"""Your assumption is that if someone doesn't buy knock offs, they'll buy the real thing. Until that can be proven true""" I keep hearing that argument in disc

"""Your assumption is that if someone doesn't buy knock offs, they'll buy the real thing. Until that can be proven true""" I keep hearing that argument in discussions about counterfeiting/piracy. Does it convince anyone? Yes, lots of people would buy the real thing X if there was no way to buy X's knock offs. It only depends on a) how much they want something X-like and b) the relative price. If (1) something X-like is desirable, and (2) the price of X's knock offs is near the price of X (so that people not affording X at all is not an issue), then people WOULD buy the original if they couldn't get a cheaper knockoff. Does even one person's money lost qualify the issue as "proven"? Because I know that I have downloaded albums and books that I would DEFINITELY have bought if I could not get them for free of the intertubes.