In a previous post, I detailed how I finally was able to see who was living in the one apartment that is across from the bank of elevators on my floor. Having put that to rest, I didn’t think I was going to write about him again. Perhaps I was wrong.
On Friday evening, I was heading out so I waited patiently for an elevator to take me down to the lobby. There was a bit of delay, so I had to wait several minutes. As I waited, I could hear that the dude in the apartment, let’s call him Rusty, was watching something on his TV. He had it on loud enough that I could easily hear the piece of entertainment he had on from the hallway. Curious, I crept closer to his door and listened more intently. I didn’t know if he was watching a movie, a TV show, or something off the web. Then I heard a male voice say, “I am Frankenstein’s monster.” I had heard that line quite recently. Was it a movie I just saw? From where? Then I heard another actor’s voice, also male but British, spouting off about genetic mutation before Rose Bryne cut him off. Yes, of course, my neighbour was watching X-Men: First Class, a superb movie and one of the best movies to come out this summer.
While that movie is indeed good, it is also a movie that is still in its theatrical run which meant my neighbour Rusty had almost assuredly procured the movie via illegal means. On one hand, I can see how convenient the situation is for him. He comes home from work, the torrent has finished dowloading, and he can enjoy a current movie in the comfort of his own home. He can pause the movie whenever he wants and doesn’t have to go anywhere to see it. Perhaps, best of all, he spends no money on it and he can watch all he wants. The flip side of course is that no one that worked on that movie will see any of Rusty’s money. He gets the entertainment for free.
Ever since I started working in the video game industry, I’ve been very cognizant about what things I torrent. I am proud to say, I have never used a torrent to downloaded a pirated game. I know first-hand how hard game developers work to get a game out the door. If I want to play a game, those people who made that game deserve to have my money; they earned it. I also very rarely torrent movies now. I certainly don’t download any movie that still is in its theatrical release. The last movie I remember getting a torrent for was a South Korean movie, mostly because I wasn’t sure if I could even get the movie here in Canada.
I’m not going to get on my soapbox and rail against movie and game piracy but I hope my neighbour Rusty knows common folk, just like him, work on some of the entertainment he enjoys.