3 ms·

The statistic that 95% of pirated music would not have been purchased, had piracy not been an option should be mentioned more often. The fact that someone viola

by 99Frogs 18y ago

The statistic that 95% of pirated music would not have been purchased, had piracy not been an option should be mentioned more often. The fact that someone violates copyright by pulling down the complete beach boys does not suggest that he would have purchased a $100 box set. The ease of piracy is the impetus. He would have happily gone without the product.

netcan 18y ago
Regardless, if piracy becomes legal & socially acceptable, it will remove an reason to buy a $100 box set at any point. You may still have your 95% rule, but you'll just have an average person 'owning' 2000% more music then they would have otherwise with 0% of the cost.
- 99Frogs 18y ago
  I think it may settle at illegal and socially acceptable, much like driving faster than the speed limit - punishable in rare cases. And people will feel about as much shame for having done it. I'm not arguing that piracy should be legal, but that it should be just about as illegal as speeding.
  - netcan 18y ago
    That kind of a fuzzy equilibrium is what we're at now. Most people do it. Officially you can't. If you do it to make money, they'll come after you. Some people think it's wrong. Lots of others think its kinda wrong. What you do get on these sorts of threads everywhere from here to spamblog is people saying something along the lines of: I pirate some things that I want to listen to. If I like it/it's good enough/it's reasonably priced/ I like the artist, I buy a copy. The power is in the hands of the 'consumer.' They decide if they want to pay or not based on their own criteria. That's not ownership! That's beerware. Consumption is not tied to purchase. The record companies & friends play up to this trying to increase the moral pressure. This seems to have the effect of increasing the above sentiment. Anyway we're stuck in this no man's land. How sustainable is it? I don't think it is sustainable at all. We are following the music lives in a cd protocol like a cargo cult. People are going to buy cds of artists they like because they remember that is how they used to do it. That memory will fade, the cd player will disappear & we'll still be buying licences in the form of a cd? I don't think so. What's the alternative? Buy the license online? People will go online & literally make a donation to a millionaire? Something's gotta give *If there is a proper recession, maybe we'll see donations to artists in the form of cd purchases go down with donations to normal charities.

by 99Frogs 18y ago

netcan 18y ago

Regardless, if piracy becomes legal & socially acceptable, it will remove an reason to buy a $100 box set at any point. You may still have your 95% rule, but you'll just have an average person 'owning' 2000% more music then they would have otherwise with 0% of the cost.

99Frogs 18y ago
I think it may settle at illegal and socially acceptable, much like driving faster than the speed limit - punishable in rare cases. And people will feel about as much shame for having done it. I'm not arguing that piracy should be legal, but that it should be just about as illegal as speeding.
- netcan 18y ago
  That kind of a fuzzy equilibrium is what we're at now. Most people do it. Officially you can't. If you do it to make money, they'll come after you. Some people think it's wrong. Lots of others think its kinda wrong. What you do get on these sorts of threads everywhere from here to spamblog is people saying something along the lines of: I pirate some things that I want to listen to. If I like it/it's good enough/it's reasonably priced/ I like the artist, I buy a copy. The power is in the hands of the 'consumer.' They decide if they want to pay or not based on their own criteria. That's not ownership! That's beerware. Consumption is not tied to purchase. The record companies & friends play up to this trying to increase the moral pressure. This seems to have the effect of increasing the above sentiment. Anyway we're stuck in this no man's land. How sustainable is it? I don't think it is sustainable at all. We are following the music lives in a cd protocol like a cargo cult. People are going to buy cds of artists they like because they remember that is how they used to do it. That memory will fade, the cd player will disappear & we'll still be buying licences in the form of a cd? I don't think so. What's the alternative? Buy the license online? People will go online & literally make a donation to a millionaire? Something's gotta give *If there is a proper recession, maybe we'll see donations to artists in the form of cd purchases go down with donations to normal charities.