I've been musing a lot lately about a number of issues, and I have not been sure where I really stand on them. I have a feeling that outlining them here would help to bring some organization to my thoughts and maybe even help lead to some conclusions.
I'll also say that my purpose is not to condemn or belittle anyone, or to promote myself. I really want to not only know what is right, but to do it. (See James 2:20) I want to have an informed position, one that I am confident is building up my Christian witness, and one that honors Christ.
I have really been avoiding the application of the 8th commandment to my life.
"You shall not steal." (Ex 20:15)
This may be surprising, but this it is much more applicable then one might first think. I think the ease, ubiquity, and acceptance of online piracy has made people (by people, I mean Micah Hausler) numb to the application of this commandment. I'll admit, I have frequently downloaded, "acquired", and "borrowed" software, music, and video that I have not paid anything for. Is this a sin? Is this wrong?
I first will say that I've never heard an argument or position that I feel holds water on the the side of using torrent sites, personal music copying (Mojo), or any other form copying copyrighted electronic data.
A frequent position is "Its there! (for the taking)" or "I don't want to pay for it", but that clearly doesn't stand up any more then trying to walk out of WalMart without paying for DVDs would.
Another position I've heard goes something like, "the artist/company makes so much money, what does me copying music over Mojo really do?" Well since you ask, lets add up the numbers. Often when you look at someone's library over Mojo, they'll have anywhere between 1,000 - 5,000 songs in their iTunes library, maybe more. Even if you were to buy all those tracks on the iTunes store, which is typically cheaper then buying the CD, that would probably cost you nearly $5000. That is $5000 that somebody is not making. I don't know about you, but if somebody took $5K from me, I'd be pretty upset. And does taking (COUGH... stealing) from someone who has lots of money make it right?
I have also heard, "I can't get this movie anywhere else!" I believe there is always another way. It may be hard to find, it may not be cheap, but there is a term for that. "Cost prohibitive." You can't always get what you want. Yea, I love watching obscure cartoons from my childhood, but does my desire to indulge nostalgia make it right?
My justification to myself has really been none of these. I have just not wanted to think about it. It has been a lot easier to float along without thinking about what I'm doing, and just focus on my own enjoyment.
Ok, so its wrong. What now?
I think the first step for myself is to stop sinning. (John 8:11) This means no more downloading. No more torrents.
The next step is even harder. Check out Luke 19 and what Zacchaeus's reaction to the gospel on his life was. I don't think his five-fold return reaction is mandated, but it shows the state of his heart. I have to give up what I've taken. This will hit my 100GB of video on my external drive, and my nearly 12GB iTunes library including 10 out of my 15 most listend to songs.
I realize I haven't even touched on the legal ramifications of all this, and I am really not even positive what they exactly are so I won't comment, but I know they are quite serious.
I will say, this is not the end of the world. There is always Hulu, Grooveshark, Pandora, OpenOffice, and Google Docs. I'll still listen to my favorite songs, watch movies, and open .doc files, but it will be a little different.
May Christ be honored in my life.
