> My hypothesis is that piracy drops total spend in dollars My hypothesis is the exact opposite. I think that piracy increases total spend in dollars. With pi

> My hypothesis is that piracy drops total spend in dollars My hypothesis is the exact opposite. I think that piracy increases total spend in dollars. With piracy, people get to experience things for free that they otherwise wouldn't have. This opens individuals to newer media, newer niches, newer genres, and so on. I have known a few people who spent their money for the first time on video games after playing the pirated version of GTA V. They wouldn't have spent a dime on games if they hadn't played pirated GTA V. I turned into a subscriber after watching The Wire, The Sporanos, and Breaking Bad with a shared password (also a kind of piracy). I would have never even thought of paying for TV if I could not watch The Wire for free. I believe that pirated content "converts" people into web series watchers, gamers, and more. Microsoft is fully aware of Windows piracy. Had Microsoft cracked down, then they would have lost tens of millions of future paying customers. Many people pay for Office for their business because that is what they have used since their childhood- in a legal way or not.