Oh, as for "pooling", I do know that folks on 4chan buy pdfs, remove any DRM, whether watermarks or whatever else, and then distribute them, but that's no different than pirating most other media (someone has to buy the CD to rip into a torrent, after all).

I know my superhero RPG Hearts & Souls has been pirated. I think that's pretty silly. If a 9.95 PDF is a bother--how do you afford having the internet?

Thanks a lot for the info and input, everyone and especially to you Pseudo. Those are the kinds of leads I need to follow up on this story.

Let's go ahead and open this thread up. I have the info I need. I'll start with my opinion (which will also lead into why I think finding out more about this scene is relevant).

In the big picture, I think capitalism and private property needs to evolve into something more suited to the technology as it exists today and generally it's the producers, especially the big industries, that are actively holding it back because they don't have the foresight and courage to change. I have no sympathy for the music industry.

On the other hand, given the basic economic system we live in now, when someone works hard to produce something, they should receive some value for that. I really can not understand how you could consciously take the hard work of an individual or a few individuals and not pay them for it. This is what I want to understand. Are the people doing this just ignorant (or lying to themselves) and basically avoid facing the ethics of their behaviour or have they really thought it out and have a reasonable argument?

When it's just some kids downloading every rpg they can find the same way I have to post in endless gaming message boards, I can understand the behaviour. But when people are organized enough to actively pool their money, strip watermarks or DRM from PDFs or professionally scan hardcopies, it seems that you are either dealing with ideologues or criminals. But what a paltry criminal enterprise!

I totally don't buy an affordability argument either. I would bet that the majority of people who pirate PDFs actually can afford to pay for them.

Now, there are valid reasons to download PDFs and I actually believe that in our hobby the positive results of having a pirated PDF out there outweigh the negative. There are people who download PDF's to get a feel for the game, or who already own the hardcopy but need it in digital form (though this is happening less and less as smart companies give out their PDFs in bundles or with hardcopy purchase) or who get it for their players to have as a reference. I suspect many of those activities lead to actual purchases of the game.

Wow. Pseudo wasn't exaggerating. Check this thread out. It's like some arms bazaar in Mogadishu or something!

Personally, I see file sharing as a 21st century extension of what libraries were created for. Most people that use libraries would be seen as "pirates" if there hadn't already been a long standing tradition in our society for their use.

I, and many other students, get free internet through our universities. Beyond that, I can just drive over to Starbucks for the free wifi. Like pseudo I have a friend who has done some downloading, but he has bought everything he has downloaded after the fact.

Dude, it's the same people. It is the kids downloading everything they can who are tech savvy enough to strip watermarks out. I actually described the real process used earlier in this thread. Edit: I'm paraphrasing an actual post I read two days ago explaining how to do it on 4chan.



Yes, that's the point.

Holy hell, that is out of control.

It's pretty awesome.

A lot of CDs actually end up up on filesharing before they hit the market anywhere in the world. Some months before they are released commercially.

The big question in some industries is not whether the work will be pirated but when.