Yes, fighting piracy is the wrong way to go about increasing sales, or at the very least a half assed solution. What's needed is a proper alternative to the con

Yes, fighting piracy is the wrong way to go about increasing sales, or at the very least a half assed solution. What's needed is a proper alternative to the convenience offered by piracy (in terms of effort, not price, as argued in the article) and once you've got that, ramping up sales becomes a matter of marketing and piracy becomes a hindrance of variable strength, depending on how good a job you do. But I wouldn't argue in favour of "owning" digital content. That's tricky. What kind of warranties can be offered? What if the service goes out of business? I'm a big fan of subscription models, but I understand their complexities (although I also understand averages, so I'm tempted to just say work the numbers until they are right) and so I'm also in favour of renting content. That said, once "The Service" is out there, owning may come about naturally, competing with rentals and subscriptions. The whole battle against piracy is a joke. To think we're (we?) willing to dial back on hard fought liberties because it refuses to move forward is truly sad and while piracy may never be killed, there may be innocent victims that are put down due to the bureaucracy, malice and incompetence of archaic industries, lawmakers and laws whose consequences are not considered thoroughly. It has gotten to a point where progressive developments seem inevitable, and yet nothing happens except SOPA, PIPA, ACTA and whatever else may be oven for tomorrow. There is an up side to this madness (opportunity) and HN is probably the place that will uncover it, but that can't be unlocked unless these industries wake the fuck up. Sincerely, Someone who may not be going to see The Descendants tonight.