Friday, February 14, 2014

Is pirating movies always wrong?

One of the greatest challenges production companies have to face is pirated films. In the U.S. it is illegal to download or copy a film without proper authorization, but what if that was the only way you could view the movie? Hear me out for a minute. Hypothetically speaking, lets just say the film "Wolf of Wall Street" by Martin Scorsese comes out in China. You being from the United States have not had the chance to see the film yet but you really want to, all the sudden you hear it's band to be viewed by the country for "extreme scenes of nudity, sex, debauchery, hedonism and cursing". Of course this being a free country that would never happen, but Kenya is another story.
As you may have guessed, Kenya banned the oscar nominated film, "wolf of Wall Street", for the reasons listed earlier. In response, many people in Kenya decided to respond by pirating the film. "Wolf of Wall Street" was being sold for $0.57 on the dollar to Kenyan illegally  but is that wrong? Many would argue yes, no matter the rules of the country, you cannot steal a film whether that is your only option or not, and some could argue that if they ever want to see the film this is what they must do. Honestly, what would you do if your only option to see the movie was to purchase it illegally for $0.57? Ultimately breaking the law of any country is not a good idea in terms of ethics and moral code, but what to you do when they just don't seem fair? 
Those who get fought purchasing the film can face a fine up to $1,160 or several years in jail. Although people feel Kenya is unfair for their policies you could also say they could be right. One of the arguments to why Kenya bans the film is for the protection of their Women and Children. It's easy to say it's wrong of the country to restrict the people of such art but one could understand the reasoning why. At the end of the day it all comes down to why you believe and your ethical code. Is Kenya at fault for disallowing the film or is their reasoning unjust? 

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