Piracy is morally correct, actually.

Summary

The video script explores the moral complexities surrounding piracy as a form of media preservation, particularly in an age where companies often shut down servers, erase digital-only content, or restrict access to media due to licensing and regional issues. It highlights the efforts of individuals and organizations who go to great lengths to preserve games and shows that may no longer be available through official channels. The narrative suggests that in many cases, piracy is not theft, but a necessary step to safeguard media that would otherwise be lost forever, given the limitations of official archiving methods.

Takeaways

• 😀 Piracy is increasingly seen as a moral choice for preservation and accessibility in a world where media is disappearing due to licensing issues and digital store shutdowns.
• 🎮 The Completionist project spent $20,000 to legally obtain and archive over 2,300 games from the 3DS and Wii U shops before they were shut down, highlighting the difficulty in preserving digital media.
• 📱 Piracy often arises from regional licensing restrictions, high prices, or censorship, making it an alternative for consumers who can’t access the media legally in their region.
• 💻 Online-only games like Ubisoft’s The Crew and live-service games like Destiny 2 present challenges to preservation as they rely on servers that may be shut down, rendering the game unplayable even if purchased.
• 📀 Archiving media is an ongoing challenge due to the decay of physical storage formats like VHS, DVDs, and hard drives, with no foolproof method for long-term preservation.
• 🔓 Piracy, through methods like peer-to-peer networks, helps preserve media by decentralizing storage across many users, even when original copies are no longer available or accessible.
• 📚 The Internet Archive and similar organizations have made significant efforts to preserve media, but their reliance on community participation and publishers’ resistance to archival creates obstacles.
• 📖 The National Emergency Library program faced backlash from publishers during the pandemic, who argued that the free digital lending was piracy, despite it being for educational purposes and not for profit.
• 🕹️ Video games are particularly difficult to preserve due to their interactive nature, where a recorded playthrough doesn’t capture the full experience of player agency and choice.
• 📽️ Streaming services like Netflix make it easy to access media but do not allow ownership of the content, leading to situations like Disney removing shows such as Willow, which could be lost if not archived.
• 🛑 When legitimate access to a product is impossible (e.g., no way to buy a 3DS game in 2025), piracy may not harm the bottom line of companies since there was never an opportunity to purchase the media legally.

Q & A

What are the main issues raised in the video regarding media preservation?

The video highlights challenges in preserving media due to the closure of digital storefronts, the impermanence of physical formats, and legal issues surrounding archiving. Piracy is discussed as a potential solution to these problems, especially when legitimate access is no longer available.

How does piracy contribute to media preservation?

Piracy serves as a form of preservation by allowing people to access and store media that is no longer available for legal purchase, especially when digital platforms remove content. It decentralizes the storage of media and ensures that lost or inaccessible titles can still be shared and experienced.

What example does the video give about the closure of digital storefronts?

The video mentions the 3DS and Wii U eShop closures as a significant issue for game preservation. Many games on these platforms never had physical releases, and once the digital stores closed, purchasing them legally became impossible.

What is the issue with Ubisoft’s online-only game model, as mentioned in the video?

Ubisoft's *The Crew*, released in 2014, required an online connection to play, even for single-player mode. When the servers were shut down in 2024, the game became unplayable, leaving players with no way to access the game or its additional content, even if they had a physical copy.

What ethical argument does the video make about piracy?

The video argues that piracy is not theft, especially in situations where a product is no longer available for purchase through legitimate means. Piracy, in these cases, is seen as a necessary means of preservation and access to content that would otherwise be lost.

Why is the concept of decentralizing archiving important?

Decentralizing archiving through methods like peer-to-peer networks ensures that media can be preserved even when the original sources deteriorate. If media is shared and stored across multiple devices and locations, it increases the chances that the media will be available in the future, even if the original servers or storage systems fail.

How does the video address the issue of censorship in media access?

The video discusses censorship as a reason for piracy in cases where content is restricted or altered in certain regions, such as the example of *Hotline Miami 2*, which was banned in Australia due to a controversial scene. The developers themselves suggested pirating the game, showing that piracy can be a response to censorship and accessibility issues.

What historical example is used to illustrate successful media preservation?

The video refers to the preservation of *The Wizard of Oz* film as an example. Despite the potential loss of original film reels, multiple copies of the movie were stored in various locations, including digital scans, ensuring that the movie would survive in some form even if the original physical copies were lost.

What challenges does the video highlight when trying to archive video games?

Video games face unique preservation challenges due to their interactive nature, reliance on servers for multiplayer or even single-player features, and the constant evolution of game clients. If servers are shut down, players lose access to content that they have purchased. Additionally, the data needed to run the game may not be stored on the player's device, making it harder to preserve the full experience.

How does the video argue that piracy is justified when a product is no longer available?

The video argues that piracy is justified when there is no legitimate way to purchase the media, as in the case of games from the 3DS eShop or shows like *Willow* that were removed from streaming platforms without an alternative method of access. In these cases, piracy does not impact the bottom line of the companies, as there was no chance for a legitimate purchase anyway.