There is a strong belief in what is considered "right"; despite evidence to the contrary, "the system" is still very much in favour of enforcing an unenforcible

There is a strong belief in what is considered "right"; despite evidence to the contrary, "the system" is still very much in favour of enforcing an unenforcible law. In other words, it is demonstrably true that some would pay for Downton Abbey Season 5 if it were available for them to do so in their country, but it's not, so they torrent it to keep up with their friends in other countries. By the time it comes out where they live, they won't need to pay for it anymore. A significant amount of TV and movie piracy would be eradicated if media conglomerates and film studios realized they had a global audience, and released content globally as opposed to clinging on to some now artificial segmented distribution model. In the past, a movie studio only made a given number of reels, so movies had to release piecemeal; likewise it took time for the cargo ship to move the physical books to various places around the world, in our digital connected age these things are no longer true, but the foundation of media distribution models remain the same.