---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Piracy is not a threat, it's a need."
description: "\"Piracy is not a threat, it's a need.\" — Peter Sunde"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a36/peter-sunde-5154_medicine_piracy-is-not-a-threat-it-s-a-need-26488_2648892.jpg"
---

#  Piracy is not a threat, it's a need.

![“Piracy is not a threat, it's a need.” quote by Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a36/peter-sunde-5154_medicine_piracy-is-not-a-threat-it-s-a-need-26488_2648892.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a36/peter-sunde-5154_medicine_piracy-is-not-a-threat-it-s-a-need-26488_2648892.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a36/peter-sunde-5154_medicine_piracy-is-not-a-threat-it-s-a-need-26488_2648892.jpg)

> “Piracy is not a threat, it's a need.”

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Piracy fulfills a demand, acting as a necessary response to restrictive systems.

**In simple terms:** Piracy meets a need.

Key Takeaway

Address underlying demand with accessible alternatives.

Themes

technology access rights

Mood

defiant pragmatic

Type

activist controversial

When to use this quote

- media distribution
- policy reform
- consumer behavior

Key Concepts

economics digital culture

Questions to Reflect On

- How can legal models satisfy the same need?
- What ethical frameworks apply?

A Different Perspective

Il may harm creators financially.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Medicine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medicine/) [Piracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/piracy/) [Threat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/threat/)

## Related quotes

> [More needs to be done to take the fight to the enemy and secure our borders against the terrorist threat. We need more protection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-lampson/more-needs-to-be-done-to-take-the-fight-to-the-enemy-and-secure-our/)

[Nick Lampson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-lampson/)

> [“Let’s pretend it is a threat, because you need to understand that the other officers aren’t keeping me safe from you; they’re keeping you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/let-s-pretend-it-is-a-threat-because-you-need-to-understand-that-the/)

[Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/)

> [The US government should be the champion for the internet, not a threat. They need to be much more transparent about what they're doing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/the-us-government-should-be-the-champion-for-the-internet-not-a/)

[Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/)

> [A threat need not provoke a response if it is not taken up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/a-threat-need-not-provoke-a-response-if-it-is-not-taken-up/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [The Pirate Bay was never for the money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/the-pirate-bay-was-never-for-the-money/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [In all honesty, the reason we did The Pirate Bay was to bring freedom and take back control from a centralized system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/in-all-honesty-the-reason-we-did-the-pirate-bay-was-to-bring-freedom/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [Illegal downloading will exist forever - it can't be stopped, people don't want it to stop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/illegal-downloading-will-exist-forever-it-can-t-be-stopped-people-don/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [The Pirate Bay was never for making people not pay, it was for making people free to choose what to share and who they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/the-pirate-bay-was-never-for-making-people-not-pay-it-was-for-making/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [No, the Pirate Bay is more like sugar - it's bad for you but you can't stop using it. Bad because you get sued…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/no-the-pirate-bay-is-more-like-sugar-it-s-bad-for-you-but-you-can-t/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [The Pirate Bay is not in Sweden. It's a distributed system. We don't know where the servers are. We gave them to people we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/the-pirate-bay-is-not-in-sweden-it-s-a-distributed-system-we-don-t/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [We need new voices, new people, new activists and new ideologies in the piracy scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/we-need-new-voices-new-people-new-activists-and-new-ideologies-in-the/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [We are four individuals on trial. But The Pirate Bay has its own life. It is not dependent on us as persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/we-are-four-individuals-on-trial-but-the-pirate-bay-has-its-own-life/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [The solution for piracy is to redefine piracy. Make things possible for everyone, without being labelled it as a crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/the-solution-for-piracy-is-to-redefine-piracy-make-things-possible/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [Every time anyone did an advertisement on The Pirate Bay they would get a call from the record or movie industry saying they'll sue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/every-time-anyone-did-an-advertisement-on-the-pirate-bay-they-would/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [We are quite sure the Pirate Bay is legal in Sweden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/we-are-quite-sure-the-pirate-bay-is-legal-in-sweden/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

## More by Peter Sunde

> [Mark Zuckerberg is a rich white dude from a really privileged background.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/mark-zuckerberg-is-a-rich-white-dude-from-a-really-privileged/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [Apple is going on the path to control computer use.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/apple-is-going-on-the-path-to-control-computer-use/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [We are quite sure the Pirate Bay is legal in Sweden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/we-are-quite-sure-the-pirate-bay-is-legal-in-sweden/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [The prosecutor have a problem distinguishing from megabits and megabytes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/the-prosecutor-have-a-problem-distinguishing-from-megabits-and/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [The entertainment lobby has bullied Sweden around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/the-entertainment-lobby-has-bullied-sweden-around/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [Traveling has turned into a sort of lifestyle, I suppose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/traveling-has-turned-into-a-sort-of-lifestyle-i-suppose/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [I haven't asked for any contributions, and I try to do things without using money - it feels more real and honest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/i-haven-t-asked-for-any-contributions-and-i-try-to-do-things-without/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [I would say that I admire people that come up with ideas we never thought of before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/i-would-say-that-i-admire-people-that-come-up-with-ideas-we-never/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [I'm not on Facebook but there are a lot of drawbacks in my offline world. No party invitations, no updates from my friends, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/i-m-not-on-facebook-but-there-are-a-lot-of-drawbacks-in-my-offline/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [If we say Facebook doesn't agree with our rules in our country we are going to stop Facebook in our country. We censor a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/if-we-say-facebook-doesn-t-agree-with-our-rules-in-our-country-we-are/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [In Sweden I am considered the Finnish-Norwegian, in Norway Finnish-Swedish, and in Finland Swedish-Norwegian. I've never really belonged anywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/in-sweden-i-am-considered-the-finnish-norwegian-in-norway-finnish/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [I stay true to my word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/i-stay-true-to-my-word/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [For private use, filesharing and copying should be legal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/for-private-use-filesharing-and-copying-should-be-legal/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [Every time anyone did an advertisement on The Pirate Bay they would get a call from the record or movie industry saying they'll sue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/every-time-anyone-did-an-advertisement-on-the-pirate-bay-they-would/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

> [Everybody has lost their digital privacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/everybody-has-lost-their-digital-privacy/)

[Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

[Explore all 103 Peter Sunde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/)

## More Medicine quotes

> [I think people need to be comfortable questioning the authority of a doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susannah-cahalan/i-think-people-need-to-be-comfortable-questioning-the-authority-of-a/)

[Susannah Cahalan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susannah-cahalan/)

> [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/)

[Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/)

> [“the doctor hesitated before breaking the news to her. "those aren't stars. it's cancer." - forty years a smoker”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lovelace/the-doctor-hesitated-before-breaking-the-news-to-her-those-aren-t/)

[Amanda Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lovelace/)

> [Every patient carries her or his own doctor inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/every-patient-carries-her-or-his-own-doctor-inside/)

[Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/)

> [Making sure that people have access to preventive medicine for the first time ever as a nation? That's a big deal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-schneider/making-sure-that-people-have-access-to-preventive-medicine-for-the/)

[Brad Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-schneider/)

> [being asked to decide between your passion for work and your passion for children was like being asked by your doctor whether you preferred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-bevington/being-asked-to-decide-between-your-passion-for-work-and-your-passion/)

[Helen Bevington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-bevington/)

> [We ought to observe that practice which is the hardest of all-especially for young physicians-we ought to throw in no medicine at all-to abstain-to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-randolph-of-roanoke/we-ought-to-observe-that-practice-which-is-the-hardest-of-all/)

John Randolph of Roanoke

> [“old-fashioned, gentle Scottish physician, unmoved by the considerations of profit and personal gain that could so disfigure medicine. That doctors should consider themselves businessmen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/old-fashioned-gentle-scottish-physician-unmoved-by-the-considerations/)

[Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/)

> [Do you think that was kind? Do you think it was godlike? What would you think of a physician, if a woman came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-h-gardener/do-you-think-that-was-kind-do-you-think-it-was-godlike-what-would-you/)

[Helen H. Gardener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-h-gardener/)

> [The World Health Organisation has a lot of its medical experts sitting in Geneva while hospitals in Africa have no drugs and desperate patients…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-hanson/the-world-health-organisation-has-a-lot-of-its-medical-experts/)

[Pauline Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-hanson/)

> [Antidepressants are the biggest fraud in the world. Number one, Prozac gives you a royal soft-on like you wouldn't believe, and number two you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-evans/antidepressants-are-the-biggest-fraud-in-the-world-number-one-prozac/)

[Robert Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-evans/)

> [“I intend to study love as well as medicine, for it is one of the most mysterious and remarkable diseases that afflict mankind, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-intend-to-study-love-as-well-as-medicine-for-it-is-one-of-the-most/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [You know, in playing a role like this, you really want to get it right, because this is a person who was revered by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-stuart-masterson/you-know-in-playing-a-role-like-this-you-really-want-to-get-it-right/)

[Mary Stuart Masterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-stuart-masterson/)

> [I've always been interested in medicine and was pleased when my brother became a doctor. But after thinking seriously about that field, I realized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-medicine-and-was-pleased-when-my/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [Medicine is magical and magical is art, the boy in the bubble, and the baby with the baboon heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/medicine-is-magical-and-magical-is-art-the-boy-in-the-bubble-and-the/)

[Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/)

[Browse all 5,709 Medicine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medicine/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Piracy is not a threat, it's a need.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Peter Sunde"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/piracy-is-not-a-threat-it-s-a-need/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Medicine"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/piracy-is-not-a-threat-it-s-a-need/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a36/peter-sunde-5154_medicine_piracy-is-not-a-threat-it-s-a-need-26488_2648892.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a36/peter-sunde-5154_medicine_piracy-is-not-a-threat-it-s-a-need-26488_2648892.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a36/peter-sunde-5154_medicine_piracy-is-not-a-threat-it-s-a-need-26488_2648892.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Piracy is not a threat, it's a need.” — Peter Sunde",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Peter Sunde",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Piracy is not a threat, it's...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/piracy-is-not-a-threat-it-s-a-need/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/piracy-is-not-a-threat-it-s-a-need/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
