# Let's use "pirate" correctly **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884 "2008-11-21T18:57:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/1 "2008-11-21T18:57:00Z")
With the recent surge of actual piracy off of East Africa, can we finally stop referring to intellectual property theft as piracy? The crimes are unrelated. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/2 "2008-11-21T19:15:30Z")
Theft involving hacking and sale of such goods? Sounds like piracy to me. oh, and uh … _ **ARRRRRR!!!** _ ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/3 "2008-11-21T20:21:23Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > … can we finally stop referring to intellectual property theft as piracy? And it’s not even theft either: it’s intellectual property infringement. But that sounds a lot less sexy. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/4 "2008-11-21T21:13:33Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > And it’s not even theft either: it’s intellectual property infringement. But that sounds a lot less sexy. I was going to use that originally, but I figured one step at a time was better. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/5 "2008-11-21T21:52:00Z")
[:rolleyes:](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/piracy) ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/6 "2008-11-21T21:56:10Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > With the recent surge of actual piracy off of East Africa, can we finally stop referring to intellectual property theft as piracy? The crimes are unrelated. Main Entry: pi·ra·cy Listen to the pronunciation of piracy Pronunciation: \ˈpī-rə-sē\ Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural pi·ra·cies Etymology: Medieval Latin piratia, from Late Greek peirateia, from Greek peiratēs pirate Date: 1537 1: an act of robbery on the high seas ; also : an act resembling such robbery2: robbery on the high seas **3 a: the unauthorized use of another’s production, invention, or conception especially in infringement of a copyright b: the illicit accessing of broadcast signals** ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/7 "2008-11-21T21:57:49Z")
The moneyed interests who have the biggest stake in protecting their intellectual property rights will just come up with another term that’s supposed to make offenders feel bad. How about “software marauding,” or “music plundering?” ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/8 "2008-11-21T22:11:42Z")
I agree that all too often, “Pirate” is used inappropriately. Which is a shame, because it is really so easy to do correctly: You just replace all instances of “my” with “me” and all instances of linking verbs (“is,” “are”) with “be”; intersperse the occasional “arr”; and liberally sprinkle in nautical similes. **INCORRECT** : My new CD was pirated, so it wouldn’t work. **CORRECT** : Arr! Me new CD be pirated, so it works only as well as a square-rigged jib in a blowin’ gale! ---
**Author:** ![Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/13edae/32.png) [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interconnected_Series_of_Tubes)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/9 "2008-11-21T22:14:27Z")
Well, whenever I open bittorrent, the cacophony of naval warfare; cutlasses ringing out against metal and men alike, and the thunderous roar of the cannonfire often fills my ears. Yar. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/10 "2008-11-21T23:25:22Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I was going to use that originally, but I figured one step at a time was better. I object to your using the confusing figure of speech “one step at a time”. I bet you are not actually stepping along as you type. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/11 "2008-11-22T00:30:29Z")
With the recent surge in murder rates, can we please stop referring to crows that way? ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/12 "2008-11-22T01:36:19Z")
Words can have more than one meaning, depending on context. This is something children learn in kindergarten. It seems to me that the only people who care about this particular word’s multiple meanings are those who don’t see any problem with stealing content, and are upset about the negative connotation. Otherwise, why pick this single example out of the thousands of words with multiple meanings? Hell, you might as well complain about the entirety of human language. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/13 "2008-11-22T01:47:32Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > It seems to me that the only people who care about this particular word’s multiple meanings are those who don’t see any problem with stealing content, and are upset about the negative connotation. Otherwise, why pick this single example out of the thousands of words with multiple meanings? Because as the OP said, actual pirates are in the news. And because this case is such a good example of a melodramatic name being given to something in an attempt to make it sound worse than it is ( real pirates tend to assault & kill rather more people than software pirates ). It’s kind of like calling pickpocketing murder; “Someone murdered my wallet !”. And because, as several posters have demonstrated, the contrast between real piracy and software piracy is extreme enough to be amusing. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/14 "2008-11-22T02:02:16Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > The moneyed interests who have the biggest stake in protecting their intellectual property rights will just come up with another term that’s supposed to make offenders feel bad. How about “software marauding,” or “music plundering?” The people with the biggest stake in protecting IP rights are the individual artists who can barely make enough money to live on as it is. As to the OP: you fail to grasp the concept that _words can have more than one meaning_. Hell, even Led Zeppelin realized that. You know sometimes words have two meanings. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/15 "2008-11-22T02:21:00Z")
Isn’t it actually something to do with Pirate Radio, which was so-called because it was done on a boat out at sea, in international waters? That’s what I always figured, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/16 "2008-11-22T02:26:34Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The people with the biggest stake in protecting IP rights are the individual artists who can barely make enough money to live on as it is. Not really; almost all of the money goes to the middlemen. In some cases, ALL of it does. Such as the money extracted by the music industry’s legal crusade against “pirates”; the artists see none of that. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/17 "2008-11-22T02:37:13Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Not really; almost all of the money goes to the middlemen. In some cases, ALL of it does. Such as the money extracted by the music industry’s legal crusade against “pirates”; the artists see none of that. I guess those artists signed some stupid contracts, then. So, stealing is okay when the victim is wealthy? I’d love to argue this in the Pit… ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/18 "2008-11-22T02:41:51Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > I guess those artists signed some stupid contracts, then. Otherwise known as “blaming the victim”. > [@Absolute](#): > > So, stealing is okay when the victim is wealthy? It’s rather more complicated than that. First, the main argument in this thread has been that software/music piracy isn’t AS BAD as actual piracy; not that it’s right. And many cases the “victims” are exploiting people as well. And in yet other cases, they turn out defective or even outright destructive products, and the pirated versions are superior and safer. And so on. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/19 "2008-11-22T02:58:54Z")
“Mommy, mommy! He called me a bad name!” ---
**Author:** ![Henrichek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5daacb/32.png) [@Henrichek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henrichek)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884/20 "2008-11-22T04:35:54Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > It seems to me that the only people who care about this particular word’s multiple meanings are those who don’t see any problem with stealing content, and are upset about the negative connotation. Otherwise, why pick this single example out of the thousands of words with multiple meanings? Well, you are right that the issue is about the negative connotation. I may have downloaded movies and games, but I surely do not believe that puts me at the level of a pirate. Piracy is something far more serious than copyright infringement. It’s like calling parking offenders terrorists. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-use-pirate-correctly/473884.md?page=2)