The internet has brought many things, but some of them aren’t always good, such as in the case of illegitimate movie downloads. Because they are so common, it is easy to access them without ever getting caught. Ask any young person confidentially and they will likely admit to downloading movies whether for their friends or for their own pleasure at home.
There’s a big difference between illegal downloads and watching personal video on YouTube and other video sharing sites. In the latter, the owner of the video makes a conscious choice to publish what he has produced.
However, major Hollywood films and other movies are owned by the people that make them, and the people who post them online for your use are stealing them from the owners.
The problem is that a lot of people think the only ones who are doing anything really wrong are the people doing the actual uploading and that those who are only watching the videos, are innocent. However, it only takes a brief look at legal statements released by the Motion Picture Association of America, the MPAA, to know how very untrue that belief is.
You might not ever realize the amount of harm you could be doing in downloading movies illegally. For, you, understandably, it’s just a great chance to save some money and get a movie that hasn’t even been released on DVD. But again, these are stolen goods, and getting them online is just as bad as if you went up to someone and bought pirated copies of them on the street.
If all the people who did illegal downloading were caught, prisons would be filled with them and the amount of fines being paid by others would add to a huge amount of money.
Rather discouraging, however, it has done little to raise the concerns of most people, who continue to do what they want.
The fact is, many people just never consider those lowly employees in the movie industry when they download movies. All they know is that they’re getting something they want and that they have very little chance of being discovered doing it. This should be considered justification for this behavior, but unfortunately, in too many cases, it is acceptable.
Try to understand how the people who work on movies feel. They live on the money they make from the film, and they won’t make any when somebody downloads a movie as opposed to buying it.
Imagine if you were in their shoes. Knowing how frustrating it would be will hopefully make you more sympathetic.
People might tell you that downloading movies is okay because you’re only hurting actors, directors, and executives who make too much money already. Don’t listen to them. The majority of workers are underpaid staff and extras, and they need your money, too. Stop having to feel guilty and avoid downloading movies illegally once and for all.
