 BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | reply to swhx7
Re: How to interpret MPAA / RIAA "piracy" numbers said by swhx7:3. Estimate how many would have bought the same content in legal versions if they couldn't get it online. Maybe a third? $329M x 0.33 = $109M. 4. How many of those would have paid full retail, versus used copies, rentals or matinees? Say, a third full price, 2/3 at bargains averaging 50% (none of the used-copy revenue would go to the cartel companies). ($109M x .33) + (($109M x .67) x .5) = ($109 x 0.67) = $73M. Just because someone "Wouldn't have bought it anyways" doesn't make it ok. That's like saying it's ok to shoplift that CD or DVD from wal-mart because "I wasn't going to pay for it anyways." If you don't want to pay then do without. that's how life works. At least 90% of people in this country would consider themselves Christians and the Bible CLEARLY says "Thou shall not steal" I don't recall it making exceptions. I'm not quite sure why someone who actually believes in a supreme being that has the power to smite them down like we would a bug would screw around with God's rules. |
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| said by BF69:said by swhx7:3. Estimate how many would have bought the same content in legal versions if they couldn't get it online. Maybe a third? $329M x 0.33 = $109M. 4. How many of those would have paid full retail, versus used copies, rentals or matinees? Say, a third full price, 2/3 at bargains averaging 50% (none of the used-copy revenue would go to the cartel companies). ($109M x .33) + (($109M x .67) x .5) = ($109 x 0.67) = $73M. Just because someone "Wouldn't have bought it anyways" doesn't make it ok. That's like saying it's ok to shoplift that CD or DVD from wal-mart because "I wasn't going to pay for it anyways." If you don't want to pay then do without. that's how life works. At least 90% of people in this country would consider themselves Christians and the Bible CLEARLY says "Thou shall not steal" I don't recall it making exceptions. I'm not quite sure why someone who actually believes in a supreme being that has the power to smite them down like we would a bug would screw around with God's rules. differnce being when shoplifting your acually depriving somebody of acual property. when download a new copy of a dvd that i own that's all scratched up i'm not hurting anybody. |
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 swhx7Premium
join:2006-07-23
Elbonia | reply to BF69
I'm not saying "piracy is OK". I'm saying "MPAA/RIAA 'losses' numbers are bogus". The economic effect is small compared to what the propaganda claims.
The merits of copyright infringement is a different topic. But if we're going to talk about "stealing", is the thief the one who disregards an artificial monopoly, or the one who robs the public domain by creating a monopoly?
Well maybe there should be a balance. We could start by following the U.S. Constitution, which allows "exclusive rights" only for "authors" and "inventors", not for exploitive middle-men like record companies. |
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 JammerMan79Premium,VIP
join:2004-05-13
Prince George, BC
kudos:10 | reply to BF69
He's not saying it's good or bad. He's saying that a loss of a sale should only be calculated on the people that would have actually bought it in the first place... If the person wouldn't have bought it anyways then there's no lost revenue.
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I may work for, but do not necessarily represent the views and beliefs of TELUS Communications. |
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 RARPSL
join:1999-12-08
Suffern, NY | said by JammerMan79:He's not saying it's good or bad. He's saying that a loss of a sale should only be calculated on the people that would have actually bought it in the first place... If the person wouldn't have bought it anyways then there's no lost revenue. You also have to add those who only want to watch/listen to it and not own a physical copy and thus go to Blockbuster, Netfix, or their local Library and get the physical copy for a limited period of time. If I miss a movie in the theaters, I will often rent the movie to try it out before buying the DVD for my "can [re]watch it anytime" collection. Using Bittorent just bypasses the DVD Rental for my do-I-want-it try-out. |
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JammerMan79Premium,VIP
join:2004-05-13
Prince George, BC
kudos:10 | agreed, I do the same thing. Download a movie and then purchase it used at the rental store for $10.00
If I didn't check it out first I would not be buying it at all. I have around 2000 dvd's (I hate to think of how much I've spent over the last 10 yrs)
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I may work for, but do not necessarily represent the views and beliefs of TELUS Communications. |
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| reply to RARPSL
The local library is a good point. My wife and I have seen many movies from our local library's DVD collection. Should the MPAA count these as lost sales? Of course not. Just because I borrowed a movie doesn't mean that I would have purchased the DVD had the movie not been on the library's shelves. |
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