Can Piracy be used for Good?

This past weekend I was reminiscing over old, nostalgic memories of coming home from school to plop down in front of the computer and log onto sites like Miniclip, Neopets, Webkinz, and tons more. So then I thought why don't I do that now?!

Well, I did and to no surprise almost nothing worked considering that flash is no longer supported by web browsers; dooming tons of games, videos, and once great online activities to an early grave. Unless - of course - you raise your sails, wave the skull and cross bones, ready your saber, and sail the 7 seas (that is unless you pirate it).

Now piracy is a big no-no for good reason. It's illegal and unethical because you're stealing money from the rightful owners who produced that content you just downloaded for free. But my experience here raised a question. Are there ever any situations where you can rightfully and ethically pirate content?

We live in a new digital age where it's impossible to even count the hours of content produced everyday, but we have consistently neglected how to preserve that content for the future. When technology is thrown to the wayside in favor of the new, shinier option, what happens to the media that depends on the previous generation of tech to run? How many flash games and movies can never be accessed again unless you download illegal copies to run locally?

This isn't just me complaining on outdated tech not being used like "Oh what about our VHS tapes?" There are situations where, due to expired contacts or license agreements, modern media can no longer be accessed.

In 2010, Scott Pilgrim vs The World released a side scrolling beat 'em up in the veins of classic arcade games. The game is incredible, highly reviewed, featured a stunning soundtrack, and was one of the best games to come out that year. Until, a little while later the publisher, Ubisoft, lost the rights to sell the game and it could no longer be downloaded, bought, or legally played again. I still refuse to get rid of my Xbox 360 because it has an original copy of that game stored on it.

For years, the only way to play the game was to download a torrent and pirate the game. The original developers knew their game was being "stolen" online, but because it became impossible to sell the game, so they turned a blind eye. If nobody can earn money from it, why not let fans enjoy this critical-success for free? It wasn't until this past January, nearly a decade later, through fans campaigning online did the game get a re-release.

Don't just imagine this is a one-off story. It has happened countless times with some IPs such as:

The Legend of Korra
The Lego Hobbit
Alan Wake
James Bond
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Legend of Zelda
The P.T Demo
Even - for a brief period of time - the entire studio of Telltale and everything they produced!

Not to mention God knows how many indie movies released this side of the century alone or the insane idea of locking movies, TV shows, and games based on which region of the world you live in.

What I'm getting at is when it's impossible to access content legally, how can we not only conserve the original media so it's not lost on some dusty shelf of a single collector, but still allow it to be enjoyed by consumers. Right now, the only way is to be a big scary boogeyman of a pirate and download it illegally. That's not fair to the original developers who put potentially years of effort into this content, only to be cheated out of sharing it with the world.

In the increasingly digitized world of media, it's a genuine concern that sooner or later you will not be able to access your content anymore. Before you lose access to streaming your favorite show, we need to figure out a legal way of preserving it that benefits everybody.