No, our laws are not “don’t pay for it if you don’t feel like it”. Canadians pay a tax on the assumption that digital media will be used somehow in pirating content. Thus I pay for downloading whenever I buy a CD or iPod, even if I never use that CD for downloading. I have probably paid thousands of dollars into this media levy over the years, especially purchasing stacks of DVDs for backing up.
Do you know why my “number of movies” argument is NOT idiotic? Because I have spent thousands of dollars on boxed sets of things I truly enjoy. I purchase things I find value in, and do not purchase things I do not find substantial value in. I own every South Park DVD set. I own hundreds of movies and video games. How do I find out if things have value? By observing them. I am not willing to pay to have the privilege to observe and determine if I enjoy something or not. I am willing to observe it and make my judgment then. There are MANY ways I could observe something apart from downloading, it just happens to be that downloading is easiest for me.
There is a huge difference between digital creations and physical tangible goods, and I will not address your very faulty analogy because digital bits are NOT physical goods and you cannot compare them the same way. I cannot “steal” a movie. I can make a copy of it, but I cannot steal it, as the definition of theft is that the item disappears, and this is not the case with digital bits.
I’d love to keep up with this discussion in another thread… but honestly, I don’t care to preach about this more. I will keep doing what I do no matter what is said, and it seems you are also hardened within your position.
@Peach, sorry for derailing as well. This will be my last answer here.