Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI – my chance to share observations/wisdom/rants in short, easily consumed form.

In my younger years, I pirated stuff off the internet. Music and software mostly. I was young and money-less and got sucked into the pit of “Screw them, they want too much for this.” I’m not proud of having done that and don’t do it anymore, though I do know people who routinely steal content (yes, downloading for free is stealing – what else do you call taking something without compensation?). It’s wrong on every level, and can have impacts far beyond the money you think that content’s creator won’t miss, as thoroughly explained by this post by Sarah Madison over on her BLOG. That brings us to this week’s FYI:

I get it, HBO is expensive. So is Photoshop, the latest hardcover book by your favorite author, and whatever album you just have to listen to. But high cost doesn’t mean you have a right to consume any of those things for free, and more to the point, it doesn’t mean the creators shouldn’t benefit financially from their work. Yes, work. Writing a book is work. Filming a show is work. Not charity, not free art, work. You get compensated for your work, so should they.

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}