Oh Really Now?

So in somewhat of a heated debate on IRC, I decided to share my thoughts on the matter via my blog.

Downloading TV shows from a P2P source. Be it Limewire or a torrent, is it really that illegal?

Some, even many would say "Yes" because you end up getting ad-free versions of the content. Okay, I understand that one major way a television station makes money is through the ads. But what about if I came back with "Well you block internet advertisements, so you are technically also 'stealing' according to your own definition." Many internet websites gain revenue from the advertisements shown on their sites. When you block these, you then end up getting the content completely for free. How is that really any different than a video? It is the same basic principal just a different medium.

Others might say having it on your hard drive is illegal as if you download for free every week soon you will have enough to build an entire season, which they would sell in stores. Well, yes that certainly can be somewhat of an issue, but then what about everyone with a DVR or DVR-like device? They are actually encouraged to record TV shows and/or movies that were shown through a network and watch them at their leisure. You can fast forward or rewind (meaning ads could be skipped), and they are yours for as long as you want to keep them. How is this really any different at all? I suppose paying for the connection in the first place, but lets say I already pay for cable (which I do), but wish to watch on my own time. It actually is exactly the same, and DVR probably gives you a better quality version than most you could find.

Then there are those who would say you are redistributing it, just as that is the nature of torrents. Well, if you set your upload to "0" (assuming 0 turns uploading off and doesn't make it unlimited), then there goes that argument. Also it is debatable if you are really redistributing as while you are downloading up until you are finished you don't have the full thing so it is quite a bit different from taking it off of your DVR and sticking it up on TPB or something.

So in the end, what is really wrong with it? Especially if you get a show like "House" which is freely shown over the airwaves on Fox. In that case you don't even have to pay for any TV service. Each side comes up with equally good arguments but in my opinion as long as using a DVR is legal, then so is downloading a TV show off of a P2P network.