I would first and foremost like to say that I thoroughly enjoy the arguments in favor of piracy. I adore the argument that somehow since the object is still available to others it is not theft. The argument stated on another thread was, if you will allow me to paraphrase, that downloading the discography of The Beatles is not theft because the act has not stopped other people from being able to obtain it. Well done sirs! Unfortunately the fact is that theft does not necessarily preclude others from also having that item. Theft is merely the act of taking something from someone else without their freely-given consent. Even though other people can still get the discography of The Beatles and you have not successfully squirreled away the entirety of their musical output, you are still a thief.

I also enjoy the idea that piracy is a direct reaction to the video game industry, "telling your your business". The characterization of the game or music industry as some sort of crazy tyrant is, at least on some level, absurd. They are tyrannical in their efforts to stop piracy not because of some inborn and genetic fear of the boogeyman. It is because you, and I, are the boogeyman. We wait silently in closets and under beds waiting to steal away the fruits of their efforts and have our ways with them.

It is not that I am against piracy. What I am against is the half-hearted defenses my fellow pirates seem to be willing to toss up. Gentlemen the chaff does not work this time. We are villainous. The time has come to admit to it. We are not great men stealing from overbearing and controlling monsters. We are petty thieves. As I see it our choices are simple. Throw yourself headlong into the void and bathe in the dark waters of piracy, or become decent reputable gentlemen and women of society.