A while ago I bought a product online, to be more precise it was a rented film. When I paid my money I was given a link and access to the film for two days after I started playing it. Now currently my family is away and I thought, could I share the link so they could enjoy it also? This brought up an ethical conundrum for me, is this legal? It prompted a bit of a google and the answers I found were surprising.
Review | You don’t have to feel guilty about sharing your TV log-in. Do you share you account with others? Is it ethical? #DDMalumni https://t.co/SVwU8YiKMq
— ??????? ???????? (@rodewillis) January 6, 2019
The answer simply seems to be, yes. And it looks like they don’t care. Obviously if you are sharing with lots of people they may look into it. But for the most part it’s all okay. But why is this? Essentially when you share a link you are advertising the company and this is a good thing. You are endorsing the site where you got the content from and this is more valuable than the thing itself. You’re being the influencer for them; an employee of little cost.
Imagine for a second if these companies cracked down on people sharing content. Many of my purchases are via one company, say if they get upset at me for sharing something and decide to send out cease and desist letters, what am I most likely to do? Well in a near saturated market place, I’ll most likely close my account and go somewhere else. I could even return to buying the DVD from the store!
They need our custom, and if looking the other way for a second allows them to succeed then they are willing to do it. So share away, advertise your steaming service of choice – it’s what they want you to do!
Feature Image: Watch (328) by Doug Waldron (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Rob has traveled extensively in Australia and uses his experiences to write compelling stories. He enjoys testing out new technologies that are designed to make life easier. He is married with two children and lives in the outer suburbs of Melbourne.
