译者 月桂蛊惑
Why is the United States Congress trying to enact SOPA and PIPA? Because I am a pirate.
为什么美国国会要颁布《禁止网络盗版法案》和《保护知识产权法案》？因为我就是个非法复制者。
That’s the simple fact of the matter: If piracy wasn’t such an issue for American rights holders (publishers, broadcasters, content creators), lobbies such as the RIAA and MPAAwouldn’t have donated millions of dollars to morally bankrupt Representatives and Senators and the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act would still be swimming in the ether.
这个简单事情的现实：如果盗版不是这样一个美国掌权者的问题（出版商，广播业，内容创造者），和一些游说团体，如没有投入数百万美元的美国唱片协会和美国电影协会，代表和议员。停止网上盗版法案和保护IP法案依旧不能实现。
Despite the terrifyingly hyperbolic tone that some anti-piracy literature takes — that piracy is akin to drug dealing, child slave labor, or crap like that — piracy obviously isan issue, even if we don’t agree on how big or pressing an issue it is. But why is piracy an issue in the first place? To answer that, I have to tell you why I pirate stuff. Copyright is broken
虽然一些反盗版的资料持有夸张盗版危害的言论，盗版跟毒品交易，雇佣童工，赌博一样。盗版明显是个问题，即使我们不认为它有多严重。但为什么盗版被放在了第一位？我不得不跟你说我盗版的事。版权是不完整的。
In its current form, copyright laws are broken. It varies from country to country, but in most Western countries copyright law has devolved into some kind of drooling, malignant beast. In essence, copyright is meant to protect the creator of a work — be it a painting, book, video game, or movie — from being ripped off. Thanks to the force of lobbies, though, copyright law protects the interests of publishers and broadcasters. SOPA, which allows a publisher to point at a copyrighted work and demand that it be deleted from the interwebs, is the creation of lobbies and associations, not individual artists.
在现今的形式下，版权法是不能同一而论的。每个国家都不同，但在西方国家的版权法变成了一只邪恶的流着口水的怪兽。简单的说，版权是为了保护著作的作者远离剽窃，这个作者可能是画家，作家或是视频游戏，或是电影。多亏了游说团的压力，即使这样，版权法保护了出版商和传播机构的利益。禁止网络盗版法案，允许出版商指出有版权的作品并在网络上删除这个作品，是游说团和这些人的注意，并不是品拥有者个人的做法。
Let me give you an example of how copyright is meant to work. If I produce a painting and hang it in a gallery, copyright ensures that no one takes a photo and sells or prints copies. If I produce official copies of my painting and sell them, you are completely free to do whatever you like with your copy. If you want to deface it, you can. If you want to give it to someone as a gift, you can. This is what your money is meant to buy you.
让我给你举个版权的作用的例子。如果我画了幅花并挂在画廊里，版权保证没人能照相卖出或做复制品。如果做官方的复制并卖掉，你可以完全自由的随意用你的复制品。想涂污破坏它，可以；送人做礼物，也可以。这就是你的钱为你买到的东西。
It is thanks to broken copyright law that almost every form of digital content is now locked down with DRM. Games that are buggy, a pain to open, and can only be installed on one computer; cloud-based movies that you never truly own; books and music that can be removed from a device or account at any time, without warning.
因为不完整的版权法几乎每种数字内容的东西都锁定数字版权管理。游戏不能玩，只能装在一台电脑上；从来都不会拥有基于云技术的电影；书籍和音乐可以在任何时间任何地方没有任何警告的下载。
That is why I pirate: When I buy something, I want to own it. I don’t want a publisher or broadcaster to dictate how or why or when I can use something that I own. Digital distribution systems still suck
这就是为什么我非法复制，当我买东西是我想拥有它。我不想让出版商或是传播商告诉我怎样或是为什么或是什么时候才能用我拥有的东西。数字分配系统因为在其中。
We have made massive leaps in the realm of digital distribution in recent years. Steam and iTunes are both fantastic, buyingKindle e-books is depressingly easy, and Netflix is awesome — but if you take a closer look, most of these services are still rife with issues.
在数字分配领域我们有了很大的进步。Steam和 iTunes都很棒，在Kindle网络书店买书也很容易， Netflix的电影也是好名远扬。但进一步看，这些服务器都还充满问题。
iTunes is easy to use, but except for music, everything you buy is wrapped up in DRM. You can’t burn an episode of Glee to DVD and watch it on your TV. The problem with Netflix, of course, is that you never own what you watch; like Spotify, it’s a service that you must keep paying for if you want access to your favorite shows.
iTunes除了音乐方面都很好用，没一件你买的东西都得数字版权管理机构打包。不能将好看的部分复制成DVD在电视上看。Netflix的毛病当然是你从来都不能拥有你看的视频；像Spotify，它的服务是如果你想看到你最喜欢的东西你必须付钱。
Then there’s the matter of timeliness. Steam and the music side of iTunes don’t have this issue — because they’re the de facto way of releasing a game or album — but have you seen how quickly DVD rips appear on sites like RapidShare or The Pirate Bay? Have you seen how easy it is to download stuff from these sites? And you can burn your downloads to DVD! Magic.
那也有适时的东西。 Steam和 iTunes的音乐就是没有这样的问题。由于他们是事实的释放一个游戏或是相册。但你是否在意了DVD视频在像RapidShare和 Pirate Bay这样的网站上会很快出现？在这些网站上下载这样的东西有多快？你可以把你的下载的视频做成DVD！太神奇了！
That is why I pirate: When I buy something, I want to be free to enjoy it however I like. I don’t want to be forced into “borrowing indefinitely” or only being allowed to play a movie through iTunes, on a computer.
这就是我为什么非法复制：当我买了东西，我想用我喜欢的方式自由的享受。我不想被强制成“不明不白的借来”或是只允许用 iTunes播放还是只在一台电脑上播放。
from 译言-每日精品译文推荐 http://article.yeeyan.org/view/269918/247440