy one, but I'm not going to steal one.
Also just because it's on someone's computer doesn't mean it's legal or right. If someone stole two shirts from a store and decided he would like to "share" with you and give you one, would you take it? (and you know it's been stolen)

I used to download copyrighted music, not a whole lot but I still did. But I never thought it was a just thing to do. It makes you feel so much better to just buy what you want instead of downloading it illegally. And if you don't want to buy whole albums there are ways to buy a song at a time with iTunes or the other dozen or so companies that offer it. I think walmart.com sells individual songs for 88 cents each.

If you want free legal songs though, find some sites that host songs for unsigned artists. One place to go is http://music.download.com

JBirdAngel · Post by **JBirdAngel** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 1:52 pm

im up in the air about this as well, i used to do it, but am not really sure if its right anymore, while i do not feel it is stealing, because you truely are not taking something from someone else, as they still have it, so i dont think that downloading stuff falls under one of God's commandments, but that it does more apply to the fact that God says we should follow the laws of the land, which i might point out that i have realized, unfortunatly, means speeding as well is not right by God, while it is not a sin per say, it is not right to do, so as speeding is against the law it is against God in ways as well, so we shouldnt speed really.

I too however fail to see the differnce, it is said that its illegal to download it or to burn DVDs, yet what is the difference as someone already said between recording a movie on tv, editing out the commercials and burning it to a DVD, really not much, and if you rent a dvd first and then burn it, you are still paying for it in a way, and you are not stealing something as you are not taking something that someone else then cannot use, and for some things its not like they would get money from you anyways, and its not like they dont have enough money to eat in most cases.

Also though copyright infringment is very techinical, i may be wrong, but i believe that if you bought a movie, copied it and gave it out to all your friends, that is not illegal, it only becomes illegal if they give you moeny for it or something else of value, i think the technicallity online mostly is that you download a song from one person and give it to another...

so i dunno, but also i was wondering about food that we eat if its ok to eat meet and so on, Jesus says it doesnt matter what you eat, but it also says in the Bible that if your faith leads you to question if what you are eating is right or not and you still eat what you feel might not be right that youa re then sinning, which means that i have sinned in this way i think, though i try to realize that Jesus said it doesnt amtter and not worry about it.

I think the point then is that if we get to a point which we are at where our faith leads us to question if illegal downloading is right or not, then to continue doing it means its not right for us, which means that i still sin in this way as well... and its sillly because its a convenience factor, and so i dont do anything about it... but i dont know... i mean if you rent a dvd and burn it, you still pay for it, is it really illegal, im not sure that its illegal, is it really against God, i dont know that either...

One important point i think though, that im not sure how it fits into all of this that Jesus came so we are free from the law, we are not salves to it, to be slaves to the law would mean we would have to worry about every move we make and everything we do, everything we do falls short of God's glory, so perhaps we need to not worry about these aspects so much and instead focus on our relationship with Jesus and what it is that we are doing for Him in our lives.

Mastermind · Post by **Mastermind** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 2:13 pm

jbird, read the license agreement. The most copies you are allowed to make is one for yourself. Giving it to your friends for free is not legal, nor is it fair. By using somebody else's product, you are using their hard work. I highly doubt God would approve of somebody reaping the benefits for somebody else's work for free. Whether it's a farmer growing food or an artist making music, it's still work, and it's only fair that they get paid for it.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 1:00 am

There's nothing wrong with sharing files, it's not "stealing". When someone is a victim of theft, they no longer have something they rightfully owned. Now if I produce music, and someone is sharing it, I still have my master copy. What has been stolen?

By the way, I hear authors are all upset about these places that have been "sharing" their books, and not giving them a dime in royalties. If you are so concerned about "sharing" being equated with stealing, you better burn your library card!

Mastermind · Post by **Mastermind** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 12:17 pm

I've heard no such thing. I think libraries pay the authors royalties anyway. If you think getting free stuff somebody else worked hard to make is OK, that's your problem.

Mastermind · Post by **Mastermind** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 12:18 pm

And just for the record, I don't use libraries. I rarely read, and if I need a book, I buy it.

Deborah · Post by **Deborah** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 5:02 pm

Chris wrote:There's nothing wrong with sharing files, it's not "stealing". When someone is a victim of theft, they no longer have something they rightfully owned. Now if I produce music, and someone is sharing it, I still have my master copy. What has been stolen?

By the way, I hear authors are all upset about these places that have been "sharing" their books, and not giving them a dime in royalties. If you are so concerned about "sharing" being equated with stealing, you better burn your library card!

Um it's taking money from the the artist/programmer/whomever
as for a book, you take the book from the libary then you take it back and somelse can take it out and take it back. So we are talking one book that has been purchased to be loaned out and returned, not one book that has been purchased and used to photocopy more copies of that same book. Since the books in a public libary are owned by the local government authority, they are also owned by us the tax/rate payers.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 7:53 am

Mastermind wrote:I've heard no such thing.

It's called "reductio ad absurdum"

I think libraries pay the authors royalties anyway.

What you think is WRONG.

If you think getting free stuff somebody else worked hard to make is OK, that's your problem.

It's called FREEDOM. When I buy a computer, I'm free to put what I want on the hard drive. What is on my hard drive doesn't take anything away from what's on your hard drive.
So I should pay if I turn on my radio? Or if I hear someone humming a song, and it gets into my head and I start humming it, I should pay the artist for his hard work? Ridiculous.

Yes, there are commandments against stealing. Stealing is wrong. But in order for it to be theft, something has to be taken from the victim. If you have a car, and I have a way to make a perfect copy of your car, and drive it myself, are you a victim of theft? C'mon people, think for yourselves!!!

Evidence for God from Science

Illegal downloading, i have done plenty of that

Illegal downloading, i have done plenty of that

downloading a sin?