4 ms·

Ha! the dial up internet was ruled by extortionist state monopoly and local ISPs were plagued with equipment thievery... the only way to acquire pirated music w

Ha! the dial up internet was ruled by extortionist state monopoly and local ISPs were plagued with equipment thievery... the only way to acquire pirated music was physically exchanging hard drives with acquaintances.

zirgs 3y ago
That was true in the late 1990s, but by mid-2000s everyone could get fast internet with no data caps. That's when Steam started taking off, but music industry was still stuck in the previous century.
- cubefox 3y ago
  They weren't, iTunes (and other services before that) existed before Steam. The music industry was ahead of the games industry, not the other way round. The difference is that video game DRM (Steam) succeeded, but music DRM didn't.
  - zirgs 3y ago
    Steam was available in the Eastern Europe way before iTunes and Spotify. Music and movie industries really dropped the ball there.
    - cubefox 3y ago
      In the US iTunes was available earlier, but people still liked piracy better.
      - zirgs 3y ago
        iTunes was a DRM infested crap. Meanwhile pirates offered drm free files that you could play anywhere.
        cubefox 3y ago
        Steam is also "DRM infested" and non-free.
        zirgs 3y ago
        Steam is DRM-optional. Its DRM is easy to remove and lots of Steam games are DRM free. It also gained lots of popularity with its sales and bundles.