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‘Worst’ File-Sharing Pirates Spend 300% More on Content Than ‘Honest’ Consumers

30 points by Libertatea 14y ago

chasing 14y ago
Interesting article. I'm assuming this increased spending is simply because they're also the people who enjoy this kind of media the most. If they pirate films, for example, it's because they love watching tons of films, so they also pay for more than the average joe. I wonder, though, if this stat is misleading. If they were paying for content, would they be spending 1000% more or 2000% more than 'honest' consumers?
- antihero 14y ago
  > if this stat is misleading. If they were paying for content, would they be spending 1000% more or 2000% more than 'honest' consumers? I wouldn't say so, the stat is what they are actually spending.
  - graeme 14y ago
    I think he meant, if they couldn't pirate, would they buy even more content than they do now.
    - antihero 14y ago
      Thing is that's a projection and a massively wrong one at that - the sort of thing that motivates ridiculous anti-piracy laws too. "Hey we have this demographic that spends lots and pirates - if we can stop them pirating they'd spend EVEN MORE!!! DRM FOR EVERYONE!!!"
    - chasing 14y ago
      Yup, that's what I meant.
incision 14y ago
I'd like to see the relationship of income to infringement. It's hard to hoard digital downloads when your primary access to the Internet comes via a feature phone on a metered plan and you pay $5 each for bootleg DVDs sold at the barber shop. It's a bit easier when you have a high-speed Internet connection and a few TB of storage. If the 'worst', who make up 3.2% of the respondents, are also part of a top income segment it would change the perspective quite a bit. Also, I wonder how honest the 'worst' and 'honest' are actually being. "However, the relationship between infringement and spend is complex and the claims people make when asked questions about their likely future behaviour given changes to their options do not always closely reflect their real-life behaviour." [0] Pg. 5 0: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/telecoms-research/online-copyright/deep-dive.pdf http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/telecoms-...

30 points by Libertatea 14y ago

Interesting article. I'm assuming this increased spending is simply because they're also the people who enjoy this kind of media the most. If they pirate films, for example, it's because they love watching tons of films, so they also pay for more than the average joe. I wonder, though, if this stat is misleading. If they were paying for content, would they be spending 1000% more or 2000% more than 'honest' consumers?

antihero 14y ago
> if this stat is misleading. If they were paying for content, would they be spending 1000% more or 2000% more than 'honest' consumers? I wouldn't say so, the stat is what they are actually spending.
- graeme 14y ago
  I think he meant, if they couldn't pirate, would they buy even more content than they do now.
  - antihero 14y ago
    Thing is that's a projection and a massively wrong one at that - the sort of thing that motivates ridiculous anti-piracy laws too. "Hey we have this demographic that spends lots and pirates - if we can stop them pirating they'd spend EVEN MORE!!! DRM FOR EVERYONE!!!"
  - chasing 14y ago
    Yup, that's what I meant.

incision 14y ago

I'd like to see the relationship of income to infringement. It's hard to hoard digital downloads when your primary access to the Internet comes via a feature phone on a metered plan and you pay $5 each for bootleg DVDs sold at the barber shop. It's a bit easier when you have a high-speed Internet connection and a few TB of storage. If the 'worst', who make up 3.2% of the respondents, are also part of a top income segment it would change the perspective quite a bit. Also, I wonder how honest the 'worst' and 'honest' are actually being. "However, the relationship between infringement and spend is complex and the claims people make when asked questions about their likely future behaviour given changes to their options do not always closely reflect their real-life behaviour." [0] Pg. 5 0: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/telecoms-research/online-copyright/deep-dive.pdf http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/telecoms-...