On piracy/copyright

TLDR:
To downloaders: have a heart. The mp3's you downloaded costs sweat and tears and probably blood. Give the team responsible what they deserve to get
To entertainment decision makers: focus on how to educate, not suffocate. Punishment rarely achieves anything.

Once upon a time, like any normal teenager, I downloaded all my music, games amongst other things. I recall having a favourite saying that, "If it exists, it can be obtained from the internet... free of charge." Those were the days when I would site skip from site to site to "scab" free stuff. mp3's, videos, games, softwares... You name it.

Thinking back on those days, I did not feel remorseful. I feel great, able to get things free, whilst others have to pay for it. I was young, back then. But at the same time, I was rebellious and poor. I felt by getting things illegally made me cool and smart. I could share this knowledge with my friends and boost my epeen. However, more so than that, I did not have a lot of money. We did not have a lot of money. So when my strong desire to enjoy the good stuff, be it music or games or whatever, clashes with my then still immature morality, I ended up resorting to downloading.

As I grew older, my sense of moral fortified. I started earning my own money, and able to spend it my own way. Slowly but surely, I stopped downloading where I can obtain it legally. Clearly, circumstance were not the only factors influencing the spending behaviour. Some friends around me still download. Some no longer do.

Whilst I agree that personal sense of justice vary from person to person, education play an important part as well. I still remember one of the few episodes of television dramas, which carried an overly cliche and badly done educational message about the harm downloading/piracy (ironically in the PRC, where piracy is at its worst). From that day on, I started changing my consuming habit.

Of course, I still download mp3's and video's. My justification is that I will pay for the products that I enjoy. I still remember downloading the entire new release, whilst asking a friend to buy me the CD. I still have not got those cd yet (for one reason or another), but I ensure the content I enjoy are properly rewarded.

Piracy/Illegal downloading will still persist. What the entertainment giants need is not tougher penalty laws to penalise those who do download, because the rebellious nature of teenagers will always lead them to find an alternative. What urgently needed is the (right) education that a job well done should be rewarded accordingly. Once this idea seeps through the next generation, then the method of delivering entertainment media can be a lot more open as well.