I initially wrote this as a quick post for this app/website called PI.FYI. Decided to brush it up and repost it here so I could have SOMETHING in my blog section.
Interested in sailing the digital seas? Wondering if that’s even ok for you to do? Well this is the rec for you!
Before anything, we have to establish something quickly. Digital Piracy is (usually) Not The Same as Stealing.
If you were to steal something physical, like a physical book, there would be less of those books available for others to purchase. This does not occur with digital piracy. When you pirate something, you are, at most, making a copy of a digital file. Nowadays, even that is not always necessary!
“But!" I hear the hypothetical skeptic interject, " am I not taking profits away from the people who made the media I enjoy?”
This is a valid concern. And in some cases, piracy does minimize profits. This is especially the case for small or independent creators.
It is because of this fact that one should use discretion when partaking in piracy. if the idea of potentially impacting the profits someone earns from their work bothers you, then there is no shame in not taking part in digital piracy.
However, corporations rarely see any major losses from piracy, even though they are the ones who are pirated from the most. Additionally, the actual creatives behind the media being distributed by large corporations have already been paid (assuming they were paid fairly to begin with.) In fact, piracy can be used as a boycotting tool. a way to not give your hard earned money to these corporations, while still watching the work of creatives who you can support in other, more direct ways.
For independent and smaller projects, I think this statement from Hakita, the creator of the game ULTRAKILL, summarizes my thoughts perfectly.
“You should support indies if you can, but culture shouldn't exist only for those who can afford it. ULTRAKILL wouldn't exist if I hadn't had easy access to movies, music and games growing up.
If you don't have money, you can support via word of mouth.”
—Hakitadev on Twitter
Personally, I usually buy from independent creators when I can. When I can’t, I will sometimes pirate the media, and then buy the product later. I find this to be a good metric for ethical piracy.
Now that we have all the sappy ethics out of the way, how does one become a pirate, and how do they do it safely?
Unfortunately, I don’t believe Neocities would allow me to host pirated content on my site. Which makes sense, since they could get into legal trouble for allowing that kind of content. The risk of piracy mostly falls onto those hosting the content, not the ones downloading it.
However, in our day and age, finding places to pirate is surprisingly simple. All you will need for the rest of your journey sailing the digital seas is a single website:
fmhy.net
Fmhy (Free Media Heck Yeah) is a regularly updated collection of free media from across the web. I recommend reading through their Piracy Beginners Guide first. It will direct you to the sites you should visit depending on the kind of media you are searching for, how to safely download and torrent, and other great resources for internet piracy and privacy.
All of the sites listed are regularly checked and updated for safety. If you find a site that is no longer safe, let them know on the fmhy discord.
That should be all. Read through the beginners guide, make sure you have an Adblocker installed, and enjoy your trip out on the open web!