5 ms·

As far as I can tell, piracy exists for exactly two reasons: 1. Content is priced way the fuck higher than market value. 2. Content is so encumbered that it i

As far as I can tell, piracy exists for exactly two reasons: 1. Content is priced way the fuck higher than market value. 2. Content is so encumbered that it is difficult to even get it or use it. The way I see it is that #1 is not a problem for content creators. It is relatively rare compared to people buying content and the person who would rather download an episode of The Office rather than paying Apple $1.99 for it was unlikely to pay if that was the only option in the first place. Their alternative to piracy isn’t to spend the money. It’s to watch something else. As for #2, it is a self-inflicted wound. There was a time when the 6th Harry Potter movie was about to come out in theaters. I wanted to do a marathon watch of the first 5 movies with my family. I had the first 4 on DVD and wanted to buy the 5th. I checked all streaming services and none had it. In fact it appeared that some removed it a month prior. I then called several nearby stores and all were sold out. A store 20 miles away had a copy for $40. After spending nearly an hour to find this out, I spent 5 minutes downloading it off a torrent site. Maybe indestructible your content will net you more money even if you have some of your content pirated.

CharlieDigital 4y ago
Are either of these true? For $17/mo, I can access an endless stream of content on Netflix. This is way cheaper than I remember my cable subscriptions used to be (if we consider the cost of Internet access as fixed in either case). Verizon is even offering to throw in Hulu, Disney+, and a bunch of other streaming services "free" if I switch to FIOS + mobile. I can watch Netflix on my phone, tablet, PC, TV, Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV. I can watch any show, any time I want, as many seasons and episodes as I want. 24x7x365. Is it really encumbered? Aside from IP owners walling off their services, content -- as long as you pay for it -- flows more freely now than ever, IMO. If I go to an Airbnb, I can log into my Netflix account and watch all of my shows. I can log into my Amazon account and watch all of my purchased movies. (Just don't forget to log out!) Yes; I can't watch it offline or if I'm in a location with poor Internet speeds. But that is such a small fraction of my time that it hardly registers. Yes; my right to view content I've paid for can be revoked in some circumstance I'm sure, but it's never once happened to me.
- ChuckMcM 4y ago
  Yes, and NetFlix is a great example. Prior to the existence of NetFlix video piracy was extensive and widespread, once NetFlix appeared that piracy was greatly reduced as the "value" was there (it was more convenient to pay NetFlix than to figure out how to pirate stuff). It won't be "zero" of course but it was effective enough that content companies have emphasized that model over encrypted optical media.
- Aeolun 4y ago
  > For $17/mo, I can access an endless stream of content on Netflix. $17/month for netflix is great when you have an income. As a poor student, that’s $17 I can save.
  - Shaanie 4y ago
    Then pay $9.99 for Netflix Basic or $6.99 and deal with ads. If you can't afford that then there's basically no price point that makes sense because you're simply not willing or able to pay for entertainment.
    - Aeolun 4y ago
      Exactly, or I can have it for free on my university T3 connection, and still keep up with popular culture. Part of the problem is that it’s not ‘content’ that you want to subscribe to, but ‘specific content’, which might be spread around 3-4 different services that all want that sweet sweet monthly fee.
- IgorPartola 4y ago
  Dollars to donuts, I bet content available on Netflix is pirated a lot less than content that is not. Gel restrictions, content contractors expiring, not being able to watch it on a plane, etc. all do contribute, but Netflix is fairly priced for what it has (which is far from everything) and fairly easily available.
- stonogo 4y ago
  Yes, it's encumbered. You are beholden, across all of your examples, to binary compatibility of a .so file Google refuses to distribute for any platform except x86_64 and 32-bit ARM. The fact that you have a lot of such devices does nothing for the people who want to either consume the content on other devices or develop new devices for the purpose. Much like DVD region locking, the majority of the population doesn't care, and those who do are capable of overcoming the DRM anyway, but the latter is illegal, and leaves no room at all for people who want to comply with the law but not with Google's device mandates.
ChuckMcM 4y ago
Both of these points have been repeatedly proven in the marketplace.
mehh 4y ago
So in no part is piracy also because some people like to get things without paying … come on let’s be honest!
- IgorPartola 4y ago
  Sure, but I believe it is a very small percentage of people who pirate content (which is a small fraction of people who consume content). Most people are happy to pay and not think about it. Majority of those who aren’t, pirate for the above reasons. A small percentage pirate because of other reasons. I know someone who just wants to have copies of all movies and TV shows. He spends way more effort on keeping up his storage array and downloading things then he does enjoying the movies. But for every one of him there are 10,000 regular paying consumers. Is he worth worrying about?

CharlieDigital 4y ago

Are either of these true? For $17/mo, I can access an endless stream of content on Netflix. This is way cheaper than I remember my cable subscriptions used to be (if we consider the cost of Internet access as fixed in either case). Verizon is even offering to throw in Hulu, Disney+, and a bunch of other streaming services "free" if I switch to FIOS + mobile. I can watch Netflix on my phone, tablet, PC, TV, Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV. I can watch any show, any time I want, as many seasons and episodes as I want. 24x7x365. Is it really encumbered? Aside from IP owners walling off their services, content -- as long as you pay for it -- flows more freely now than ever, IMO. If I go to an Airbnb, I can log into my Netflix account and watch all of my shows. I can log into my Amazon account and watch all of my purchased movies. (Just don't forget to log out!) Yes; I can't watch it offline or if I'm in a location with poor Internet speeds. But that is such a small fraction of my time that it hardly registers. Yes; my right to view content I've paid for can be revoked in some circumstance I'm sure, but it's never once happened to me.

ChuckMcM 4y ago
Yes, and NetFlix is a great example. Prior to the existence of NetFlix video piracy was extensive and widespread, once NetFlix appeared that piracy was greatly reduced as the "value" was there (it was more convenient to pay NetFlix than to figure out how to pirate stuff). It won't be "zero" of course but it was effective enough that content companies have emphasized that model over encrypted optical media.
Aeolun 4y ago
> For $17/mo, I can access an endless stream of content on Netflix. $17/month for netflix is great when you have an income. As a poor student, that’s $17 I can save.
- Shaanie 4y ago
  Then pay $9.99 for Netflix Basic or $6.99 and deal with ads. If you can't afford that then there's basically no price point that makes sense because you're simply not willing or able to pay for entertainment.
  - Aeolun 4y ago
    Exactly, or I can have it for free on my university T3 connection, and still keep up with popular culture. Part of the problem is that it’s not ‘content’ that you want to subscribe to, but ‘specific content’, which might be spread around 3-4 different services that all want that sweet sweet monthly fee.
IgorPartola 4y ago
Dollars to donuts, I bet content available on Netflix is pirated a lot less than content that is not. Gel restrictions, content contractors expiring, not being able to watch it on a plane, etc. all do contribute, but Netflix is fairly priced for what it has (which is far from everything) and fairly easily available.
stonogo 4y ago
Yes, it's encumbered. You are beholden, across all of your examples, to binary compatibility of a .so file Google refuses to distribute for any platform except x86_64 and 32-bit ARM. The fact that you have a lot of such devices does nothing for the people who want to either consume the content on other devices or develop new devices for the purpose. Much like DVD region locking, the majority of the population doesn't care, and those who do are capable of overcoming the DRM anyway, but the latter is illegal, and leaves no room at all for people who want to comply with the law but not with Google's device mandates.

ChuckMcM 4y ago

Both of these points have been repeatedly proven in the marketplace.

mehh 4y ago

So in no part is piracy also because some people like to get things without paying … come on let’s be honest!

IgorPartola 4y ago
Sure, but I believe it is a very small percentage of people who pirate content (which is a small fraction of people who consume content). Most people are happy to pay and not think about it. Majority of those who aren’t, pirate for the above reasons. A small percentage pirate because of other reasons. I know someone who just wants to have copies of all movies and TV shows. He spends way more effort on keeping up his storage array and downloading things then he does enjoying the movies. But for every one of him there are 10,000 regular paying consumers. Is he worth worrying about?