Is It Ever Okay to Torrent?

Netflix and bills.

We live in a digital age. The way in which we consume visual media alone has vastly changed, even just in recent years. (What? Is? A? D? V? D?)

Today, we have an absolute plethora of video streaming sites available to us, such as Netflix, Stan, and so on, as well as iTunes. We are undeniably, ridiculously spoiled for choice. It’s a cognitive minefield simply trying to choose a streaming or downloading service and then a show or movie you actually want to invest your test revision time in.

However, what comes with this virtually endless library of film and TV is the dreaded subscription fee, or the one-off payments to rent or buy. No one likes paying for stuff, students especially. We’re at this age where we suddenly have to pay for things that we want. It’s madness.

And yet as much as I would like to shake my fist in the wind at those dastardly, menacing corporate villains for taking my hard-earned tenner a month, I think it’s important to recognise that I am actually getting something out of it: endless access to The Office.

When you compare what we’re getting with how much we pay, it honestly does make sense to pay rather than torrent (no matter how much I loathe paying for things).

The contrast to this would be torrenting or illegally downloading content, which, admittedly, provides us with access to our beloved Jim and Pam without the monthly subscription fee (or one-off payment for each season).

Torrenting is pretty common practice. But should you torrent? I would say: no.

For instance, simply trying to find an appropriate website to torrent from can be incredibly sticky; the pop-up ads are vom-worthy (or potentially virus-carrying). Then, trying to find the right link can take ages, because your computer has become suspiciously slow for whatever reason…

More than that though, it just seems wrong, not simply from a legal perspective (although it is illegal), but more from a moral perspective. The TV shows and movies you decide to watch are things you enjoy and actively choose to invest your time in. And the people who create these visual masterpieces have poured their time and effort into making your Saturday night alone a little less (unbearably) lonely.

I’ve cried heart-wrenching tears, laughed out loud and felt spine-tinglingly terrified by handcrafted wooden dolls with eerily realistic eyes—and for these genuinely emotive experiences I would happily (well, begrudgingly) invest $10 a month.

These streaming and downloading sites are so incredibly easy to access and they provide some level of compensation for the actors and directors you know and grow to love.

Torrenting, on the other hand, seems like the icky method of pretending actors and directors don’t deserve compensation for their work.

Paying for things suck. Not paying for things kinda sucks more though.

Congratulations to Andy for winning this week's writing challenge: Is It Ever Okay to Torrent? Andy wins a $50 Westfield gift card for his submission. For your chance to win, check out our latest writing challenges in our Comps section. Also, be sure to follow this guide on how to win the writing challenge!

Photo: NBC