Earlier this week Devin Faraci, a film critic and editor at Badass Digest (and formerly of CHUD), described seeing 35mm prints of pre-Special Edition “Star Wars” and “The Empire Strikes Back.”

I was, of course, jealous. But I have the “Star Wars Despecialized Edition” in my life, so I feel as if I have indeed actually seen “Star Wars” (Not sure what the “Star Wars Despecialized Edition” is? I’ll get to it in a moment).

A bit later, Faraci had this to say:

I couldn’t agree more. The public is downright owed access to the original edits of “Star Wars.”

'Star Wars Despecialized Edition'

But the next best thing might be the “Star Wars Despecialized Edition.” A group of film restoration wonks got together in the forums of OriginalTrilogy.com and set out to meticulously restore “Star Wars,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” and “Return of the Jedi” to as near to their original states as possible. Everything from the color balance, to technical flubs like aliasing, has been minutely corrected. The work put into the “Star Wars Despecialized Edition” is pure mastery and artisty unstained by even a profit motive. It is pure goodness and light. Check out this video on some of the incredible detail that went into the Despecialized Edition project:

But when Daniel Feito brought up the “Star Wars Despecialized Edition,” I was surprised to see Faraci refuse to signal boost it (sorry for using the term signal boost, everyone).

I may not have his platform, but if he’s not going to, I will. You should download the “Star Wars Despecialized Edition.” You’ll love it. It’s great. It’s my position that pirating the “Star Wars Despecialized Edition” is an ethical good and you should do it immediately.

Before I get to why I think it’s cool to pirate “Star Wars,” I’d like to get as precise as possible and emphasize that Devin Faraci didn’t condemn the Despecialized Edition proselytizer, only refused to promote his cause. So while Faraci’s tweets were the reason I wrote this, I am not claiming that our feelings are in opposition, as I don’t know his position, nor do I care to guess it. Devin attracts some of the rantiest whiners out there—most recently from #GamerGate (that’s what you get for writing one of the most thoughtful and empathetic takes on GamerGate, Devin, though it’s hardly a recent phenomena). This isn’t an argument with Devin Faraci. I am only urging you to illegal acts of piracy for their own sake.

So What’s Ethical About “Star Wars” Jedi Piracy?

So I think we can agree that taking something you love and restoring it to its best possible condition is a noble thing to do. But does that make it okay to distribute to others? Maybe it depends on how much the new work differs from the work in its legally available form? Or maybe it depends on where you stand on copyright reform? No, those and considerations like them are secondary (or “incidental” if I’m to be honest about my influences here).

Whether or not it’s good to pirate the “Star Wars Despecialized Edition” is only dependent on whether or not the world is better with the “Star Wars Despecialized Edition” freely distributed. So… is it? You’ll have to do the accounting for yourself. But for me, stacking the psychological, moral, and artistic benefits against some theoretical, though unlikely, profit loss is enough to tip the scales (Not that it’s a question to be taken lightly. People work hard on films and deserve to profit).

If it truly is a cultural crime to keep the original “Star Wars” from us (it is... and even worse, Lucasfilm may be keeping it from the Library of Congress), then it’s a crime compounded against every person who would benefit from the unavailable “Star Wars” pre-Special Edition. And while the damage may be slight, it’s definite and measurable. I doubt I’m the only one who cringes at the redundant Jabba scene, the loss of Sebastian Shaw, or the Luke death scream. It digs at the heart and corrodes the noble characteristics embodied in beloved art as much as would Sy Snootles prancing in the fields of Christina’s World. Providing a remedy makes the world better.

So is downloading the “Star Wars Despecialized Edition” illegal? Yes, but if “Star Wars” does for your soul what it does for my soul, isn’t it worth it?