Pirating a movie doesn't get the movie from the movie company, for free or otherwise. Instead, the pirate gets it from a friend, random people voluntarily in a

Pirating a movie doesn't get the movie from the movie company, for free or otherwise. Instead, the pirate gets it from a friend, random people voluntarily in a bittorrent swarm, etc. Analogies to physics goods are silly because physical goods can not be (cheaply) copied. In the ice analogy, if I get ice from an ice company, the ice company no longer has that ice. If I get a song from you, you still have it. Nitpick: refrigeration was first used as an alternative to shipping ice (make it locally instead). This started in the 1850s and became widespread by the 1870s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigeration#First_refrigeration_systems http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigeration#First_refrigerati...