If someone consumes pirated content because he can't pay for it even if he wants (and old tv show no longer airing, or a foreign country's series etc), does it fall under the canonical penance of "giving alms to amend for theft"? I know if you steal something, and really cant return the value, the next-best thing is to give an alms or donation to the poor so make up for the value. So, does pirating movies\video games\books, fall unto this category?
That's kind of a loaded question. Much has to do with the law, and I don't make government my God. There are legal rules of public domain, where anything over fifty years old is 'free'. So copyright laws do not apply. I am in a visual business, if someone steals my images and I don't get paid, they are stealing. I could sue them. But I choose not to. If they need something that badly I just give it to them. There are software companies that have gone out of business, so I have no problem sharing that software since I did purchase it and made an effort to contact them. I have old movies I copied on my dvr for personal use. So am not sure what you are questioning. You would know in your conscience if you are stealing or not, and if so, repent and make it right. The government steals from me every day by wasting my tax money, there is nothing I can do about it.
to be truthful Im "recovering" from being(having-been?) an Ancap\libertarian type of thinker, so I want to get right with many practices. For example I strongly argued for tax evasion with many friends. So now I want to make sure I respect the Law\Government and the established system of how things work, including legal status of piracy practices. I will trust what you say tho, as you are someone who works in the industry
Yes it is. Especially if a sin is something that you have done or struggled with in the past, the Holy Spirit is trying to rid you of this fault so be especially careful NOT to do it. An example: my neice lived with me last year for a while and logged in her Netflix account on my family room tv. I do not have (nor want) an account. ,but sometimes my niece would call and and advise me of something I might like to watch. I would go on there to check it out and immediately my angel would start to make me feel that this would be wrong. My advise on anything like this: If in doubt, DON'T. It is probably only a venial sin but will it bring you closer to God? Remember, if He cannot trust you in the little things, He will never trust you with the big things.
And even small thefts stick to our souls. We can do reparations by giving to the poor when we cannot give back the original stolen items. And go to Confession.
