Moral dillema

If you buy a HDD and it has tons of movies and music on it would the right thing to do be formatting the drive without ever watching or listening to anything?

Hmm. I guess it would depend on the nature of the movies. Ask Gary Glitter about that one.
I would be most likely to format it without looking to be fair, so probably wouldn't notice.

you could speak the the person who you bought it from to see if they want them back.....if not, it's as Kevriano said, if they are not Gary Glitter esk, or chick flicks, keep em.....

j0nb0y32 said:

you could speak the the person who you bought it from to see if they want them back.....if not, it's as Kevriano said, if they are not Gary Glitter esk, or chick flicks, keep em.....

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better still.....share them, kind of a premium member perk

Kevriano said:

Hmm. I guess it would depend on the nature of the movies. Ask Gary Glitter about that one.
I would be most likely to format it without looking to be fair, so probably wouldn't notice.

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Oh geeze! I just read about Gary Glitter. Good point.

If it were me, id have a quick scan to see if there was anything i wanted then id format.

When people being in their ipods for testing at work i generally nick their music for the shop playlist before i do the mandatory format

robduckyworth said:

When people being in their ipods for testing at work i generally nick their music for the shop playlist before i do the mandatory format

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haha

I'd keep what I liked. I see no moral dilemma here. Guess that makes me a bad bad man. Ah well.

Doug

I've monitored this thread without weighing in, partly because I'm not absolutely sure what I would do, and partly because I am not much for judging other people's morals. As I see it a moral is what YOU believe is right or wrong, not what I or anyone else thinks.
Can definitely see arguments going several different directions on this. As far as any moral question, for me it would resolve around one key question:
Will this prevent me from buying a movie, song or other media item I would have otherwise purchased?

If not, then it isn't a moral issue at all to me. Out of general curiousity I would probably have to at least see what is on it.

And, what I would probably end up doing is watching things that caught my eye or appealed to me, and if I liked them enough to keep, I would buy them.

Is this moral? I don't know, but probably what I would do.

I read the Gary Glitter thing too. Absolutely need to check that for your own protection (though, I'm not sure which is safer, to reformat without looking or to look and then reformat or report to authorities--could get REAL thorny very quick).

What's the dilemma?
Did you pay the people who performed the work to produce the goods that you are consuming, whether you received them intentionally or not?
Did the person who sold you the goods pay for them and then give you the original material, or just copies (keeping the originals for their own consumption)?
If not, what entitles you to the sweat of the brow of the producers' of those goods and why?
Is it then not a crime, and by extension morally acceptable, to steal if I need it? How about if I just want it? How about killing for it? Where's the line or do we really care? Is the inherent nature of the goods somehow such that it precludes compensation for it's use at some point?
Blah, blah, blah... talk, talk, talk...

Steal big, steal little, still a thief.

Fact: XJ has never made a mixed tape for a girl. ;P

Doug

FACT: most previous behavior does not mandate or require current or future behavior in kind. That's a pretty weak argument for legitimizing theft.

Personally, I don't see how this would be any different than purchasing a computer with Adobe Creative Suite or some other expensive software package, but without the original install media. We've come to the conclusion previously that in that particular example, it's a violation of the copyright laws, and is therefore illegal. Whether the movies and music were purchased legally or not, the distribution method is not licensed, and the recipient is not paying anything to the record labels for the content. Mix tapes are fuzzy in my mind - if it's for your own custom playlist and you own the music, it's probably fine, like a custom playlist in iTunes. If you're giving that music to someone else, it's probably illegal.

I agree with XJ-linux and EvenStranger.

Interesting thread and discussion.

I simply doubt the sincerity here is really all I'm getting at. I've never copped anything I didn't intend on or have already purchased. But this isn't said to defend my previous statement, rather that I'm being honest and not trying to look like a great guy because of words alone.

If you start getting into the semantics, and how money is distributed in the music or film industry, it can get really messy. As a musician, and someone with friends whom are signed artists, I know a lot of what goes on financially, and how things work on the corporate level. It's not pretty. But that's not really speaking to the point of the OP's question I suppose.

Morals. We all know the difference between right and wrong. There are also fine lines drawn. Damage comes in different forms (within context), so it's up to you to know if you're hurting someone or not.

Believe me, lawyers and corporations hurt artists FAR more than anything someone here could do, set by example in the OP.

Doug

It would be wrong if you shared them for a profit. It would also be wrong to share any other kind of persona info found on it. If I came into possession of that hdd(after buying), and it still had stuff on it, I would tell the person they forgot to format the hdd before shipping it out. If there were transferable songs/videos on it, I would keep the good stuff. I wouldn't keep any apps. Then, I would reformat it. Morals can ruin a person. Don't worry so much.

Well i just received the HDD today. i just plugged it in and all the files are there as the person i bought it from said. i didn't buy it for the files i bought it for the firewire 800,4tb,price but the dang thing is soooooo slow i must be doing something wrong because i cant do anything on it. i cant even put a tiny file on it.

I needed to install the drivers for the HDD that were on a CD that came with it. so it works now. I have posted in the other hardware section. I have just decided to format the drive without partaking. If anyone wants to give me a hand check out the other post..

Thanks for everyones input.

XJ-linux said:

What's the dilemma?
Did you pay the people who performed the work to produce the goods that you are consuming, whether you received them intentionally or not?
Did the person who sold you the goods pay for them and then give you the original material, or just copies (keeping the originals for their own consumption)?
If not, what entitles you to the sweat of the brow of the producers' of those goods and why?
Is it then not a crime, and by extension morally acceptable, to steal if I need it? How about if I just want it? How about killing for it? Where's the line or do we really care? Is the inherent nature of the goods somehow such that it precludes compensation for it's use at some point?
Blah, blah, blah... talk, talk, talk...

Steal big, steal little, still a thief.

Click to expand...

While I agree with you, I feel that is you're opinion and only you're opinion. To place your morals, values or convictions on others is a bit self righteous. The whole "Let those without sin..." thing and all.

While it is still technically theft, comparing the OPs dilemma to other forms of theft or murder is not realistic nor particularly apt. It is a slippery slope I agree but I think most reasonable individuals can draw a distinction between keeping a few movies they didn't pay for and killing a person.