The Truth about Bootleg Movie Downloads

Are bootleg movie downloads unethical or ethical? That is something that many people may not be asking themselves, especially since downloading a movie from an Internet site has become so common a practice that some people find this to be a natural course of action to take. But there are always two sides to every ethics question – including asking whether bootleg movie downloads are ethical.

On the one hand, some may argue that bootleg movie downloads are ethical because the consumer gets to see what he is going to buy and whether it is of good quality before he pays for it. Others might say that new artists who allow their movies to be downloaded get so much free publicity by the word of mouth appeal of the titles that can be downloaded from the Internet. Admittedly, many movies downloaded from the Internet are of inferior quality than the real products you can see in theaters, and from portable media such as VCDs and DVDs. But these movie download proponents believe that this at least allows the consumer to gain more power and control over the purchase process.

At the same time, there are critics of the movie download system as it is being practiced nowadays all over the world via surreptitious downloads. They say that bootleg movie downloads are downright unethical because they strip the artists responsible for the movie (and the companies dependent on the release of that movie in legally acceptable ways) of the income they deserve to earn.

Whichever side you take though, it is certain that bootleg movie downloads will generate much controversy – until clear legal standards are developed and fully enforced