On Piracy and Steemit
Recently I have noticed that (since the release of Dtube especially) piracy and stealing of property is becoming a massive problem on Steemit. While piracy exists everywhere, I think there is one big point which differentiates it on Steemit, and that is the ability to monetise.
Remember this?
I won't lie, I've watched torrented movies before, I've used photos without permission or a link/name of the creator, I've listened to music downloaded off YouTube. And while people have varying opinions on whether these actions are okay or not, I think that what is happening on Steemit is very different.
On Steemit not only is property of others being stolen, but it is being used to make money by people who have no rights to it. People are uploading full movies, music videos, and stealing photographs all over the place.
In my opinion it is okay to download movies and music (that's another discussion) if the person is famous enough that they are making a living and doing well, such an example would be Justin Bieber or Linkin Park. I'm okay with watching Starwars because I know it's already made millions. Further, I live in Korea where piracy is rampant anyway, I can go to places and watch or buy these movies (pirated) for a tiny amount. Of course people will disagree with me, and that's fine! That's not my point.
But my point is that people on Steemit are actually able to profit from others work. The people posting these movies and music videos... They get paid for it. Sometimes small amounts, and sometimes large, but they still get paid.
Even for someone generally accepting of watching movies and obtaining music for free, this is too far for me. Non-profit use of media is different to creating a profit from it.
There are Steemit equivalents in real life though of course, countries you can buy pirated movies on the streets for super small amounts (Korea is one). These people are profiting from these movies and music, so.... What's the difference?
This leads to my main point: The possibility of Steemit being shut down or taking a lot of flack from companies. YouTube has copyright detection (for better or worse) to prevent legal troubles. Pirate Bay always has to shut down and move, other torrent sites are always changing to try and evade authories.
The only reason Steemit hasn't been targeted yet is because this is a relatively new problem here (at least on this scale) and because it's still a rather small site.
Things such as this and the child porn I have heard about (there seem to be a lot of articles on it recently) are what will get Steemit shut down in my opinion. No one can do anything... We can downvote, but on Steemit you can't delete. Whatever you downvote, no matter how much, still exists. If authorities, companies or governments find this dark side, do you really think they will let Steemit continue?
This site needs the ability to permanently delete posts when the downvotes are enough, and it needs real moderators. The current 'vigilantes' we have try to shut down these people, but then they write whole articles on things such as child porn which only brings more attention to it. I ask this question: is that a good or bad thing?
Everything I have said here is a bit ironic seeing as I hate it when people steal my pictures, yet I don't have a problem stealing others property (movies/music).... I'm working on being more accepting of people's situations and I always give full image credit, but I've got a way to go.
It may seem like I only herald doom for Steemit, but I definitely still see a future here no matter what complaints I have. However, the current system does not work. It doesn't. However, if these things are fixed, I still see a thriving community that stretches long into the future.
If Steemit gets Target by Hollywood, authorities or music artists, it won't be good. If Steemit is to have a future we have to stop these illegal activities. And to do that... Steemit needs change.
Still Loving Steemit though and let's all continue to make this a better place!
I welcome feedback, comments, or other opinions and I would love to hear from you.
In the meantime I will keep flagging all of these piracy accounts with what little power I have.