4 ms·

"I can't just steal something from an Amish person's business because "their business model is out-dated." It doesn't matter." It doesn't justify piracy, but i

by Zirro 15y ago

"I can't just steal something from an Amish person's business because "their business model is out-dated." It doesn't matter." It doesn't justify piracy, but it is a way for the media industry to solve the "piracy-issue" themselves. In short: Give the people what they want and they will pay you.

pyre 15y ago
More like: "The correct business decision is not to moan/groan/complain to the government, but to adapt to your situation." Adapting to the situation is apparently too much for the suits at the major labels to stomach though.
huggyface 15y ago
In short: Give the people what they want and they will pay you. If only it were so simple. Today you can buy virtually any media electronically. Services like Netflix, Rdio, Spotify, iTunes and others allow for enormous content enjoyment at a very reasonable price, with a couple of mouse clicks. Steam and Origin, App Stores and Android Markets exist with countless software options for incredibly low prices. Yet piracy is still absolutely rampant. We're being lectured to by thieves who made millions on the other side of the law. There are some people who are simply selfish and greedy. Who are willing to ignore the law -- if not even twisting reality -- to suit their own selfish desires. Such transparent arguments usually drown out any rational discussions on sites like Reddit, Slashdot, and sadly now HN. I've spoken against piracy many times (and it is stealing, and arguments to the contrary are baseless. I spend thousands per year on games, movies and music. I have well-paid peers who spend $0, enjoy all the same content, but will still give you the tired "it isn't stealing, no one was deprived" nonsense argument), but it's an argument that just isn't worth having on many online venues. There are simply too many people who contort rationale to defend what gives them the most for the least, everything else be damned. - at least in the short term. Then, of course, those movies, music and games stop being produced.
- njs12345 15y ago
  Let's assume you keep spending the thousands you do spend per year on buying the same games, movies and music, but that you also pirate things where you feel the value does not justify the price. Who's lost out? You've got something for nothing. There is a significant body of academic work demonstrating that much piracy has this form: it does not displace a sale. Piracy may therefore be providing a net benefit to society.
  - awj 15y ago
    > Who's lost out? Well, the market, for one. All of your non-revenue market effects (discussion with friends, perceived usage, etc) show up as apparent success for a product that you feel is not worth buying. This can help promote purchases of that product and in turn diminish market incentive for the providers to improve on it. Piracy does not send a clear message to content providers about your opinions of the quality of their content. If you are truly interested in having purchase-worthy content available, finding some financially appealing way of acquiring non-purchase-worthy content only hinders that goal.
- GFischer 15y ago
  "Today you can buy virtually any media electronically." if and only if you live in the U.S. and Europe (& other first world countries), have an international credit card and a lot of other stuff you seem to take for granted. I know some people that had a Megaupload account, and they were paying a third party that had a valid internet payment method that set up the account for them. They didn't have any way to legally pay for all those services you're mentioned (and probably didn't have the means either). A reasonable functioning market would mean that people in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay would pay less than people in the U.S and Europe, but we're still at a stage where it isn't so (I've heard that China and some other Asian countries do have differentiated pricing, I guess they're a more attractive market). It's not so black-and-white. I still believe that Kim Dotcom was commiting copyright infringement and he did make millions doing that. I disagree with the means and the punishment. I also spend hundreds of dollars in media and entertainment (though I will admit to having unpaid copyrighted media), but I'm not representative of the kind of people I see using Megaupload.

by Zirro 15y ago

pyre 15y ago

More like: "The correct business decision is not to moan/groan/complain to the government, but to adapt to your situation." Adapting to the situation is apparently too much for the suits at the major labels to stomach though.

huggyface 15y ago

In short: Give the people what they want and they will pay you. If only it were so simple. Today you can buy virtually any media electronically. Services like Netflix, Rdio, Spotify, iTunes and others allow for enormous content enjoyment at a very reasonable price, with a couple of mouse clicks. Steam and Origin, App Stores and Android Markets exist with countless software options for incredibly low prices. Yet piracy is still absolutely rampant. We're being lectured to by thieves who made millions on the other side of the law. There are some people who are simply selfish and greedy. Who are willing to ignore the law -- if not even twisting reality -- to suit their own selfish desires. Such transparent arguments usually drown out any rational discussions on sites like Reddit, Slashdot, and sadly now HN. I've spoken against piracy many times (and it is stealing, and arguments to the contrary are baseless. I spend thousands per year on games, movies and music. I have well-paid peers who spend $0, enjoy all the same content, but will still give you the tired "it isn't stealing, no one was deprived" nonsense argument), but it's an argument that just isn't worth having on many online venues. There are simply too many people who contort rationale to defend what gives them the most for the least, everything else be damned. - at least in the short term. Then, of course, those movies, music and games stop being produced.

njs12345 15y ago
Let's assume you keep spending the thousands you do spend per year on buying the same games, movies and music, but that you also pirate things where you feel the value does not justify the price. Who's lost out? You've got something for nothing. There is a significant body of academic work demonstrating that much piracy has this form: it does not displace a sale. Piracy may therefore be providing a net benefit to society.
- awj 15y ago
  > Who's lost out? Well, the market, for one. All of your non-revenue market effects (discussion with friends, perceived usage, etc) show up as apparent success for a product that you feel is not worth buying. This can help promote purchases of that product and in turn diminish market incentive for the providers to improve on it. Piracy does not send a clear message to content providers about your opinions of the quality of their content. If you are truly interested in having purchase-worthy content available, finding some financially appealing way of acquiring non-purchase-worthy content only hinders that goal.
GFischer 15y ago
"Today you can buy virtually any media electronically." if and only if you live in the U.S. and Europe (& other first world countries), have an international credit card and a lot of other stuff you seem to take for granted. I know some people that had a Megaupload account, and they were paying a third party that had a valid internet payment method that set up the account for them. They didn't have any way to legally pay for all those services you're mentioned (and probably didn't have the means either). A reasonable functioning market would mean that people in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay would pay less than people in the U.S and Europe, but we're still at a stage where it isn't so (I've heard that China and some other Asian countries do have differentiated pricing, I guess they're a more attractive market). It's not so black-and-white. I still believe that Kim Dotcom was commiting copyright infringement and he did make millions doing that. I disagree with the means and the punishment. I also spend hundreds of dollars in media and entertainment (though I will admit to having unpaid copyrighted media), but I'm not representative of the kind of people I see using Megaupload.