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I think this is making the mistake of conflating piracy with lost sales; there is only so much money to go around, and saying that a pirated view is lost revenu

I think this is making the mistake of conflating piracy with lost sales; there is only so much money to go around, and saying that a pirated view is lost revenue is missing the point that that person was never going to pay for that particular content anyway. From a music perspective we have too much music; we have decades of history to stream, and each year more and more is released - ultimately only a few people will be able to sustain themselves with streaming revenue, and indipendent acts will need to survive with live acts and merch until they break through (or accept that they arne't going to become superstars). Because the potential upside is so huge, many people are willing to gamble on that, much as people buy lottery tickets. Most people will be disapointed.

billy99k 3y ago
"I think this is making the mistake of conflating piracy with lost sales; there is only so much money to go around, and saying that a pirated view is lost revenue is missing the point that that person was never going to pay for that particular content anyway." Piracy isn't theft. It's counterfeiting, which is much worse than theft. If we allowed everyone to counterfeit the dollar and use it, the value would head toward $0 over time. It's the same with all digital goods. Where else should we apply this logic? If a large company uses GPL/Gnu software in their proprietary application, should we say that there was nothing lost because they wouldn't have shared the code anyway? When AI gets good enough in the future, should companies be allowed to use the likeness of someone for free? After all, nothing of value was lost, right? "From a music perspective we have too much music; we have decades of history to stream, and each year more and more is released - ultimately only a few people will be able to sustain themselves with streaming revenue, and independent acts will need to survive with live acts and merch until they break through (or accept that they aren't going to become superstars)." Streaming is only the norm because of piracy. It's the same with software. Everyone is making software a service. Why? You can't pirate it. This was pretty easy to predict 10+ years ago.
- skyyler 3y ago
  >If we allowed everyone to counterfeit the dollar and use it, the value would head toward $0 over time. It's the same with all digital goods. I disagree. Dollars are only useful for their value. Movies, music, and games are enjoyable to "use".

billy99k 3y ago

"I think this is making the mistake of conflating piracy with lost sales; there is only so much money to go around, and saying that a pirated view is lost revenue is missing the point that that person was never going to pay for that particular content anyway." Piracy isn't theft. It's counterfeiting, which is much worse than theft. If we allowed everyone to counterfeit the dollar and use it, the value would head toward $0 over time. It's the same with all digital goods. Where else should we apply this logic? If a large company uses GPL/Gnu software in their proprietary application, should we say that there was nothing lost because they wouldn't have shared the code anyway? When AI gets good enough in the future, should companies be allowed to use the likeness of someone for free? After all, nothing of value was lost, right? "From a music perspective we have too much music; we have decades of history to stream, and each year more and more is released - ultimately only a few people will be able to sustain themselves with streaming revenue, and independent acts will need to survive with live acts and merch until they break through (or accept that they aren't going to become superstars)." Streaming is only the norm because of piracy. It's the same with software. Everyone is making software a service. Why? You can't pirate it. This was pretty easy to predict 10+ years ago.

skyyler 3y ago
>If we allowed everyone to counterfeit the dollar and use it, the value would head toward $0 over time. It's the same with all digital goods. I disagree. Dollars are only useful for their value. Movies, music, and games are enjoyable to "use".