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No. People get older, get more income, and prefer the convenience of a service to piracy and eventually stop doing it. But with a proliferation of services no

No. People get older, get more income, and prefer the convenience of a service to piracy and eventually stop doing it. But with a proliferation of services now, many are not willing to subscribe to them all, and when their child wants to watch that one movie that all their classmates have seen, and is on the service they don't subscribe to, they go back to firing up the old VPN and torrent client they haven't touched in years. Speaking from experience here. And it's not an isolated experience.

eloff 6y ago
My experience is the same. Used to pirate music, then spotify was good enough not to bother anymore. Used to pirate movies and TV, now I only do it occasionally for titles I want to watch, but aren't being streamed on any service I'm subscribed to. I'm still pissed at Disney for canceling Gina Carano, so I might pirate the next season of the mandalorian if I still care by then.
2pEXgD0fZ5cF 6y ago
This, the narrative of the evil people pirating stuff because they just don't want to pay for anything is for the most part a myth planted by corporations. Valve realized this [1] when it came to games, Apple and Spotify realized this when it came to music. And there was the study financed by the EU [2] that came to the conclusion that for games, books and music there is "no robust statistical evidence of displacement of sales by online piracy." So I too subscribe to the evidence and personal experience that the choice between piracy and purchase is a choice of convenience and availability. There are many cases in which the pirates just offer better service and distribution. [1]: https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114391-Valves-Gabe-Newell-Says-Piracy-Is-a-Service-Problem https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114391-Valves-Gabe... [2]: https://cdn.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/2017/09/displacement_study.pdf https://cdn.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/2017/09/displacement_s...
someperson 6y ago
Absolutely. Renting a movie from YouTube on Linux devices does not provide a 4K or even 1080p stream on my Linux devices due to content protection. And my ideal TV/movie watching experience is using VR, and Disney+ does not have a VR app (and using the browser causes a very annoying flashing/flickering left eye issue for everybody using that service). For content I care about, piracy provides the highest quality viewing experience by far. For casual content where suboptimal resolutions and very annoying flickering issues aren't as important I use Disney+ in a VR browser. It really sucks that piracy provides a better experience.
lotsofpulp 6y ago
> they go back to firing up the old VPN and torrent client they haven't touched in years. 95%+ people are not capable and/or bothered to do this. Even in my circle of friends from engineering school, where everyone pirated in college, we’re in our 30s now and I don’t know anyone who still does.
fileeditview 6y ago
Absolutely agree. I am all for competition but the fragmentation currently is disturbing. In the end it probably is caused by the stupid subscription models where you pay for everything (and you don't want 99% of it). Similar to all-you-can-eat it basically promotes mass consumption without too much depth. I quit Netflix because there were only a few shows I really liked and the rest was just garbage. I really prefer buying single seasons on Amazon if that is possible. I hope this will be the future but i doubt it.

eloff 6y ago

My experience is the same. Used to pirate music, then spotify was good enough not to bother anymore. Used to pirate movies and TV, now I only do it occasionally for titles I want to watch, but aren't being streamed on any service I'm subscribed to. I'm still pissed at Disney for canceling Gina Carano, so I might pirate the next season of the mandalorian if I still care by then.

2pEXgD0fZ5cF 6y ago

This, the narrative of the evil people pirating stuff because they just don't want to pay for anything is for the most part a myth planted by corporations. Valve realized this [1] when it came to games, Apple and Spotify realized this when it came to music. And there was the study financed by the EU [2] that came to the conclusion that for games, books and music there is "no robust statistical evidence of displacement of sales by online piracy." So I too subscribe to the evidence and personal experience that the choice between piracy and purchase is a choice of convenience and availability. There are many cases in which the pirates just offer better service and distribution. [1]: https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114391-Valves-Gabe-Newell-Says-Piracy-Is-a-Service-Problem https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114391-Valves-Gabe... [2]: https://cdn.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/2017/09/displacement_study.pdf https://cdn.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/2017/09/displacement_s...

someperson 6y ago

Absolutely. Renting a movie from YouTube on Linux devices does not provide a 4K or even 1080p stream on my Linux devices due to content protection. And my ideal TV/movie watching experience is using VR, and Disney+ does not have a VR app (and using the browser causes a very annoying flashing/flickering left eye issue for everybody using that service). For content I care about, piracy provides the highest quality viewing experience by far. For casual content where suboptimal resolutions and very annoying flickering issues aren't as important I use Disney+ in a VR browser. It really sucks that piracy provides a better experience.

lotsofpulp 6y ago

> they go back to firing up the old VPN and torrent client they haven't touched in years. 95%+ people are not capable and/or bothered to do this. Even in my circle of friends from engineering school, where everyone pirated in college, we’re in our 30s now and I don’t know anyone who still does.

fileeditview 6y ago

Absolutely agree. I am all for competition but the fragmentation currently is disturbing. In the end it probably is caused by the stupid subscription models where you pay for everything (and you don't want 99% of it). Similar to all-you-can-eat it basically promotes mass consumption without too much depth. I quit Netflix because there were only a few shows I really liked and the rest was just garbage. I really prefer buying single seasons on Amazon if that is possible. I hope this will be the future but i doubt it.