hi,
Ok I absolutely have to write this. Firstly, I don't consider cracking or downloading free content to be stealing. This practice differs significantly from stealing in several ways, one major one being that, when you steal something, you take it from someone else, and that person no longer has it. However, when you crack the DRM of audiobooks, or software, and share it, not only do you continue to have the file, but you also allow others to get it as well. Granted, I believe that there is a difference in cracking audiogames, and cracking software such as finereader. While doing it to games can be wrong, when the game is worth it, I don't think it is wrong to crack software from microsoft, for instance, or ABBY finereader, though microsoft cracking is largely unnecesary now, as most of that software can legally be gotten for free. E.g, you can upgraded cracked copies of windows 7 and 8.1 to the full legal version of 10. I've done it on like 5 pcs, some of my own, and some for friends. Though not the one I currently use, which had a legal copy, which I bought when microsoft was giving out a free copy of windows 8 pro for 40 dollars. Same for office. Anyone who is offiliated with any educational institution can get the full fledged version of office 365 professional plus, plus unlimited one drive storage all for free. Currently, all programs on my pc are a mixture, comprised of programs that I iether cracked, got somehow legally, or got as open source, e.g 7-zip, or nvda, which are two epic programs btw.
Speaking of audiogames again,the truth of the matter is, I think that many people who crack games do it for two possible reasons.
1. They believe that it isn't worth it.E.g, psychostrike, or the gate.
2. They cannot pay for it, due to not having access to payment methods such as paypal, or not being able to aford the game, due to currency exchange rates, the Turkish lira being a good example. It also necesary to point out here, that many people in this situation would be very humiliated at asking someone to purchase the game for them, so they might possibly use a cracked copy for this reason.
Getting back to piracy in general, the argument that a cracked copy is a lost sale is also a flawed argument, as many of the people who crack a program, would probably not buy it if the crack wasn't available. A good example is finereader again. As the crack for the latest version isn't available, I make due with the older 12.0 version, until a newer crack is uploaded to torrent sites.
Another argument, put forth, by people against cracks, is "if you can't aford it, don't use it". Though this can hold true for audiogames, it certainly doesn't hold true for programs, or materials required for studies for instance. A good example here, is SPSS. For one of my courses, I needed SPSS, in order to participate in my research class, and partake in the practice sessions in the lab with my laptop. As my school barred access to the lisences to students, I went ahead and grabbed a cracked version of spss. That crack was literally a lifesaver. I then also shared it with friends, who also wanted to practice the class exercises on their laptops.
One final thing, before I bring this post to a close, is the benefits of downloading books, and documentaries. I have a harddrive, almost full of downloaded audiobooks, all of which I didn't pay a cent to get. I have learned so much by listening to those books. If I had bought them, I would be bankrupt a thousand times over.
A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."