Pirated books, music, films and cracked software violate the principle of asteya (non-stealing). Legal services and free alternatives make it possible to respect other people's work in the digital age too.
It has somehow become accepted among us as normal that many internet resources – "music communities," "libraries," "film libraries" – and simply ordinary users post thousands of other people's books and documents, audio recordings, films and software for free access without a twinge of conscience. This does considerable harm to authors and rights holders. Moreover, some of these resources ask for donations to develop their pirate projects. Some of them consider themselves sources of enlightenment, while in fact turning a blind eye to the rights and work of other people.
By illegally downloading, listening to and watching music and films, we support these resources, help piracy spread, and violate one of the main principles of Five principles for how we treat the world: not harming, truthfulness, not stealing, keeping the mind on the Supreme, not living beyond need. and Five principles for shaping oneself: cleanliness, contentment, service despite hardship, uplifting study, keeping the Supreme as life’s goal..
Meanwhile there are many legal music streaming services, digital libraries and online cinemas where you can buy a monthly subscription, rent a film or buy a book for the price of a cup of tea.
Software deserves a separate mention, since a huge number of people use "cracked" programs on their computers, depriving the developers of their well-earned income. Of course, good software is not cheap, but you can always find free alternatives, buy it jointly with others (many companies allow several copies of the software to be used under one license), or wait for a holiday sale.
Music streaming services:
- Youtube Music
- Deezer
- Google Play Music
- Yandex Music
- Boom
- Apple Music
Online cinemas:
- Ivi
- Megogo
- Itunes (Mac OS, IOS)
- Okko
- Amediateka
- Google Play Movies
- Netflix
Digital libraries:
- LitRes
- Google Play Books
Audiobooks:
- Storytel
- Zvuki Slov
Free software
Operating systems:
- Mac OS (for owners of Apple computers)
- Linux
Office suites:
- OpenOffice (Windows, Linux, Mac OS)
- LibreOffice (Windows, Linux, Mac OS)
- Pages (Mac OS)
- Numbers (Mac OS)
Photo editors and graphics applications:
- PhotoScape X (Windows 10, Mac OS)
- PhotoScape (Windows)
- Gimp (Windows, Linux, Mac OS)
- Fotor (Windows, Mac OS)
- SketchBook (Windows, Mac OS)
Video editors:
- iMovie (Mac OS)
- DaVinci Resolve (Windows, Linux, Mac OS)
- HitFilm Express (Windows, Mac OS)
- LightWorks (Windows, Linux, Mac OS)
Audio editors
- Audacity (Windows, Linux, Mac OS)
- Ocenaudio (Windows, Linux, Mac OS)
- Free Audio Editor (Windows, Mac OS)
And many others…
The world is entering the digital age with seven-league strides: intellectual labor is replacing physical labor, digital theft is replacing physical theft, and the duty of every sensible person is to follow moral principles strictly and to respect the work of others in every sphere of life, however the formats may change.