In short: what's rebellious when you're a young kid operating at the margins becomes tyrannical and oppressive when performed at massive scale by an elite upper class (hackers today). Piracy is no longer a "countercultural" act. It's more akin to labor union busting -- helping beggar content creators so content distribution mills can "monetize" their stuff for free.
Comments
I agree. I posted this a while back around here talking about music piracy.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8743310
In short: what's rebellious when you're a young kid operating at the margins becomes tyrannical and oppressive when performed at massive scale by an elite upper class (hackers today). Piracy is no longer a "countercultural" act. It's more akin to labor union busting -- helping beggar content creators so content distribution mills can "monetize" their stuff for free.