I just realized a moment ago that I have yet to make a post about net piracy, one of the more controversial topics that I am very VERY vocal about. Well, then I saw this article. Great starting point.
First, let me say, I'm a total pirate. I download a lot: Music, movies, TV Shows, even games and programs on occasion. But I'm not an evil asshole who expects to get everything for free. I download music when someone tells me to check something out, or if I only like one specific song off an album and it's not on iTunes. If I like more of their work after that, I go out and buy the album. I download movies, but only keep them until the movie comes out on DVD, then I buy that. I download TV Shows because I want TV to work around my schedule, not force me into theirs (Saving up for a DVR, so that may change later.) And I download games to check them out and programs when I don't have the money and need a tool right away. So I do download, but I also give money to the people who deserve it in my book.
That being said, I think that Pirates are nothing to worry about. Ben Kuchera, in the article below, makes the point very clear: "[the pirates] weren't customers, they might never be customers, so spending money to try to stop them serves no purpose." Just imagine how much richer companies like Blizzard would be if they just cut out the money spent on copy protection. All their CEOs could afford a fifth mansion with that money, or maybe even a space station.
The thing about this is that Piracy, in my opinion, is a good thing. Most people that I know do what I do...They download games, then buy them if they like them, a la Nine Inch Nails' new album. People like getting a sample before they buy items, and that applies to entertainment products as much as those food products at Costco on the weekends. You let them know what they're buying before they buy it, and if it's actually good, they'll pay you what you ask. Hell, in some cases, people paid MORE for Radiohead's album than usual...Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, has said on podcasts that he spent 20-something euros on In Rainbows. That comes to something like 40 american bucks (My math is off, I know, I'm not up-to-date with the dropping dollar).
Now, what this means for the consumer is that their market will finally get the fat cut from the edges of it. The stuff that's really not worth paying for, won't get paid for, and will eventually die away. Meanwhile, the GOOD stuff will dominate the market powerfully, leading us into an era where we don't have 'what's cool' fed to us by a corporation. The truth is, the RIAA is fighting the piracy so vehemently simply because they know that they would lose money from all the crap they put out there...There are thousands of people in this country that simply buy what's plastered in between the shows on MTV, and then pretend it's good. If the RIAA dies from endeavors like Trent Reznor's, then the advertisement costs will fall to the artists, and over time those artist who are bad will simply cease to exist. Snoop Dogg will be forced to bury his career. 50 cent's albums will cost..well, his name. And Paris Hilton...Well, nobody bought that album for her singing anyways. She doesn't count.All in all, I think piracy is the best thing to happen to the music industry, and I'm waiting for that to happen to video games too. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm sick of Tom Clancy.
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