In fact, if piracy really had the deleterious effects on culture and artistic expression that copyright advocates always claim it does, I suspect you&#x27;d see much more of a social taboo against piracy than exists now. I&#x27;m not one to usually rush to the defense of people reasoning with &quot;their gut&quot; but, in this case, I think most people know that the copyright regime is bullshit, and they act accordingly, even if they haven&#x27;t given it as much thought as the average HN reader.