My History With Piracy (Confession and Apology)
Published Sept 15, 2023
Yes, I admit it. I have pirated things before. Recently? It depends on your definition of "recent". But when it all started, was actually when I was really young. Now I wouldn't exactly call this piracy, but when I was first introduced to Scratch, I took all the sprites, backdrops, sounds, and scripts from people's projects, threw them into projects, and shared them. So it was basically the original project except due to the inconsistencies of having stuff being added separately, they were kind of broken. Then, I got this IC recorder for my birthday. And of course, I recorder songs from the radio. So I had low-quality, pirated copies of songs with the first few seconds cut off. Eventually, I discovered that I didn't need to use a Mac or Windows PC to put songs on it - that was when me and my sister got a Chromebook for Christmas. And I found out that you could not only take songs off of it, but also put songs onto it. And eventually, I found out about YouTube-to-MP3 converts. And that 99% of songs were on YouTube. And soon, I had not only songs but the audio of things like crazy errors. And I've had this IC recorder for a while. Because for whatever reason, I just got a phone when I went into high school, unlike everyone else, who got a phone in elementary school. I think that partially contributed to the problem, because I didn't really have any other way to get music (but now I do!).
After that, I kinda learned about copyright, but for whatever stupid reason, I thought that copyright applied only to things like music. I think. It might've been years ago, but I'm not sure. Because I know that I did still continue download videos to the IC recorder after I got my laptop (which I would also start to use the IC recorder as a USB flash drive) but eventually stopped once I got the phone. So this was most likely somewhere in between, but I downloaded some GameCube games - specifically Super Mario Sunshine and Luigi's Mansion. I'm sorry Nintendo, I didn't really know what copyright was at them time, and you can take all of the money in my Nintendo eShop account that I can't use (and don't worry, today I'm going to go buy more eShop gift cards so that I have enough for the price of the games). Even though I was just trying to corrupt them using RTC to get really weird effects, I probably should've actually bought the game first (and if I want to corrupt a game in the future, I will purchase it first). I'm sorry Nintendo, please forgive me, and if you send people to my house to hire me, well, uhm, that will be awkward, because I geniuenly will have no idea how to react. But don't worry, for I will not be pirating games again.
This other instance is way after I got my phone, and Spotify hadn't been working out for me, and I found the Sonic songs. Pandora didn't have them, but even if it did, at the time I was grounded (from just my phone). So I was allowed to use this iPod Nano (not the Touch). I was going to this camp thing the next week, and I didn't think my parents were going to let me bring my phone. So I asked my mom if she would let me buy the Sonic songs as well as a Sonic Boom episode (Double Doomsday), and a Sonic X episode (S2 E10 iirc). And since she had just spent money on getting some of the comics, she of course said... no. So, I downloaded them from YouTube so I could put them on my iPod. And then I told her that I had downloaded pirated content and that we had to buy it. At first, she just wanted me to keep the pirated version, but I kept telling her about it so finally, she let me get them. Except for Sonic X. Because basically, long story short it wasn't on iTunes, the cheapest I could find was a Blu-ray of all 3 seasons for around $70. And she told me I couldn't get an Amazon gift card, but then later said she never said that... she basically didn't want me to get the disk. She however, let me get Nintendo eShop Gift Cards, which I to this day am unable to use due to not having a Nintendo console (or any console). However, when I went to the camp thing, she actually let me have my phone back, so I ended up not actually watching the pirated version of the Sonic X episode (I used Hulu instead, and also hadn't reached that episode like I expected). I have not watched it at all. And because of that, when I have to choose between buying the GameCube games or Sonic X disk, I logically have to choose the GameCube games first, because I've already consumed them (not properly, but still), whereas I haven't even opened the pirated Sonic X episode. Not to say that I'm not going to buy the Sonic X blu-ray, because if I get the oppurtunity to, then yes, I am going to buy it.
So why am I writing this on a blog? I should know that what goes on the internet stays on the internet! Well, first off, in a nutshell, I'm saying I'm sorry, especially to the music artists - since I lost my IC recorder, I only know some of the songs, which is unfortunate that I also didn't make a backup. If I had a backup, I'd be able to purchase the songs. Second off, well, I actually was hesitating to write something like this, due to fear. Not fear of legal action or so-called ninjas coming to kill me, but my social life, which takes place exclusively online. Especially since today, I've picked up a clue that my relationship with my only friend in real life is becoming even more distant. For the entire month, I've only said one thing to them: "hi." That's it.
So why am I publishing this on my website that everyone can view on the same day that I requested for it to be indexed by Google? Is there a benefit? Not really. Because even if everyone does forgive me, then it has the same effect as not telling anyone at all. So yeah, this is basically a confession and apology. And hey, Nintendo and SEGA, if you have an issue, copyright-wise, with something on my website, while my DMCA Service isn't active, feel free to direct-message me on Twitter/X. While I might not respond immediately, I'll try to respond. And again, I'm sorry.
Edit: I also forgot to mention the copies of Windows that I run in VMs and the Premiere Pro 2022 copy I have. The Windows 11 VM is activated with a genuine Windows product key, and the Premiere Pro used an installer that appeared to be made by Adobe so those ones are kind of grey areas. I am going to switch to a different video editor for now, though.
Edit #2: My mom won't let me buy more Nintendo eShop Gift Cards, and she also won't get one year of Premiere Pro for me. She says mistakes can't be fixed, and thinks that what I'm doing is crap. But Nintendo, feel free to take the $40 that are currently in my account. Maybe some other way to pay you will popup in the future.
Edit #3: I still feel like a complete idiot for making these stupid mistakes
