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| Economics of Piracy Suppose I have $10 to my name I'm going to spend. For that $10, I could purchase an album off iTunes, or get a pizza delivered. If I choose to put the $10 into iTunes, I just gave more money to a company and they didn't have to do anything to get that money. The music has already been produced, so all the hired hands have come and gone. My album purchase did not contribute to anything but the profit of the record company (hell, very little of it even went to the artist). Now if I choose to pirate the music and purchase a pizza, I've just paid for a driver to drop it off, for the food products, for the gas, etc. etc. I've contributed to the economy.
The biggest error IP holders make is they assume all piracy is in fact lost sales. I downloaded that Linkin Park CD a few weeks ago to listen to at the office. Now, if everything were perfect and piracy was impossible, I guarandamntee you I would not of purchased that CD. I simply would not of listened to the songs, period. That can be said for just about everything else I downloaded. I'm sure this is true 100 times over, especially since the cost of living is rising faster than wages, people have less elastic income to spend on unnecessary stuff such as CDs.
Also, the quote is being taken out of context. A crime is a crime is a crime, and agree with it or not piracy is a crime. NBC is not saying piracy is as important if not more important than the battle against perverts who like little kids. They are just saying it's staggering over half of the internet traffic is part of some illegal activity.
Finally, in a Democratic society the power of the people should far outweigh that of business. If most Americans feel downloading songs for free should be legal, then it should be. I think the problem of piracy is not that big of a problem at all. The government and the IP holders should put most of their focus on the people who profit selling bootleg IP, not that kid who downloaded the pop song to listen to before school.
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The true patriot is motivated by a sense of responsibility, and out of self interest -- for himself, his family, and the future of his country -- to resist government abuse of power. He rejects the notion that patriotism means obedience to the state. | |
Reviews:
 ·Comcast
| The real problem really is the cost of living is just soaring. And when you look at why it's because these people want higher profits to cycle out to the share holders and company management. As if the Lexus is not enough.
Look at what is causing rapid rise in the cost of living. Fuel , entertainment , and housing. Fuel we can control but government doesn't step in and rightly so.
entertainment ! We keep paying these people millions to fling a ball around , why the hell do we. People play it for the love of it all threw their lives.
Housing ! that is sky rocketing , people are trying to "flip" homes. This artificially raises housing costs.
It's greed causing the largest cost increases. and it is indeed scary.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" | |
KearnstdElf WizardPremium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ | reply to texans20
what entertainers get paid is just wrong imo. nobody needs millions to make a movie but our culture has allowed them to demand it.
i really care more about the people behind the camera loosing money then those in front of it. if someone like Tom Cruise has to sell the Ferrari and get a measly BMW because of piracy so be it.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports | |
 scrummie02BentleyPremium
join:2004-04-16
Arlington, VA
·Comcast
| reply to texans20
I agree with some stuff. If someone pirates an album and likes the songs, chances are they'll pay for a concert ticket as well as opposed to not listening to it.
If things were more accessible (no-DRM), and better priced piracy wouldn't occur, as long as the delivery methods were easier than P2P. Look at the success allofmp3 had for a while.
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"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. " - Thomas Jefferson | | |
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ominae
join:2003-05-11
Columbus, OH | reply to texans20
i don't have a problem with a company making a profit on a product. they invest money to make a recording, they have the right to expect a return on that investment.
problem is, besides making a product, a company has to market and distribute that product. they have to sell enough units to break even before they ever see a profit from that product.
this is where they are facing a problem. if the riaa/mpaa fails to get their product into an environment which is convenient and affordable for a consumer to purchase that product they aren't going to move that product and will not see a profit (or as much profit) from that product. to make matters worse, there is a readily available, convenient, reliable and cost effective method of delivery within their grasp, and it is available with minimum investment required to get it up and running because it already exists. these guys should have jumped on the p2p bandwagon years ago. they haven't and know they are suffering. the days of going to the store to buy movies or music aren't gone, but you will find more of that market shifting to different channels, p2p being the biggest.
ps - what is it with companies going to the government to bail them out of a poor business decision. everyone wants a "free market" approach to business until it bites them in the rear. guess what. the market has spoken, it's not our fault if you weren't listening. stop spending tax dollars to protect the riaa/mpaa, the auto industry, the airline industry, the telecom industry. build a product people want, make it affordable, easy to get and as painless to own as possible and you wouldn't be in this mess. | |
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