Not really.

For example, we had that case of a Polish baker who was giving away bread he didn't sell to poor for absolutely free.

Yeah, IRS got him.

In this crazy world we live in, you have to pay taxes for shit you give away for free. This is why in supermarkets they usually give you 0.01 dollar receit, because then they will have to pay VAT from 0.01, not some higher amount that is stated in tax laws.

This is exactly reason why you don't get free bread samples in bakery. Because stuff they give away, costs them more than simply producing it.

Giving away stuff for free that isn't free from the beginning costs you taxes.

I understand your points, but sadly, the state doesn't like when you give stuff for free :-(

I don't think piracy has really anything to do whether a game is more (or less) popular, besides that "popular games are also more popular among pirates".

There is also the so-called casual piracy, e.g. someone buying a game and then handing it out for free to all his friends and elsewhere, even without torrents. Contrary to popular belief, this kind of piracy still exists, not everyone possibly wanting a free game even knows what "torrent" is. They see a nice game (or song, or movie) at their friend or relative, and instantly wonder if it is possible for that person to give them a copy too. It can be an obscure or popular game/song/movie, doesn't really matter.

I buy something, pay taxes, and then give it to someone else - sure, that boosts the economy. But if I share something like a piece of literature, movie or a video game "under the radar" and it does not happen to result in anybody doing a legitimate trade it will not generate any kind of economical boost. If I don't get any benefits from it myself it's not even actual black market activity. So what are the economic effects of that kind of action?

That's weird. In the US you can give away anything that you legally own. You may still be on the hook for damages if something happens, but you can still give things away for free.

Now accepting or receiving free gifts is another thing. Technically your supposed to pay taxes on all of that. In practice though unless it's a substantial amount the IRS doesn't bother with it.

Also, you have to pay VAT on food? That sucks. Back home that pretty much only applies to candy sometimes and to alcohol. Something like bread would never be taxed.

Which is why this sort of thing is murky at best. It gets extremely complicated when you have to factor in experience. Reading a book can be relaxing or lead to increased productivity. Or it can be the opposite.
I'll have to keep that in mind. I'm seriously considering moving to the Czech Republic next year for the school year. I haven't quite committed, I'm also interested in Brazil.

If you're a private person it's different thing.

If you're a business entity you can't just give away stuff for free, especially when it has a price tag first.

In every "buy 2 get 1 free" or "buy shaving gel get a razor free" cases, business entity is forced to pay taxes also for the free item. I'm not sure how they evaluate such taxes, but they override that with 0.01 price on receit. I believe it's either 8% or 23% of the regular price

Yes, there is a VAT on food. I believe it's like that in entire EU. Right now it's 5% for standard bakery products for example (in Poland). If you make cakes? 8%. If you bake stuff that is good to eat for more than 14 days? 23% ...

It's so stupid that if the baker I was talking about previously was selling that bread to the poor for 0.01 , he would have to pay 5% from 0.01, but he gave that stuff for free, so he should pay 5% from 2.50 or whatever, which he didn't, so IRS got him. His story might not be the best example though, because he also cheated on numbers of bread he was actually selling, but he was punished for the free bread too.

As a business entity, you have to pay for stuff you give for free, unless it's a sample, or a tiny gift, like a pencil or whatever.

Yeah, but I believe there is no such thing as a goat-pulled boat. So you don't get across the idea that those two things are essentially related, but not one and the same. Which I feel is more important than the rhyme here.

Ah, translation theory, how I love thee.

/derail

I'll stop it here, but in some parts of the world it was common to pull boats along canals from on shore. Goats though would be tough as they're not really large enough to be worth using as pack animals.

Exactly, but I don't think that waving my hand in a friendly manner at random people in a public place will be regarded by anyone as an economic boost, even if it may make some people more productive to see me waving my hand like that. And it's that kind of effect reading a piece of literature or playing a game might achieve.

I was actually wondering about that before posting. I know oxen were used for this, but I can't quite imagine a goat being much use here… Hm…

Anyone got a goat, a boat and a canal I could borrow for a day or two?

Sadly I don't have a mother-in-law yet, else I could have made a funny joke here...

Check the links I provided. I wasn't writing about pirates of the caribbean. If your kids play "somalian pirates with assault rifles" I do would think at least thats disturbing.

edit:
My though about copyright infringement and the laws that support it is that it has mutated into something destructive which supports only people which are neither involved with playing or creating a game and resulted in stuff that make ppl even more use torrents (ex. all these "Oh, I bought it but cannot play because of DRM, thats why I torrented it" people which because of that also goes on to this brainless "lost sales" list.

I get all that. I understand it more since living in the Republic of Georgia too, as there is no legitimate way to buy anything here either and I have turned into quite the TV/movie pirate during my volunteer time.

I don't think piracy is unequivocally morally wrong. I do however think it is unequivocally morally wrong to like a game, have the ability to support said game, then not do so.

And I guess my main point is that no matter the morality or situation I can see someone referring colloquially to piracy as theft of due profit.

Mm, I thought of that after making my post as well. Geh, trying to come up with something that fulfills all the criteria is hard. Gives a person way more respect for the people who translate manga, video games, etc.