5 ms·

If paying results in a worse experience than having to steal, then the business is indeed questionable.

fastball 6y ago
Paying is always a worse experience than stealing, until you get caught. It's very hard to get caught and prosecuted for piracy though, which is why the "experience" is so much better.
- znpy 6y ago
  > Paying is always a worse experience than stealing, until you get caught. Nah. Take netflix for example: you pay your subscription and you get to watch movies. ez pz. Now take the pirating route: you have to find torrents, such torrents have to have seeds, you need disk space, you need a torrenting app, you might have to leave your computer turned on for a long time etc etc. Netflix is sucessful because they managed to make paying better than pirating.
  - fastball 6y ago
    Nope. Popcorn Time exists, and it's just as easy as Netflix. Much better catalogue too. It also downloads while streaming, so if you have to stop in the middle, you can more easily pick back up where you left off because it's already downloaded. Also you can then share this downloaded file with whomever you want because it's DRM free, but you can't send a Netflix movie to someone else, which was the author's main quibble anyway. Much better UX for movies with piracy, even with Netflix, which is a great service.
    - znpy 6y ago
      Yes, and I agree. But while it's widely known, it's still less easy to use than netflix.
  - brendoelfrendo 6y ago
    I don't think the writer of this blog post would accept "Netflix for ebooks." Netflix still has DRM, and you definitely don't own any of the content you watch on Netflix. For someone whose whole point is that they won't buy anything but a DRM-free epub to load into Calibre, I doubt that a such an alternative (which already exists, by the way, in the form of Kindle Unlimited, Scribd, or any number of library apps) would be an acceptable solution.
  - ImprobableTruth 6y ago
    That's only because sharing movies isn't as easy (files are quite large) and law enforcement goes after pirates. If piracy sites could flourish without being disturbed, it would be absolutely impossible to compete with them. And this is the exact situation you have with book piracy.
- bleuarff 6y ago
  If that were true, Netflix would not have been the success we know. When the user experience of buying anything is easier than the illegal counterpart, that's how you win over piracy.
  - fastball 6y ago
    Please see my reply to the other respondent about Popcorn Time. Regardless, my broader point is a complete rejection of the idea that "businesses should just make getting X easier than piracy" is a reasonable point to make at all. The onus is not on the business. Do you know what else is an easier experience when you steal? Clothes shopping. The UX is much better when you just walk in to a clothing store, pick out what you want, and then walk out. No waiting in a queue to checkout, no receipts, etc. etc. Clearly the onus is on clothing stores to make the experience of paying for the good easier than just walking out with them, right? What about restaurants? Wouldn't it be so much nicer if you could just go in, sit, eat your meal, and then not have to pay? No having to deal with tipping, splitting the bill, arguing over charges, etc. Just walk in, eat, and leave. Clearly then the onus is on restaurants to make the "paying for your meal" experience easier than dining-and-dashing, right?
    - hi_im_miles 6y ago
      Who else would the onus be on then? Ultimately if you don't like something that's happening to you, then it's on you to address it. The cops most likely aren't going to give a shit about someone seeding a torrent of your pdf, and while publishers haven't completely recouped sales since the advent of internet piracy, services like Spotify have definitely slowed the bleeding.

Paying is always a worse experience than stealing, until you get caught. It's very hard to get caught and prosecuted for piracy though, which is why the "experience" is so much better.

znpy 6y ago
> Paying is always a worse experience than stealing, until you get caught. Nah. Take netflix for example: you pay your subscription and you get to watch movies. ez pz. Now take the pirating route: you have to find torrents, such torrents have to have seeds, you need disk space, you need a torrenting app, you might have to leave your computer turned on for a long time etc etc. Netflix is sucessful because they managed to make paying better than pirating.
- fastball 6y ago
  Nope. Popcorn Time exists, and it's just as easy as Netflix. Much better catalogue too. It also downloads while streaming, so if you have to stop in the middle, you can more easily pick back up where you left off because it's already downloaded. Also you can then share this downloaded file with whomever you want because it's DRM free, but you can't send a Netflix movie to someone else, which was the author's main quibble anyway. Much better UX for movies with piracy, even with Netflix, which is a great service.
  - znpy 6y ago
    Yes, and I agree. But while it's widely known, it's still less easy to use than netflix.
- brendoelfrendo 6y ago
  I don't think the writer of this blog post would accept "Netflix for ebooks." Netflix still has DRM, and you definitely don't own any of the content you watch on Netflix. For someone whose whole point is that they won't buy anything but a DRM-free epub to load into Calibre, I doubt that a such an alternative (which already exists, by the way, in the form of Kindle Unlimited, Scribd, or any number of library apps) would be an acceptable solution.
- ImprobableTruth 6y ago
  That's only because sharing movies isn't as easy (files are quite large) and law enforcement goes after pirates. If piracy sites could flourish without being disturbed, it would be absolutely impossible to compete with them. And this is the exact situation you have with book piracy.
bleuarff 6y ago
If that were true, Netflix would not have been the success we know. When the user experience of buying anything is easier than the illegal counterpart, that's how you win over piracy.
- fastball 6y ago
  Please see my reply to the other respondent about Popcorn Time. Regardless, my broader point is a complete rejection of the idea that "businesses should just make getting X easier than piracy" is a reasonable point to make at all. The onus is not on the business. Do you know what else is an easier experience when you steal? Clothes shopping. The UX is much better when you just walk in to a clothing store, pick out what you want, and then walk out. No waiting in a queue to checkout, no receipts, etc. etc. Clearly the onus is on clothing stores to make the experience of paying for the good easier than just walking out with them, right? What about restaurants? Wouldn't it be so much nicer if you could just go in, sit, eat your meal, and then not have to pay? No having to deal with tipping, splitting the bill, arguing over charges, etc. Just walk in, eat, and leave. Clearly then the onus is on restaurants to make the "paying for your meal" experience easier than dining-and-dashing, right?
  - hi_im_miles 6y ago
    Who else would the onus be on then? Ultimately if you don't like something that's happening to you, then it's on you to address it. The cops most likely aren't going to give a shit about someone seeding a torrent of your pdf, and while publishers haven't completely recouped sales since the advent of internet piracy, services like Spotify have definitely slowed the bleeding.