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If it's easy to pirate, then Joe Bloggs rents a movie, copies it and shares it with all his mates at work. They know him, so they trust that they're not getting

If it's easy to pirate, then Joe Bloggs rents a movie, copies it and shares it with all his mates at work. They know him, so they trust that they're not getting viruses, and they're not worried about being caught, because they're just copying it off a USB stick. A couple of them pass it on to some other friends. Or at least, that's what the content producers think will happen. DRM drives people to pirate websites instead of that, with the associated risks of dodgy downloads and being tracked. Additionally, the content producers can apply pressure to search engines, domain registrars and ad providers to keep the site on the back foot, so links will break. Faced with that, at least some of Joe's friends will cough up to get their movies legally. Especially now that content providers are finally starting to get the idea of providing content cheaply and conveniently.

AnthonyMouse 14y ago
>DRM drives people to pirate websites instead of that, with the associated risks of dodgy downloads and being tracked. Even forgetting that the DRM is totally broken so Joe can still about as easily do the same thing by just downloading some software, it still doesn't seem like the effort is worth the candle. It isn't Joe's friends who have to go to the pirate website, it's just Joe, who can still distribute it to his friends thereafter. Or for that matter, Joe's buddy who is more savvy than Joe and so gets the movie from the pirates and checks it for viruses and gives it to fifteen Joes who each give it to fifteen work buddies. The fact is that if people want to pirate stuff, they can. Thinking you can stop that is just a fantasy. It's more important that you not make people think you're a jerk by suing and jailing everyone and imposing DRM on them, so that they're more interested in giving you money, than it is to maybe make it ever so slightly more inconvenient for pirates. I me honestly -- the DRM creates more inconvenience for the people who are paying you than it does for the pirates. Weigh one against the other and you don't get a net increase in sales.

AnthonyMouse 14y ago

>DRM drives people to pirate websites instead of that, with the associated risks of dodgy downloads and being tracked. Even forgetting that the DRM is totally broken so Joe can still about as easily do the same thing by just downloading some software, it still doesn't seem like the effort is worth the candle. It isn't Joe's friends who have to go to the pirate website, it's just Joe, who can still distribute it to his friends thereafter. Or for that matter, Joe's buddy who is more savvy than Joe and so gets the movie from the pirates and checks it for viruses and gives it to fifteen Joes who each give it to fifteen work buddies. The fact is that if people want to pirate stuff, they can. Thinking you can stop that is just a fantasy. It's more important that you not make people think you're a jerk by suing and jailing everyone and imposing DRM on them, so that they're more interested in giving you money, than it is to maybe make it ever so slightly more inconvenient for pirates. I me honestly -- the DRM creates more inconvenience for the people who are paying you than it does for the pirates. Weigh one against the other and you don't get a net increase in sales.