Is Piracy Wrong?

[jdsmith]

It's a sign that existing distribution means aren't working.

Right. It is the people like you who should be getting 17-year sentences. Me? I'm watching Seediq Bale on my 52-inch screen. Looks GOOD! Cars 2 is next up. Maybe Ratatouille.

I'm a BAAAAAD man, though. NONE of you people should even be THINKING about such nefarious machinations.

What other possible use could a 1T external HD be used for?

I disagree that Hollywood or whomever is really losing money on this though. When I didn't dl movies or tv shows, I simply did not watch them.

[trubadour]

indeed - and you don't talk about them (so you don't recommend them), you don't watch out for the next movie with such and such actor or director, you know less are able to care less about film and what is going on in the industry... the knock on effect keeps you out of the movie industry as a consumer...

my question is - what do the artists say? I've a feeling they are as confused on this as the news media are clueless.

[Bu Lai En]

Without going into the whole issue, I have seen a lot of research showing that piracy does not seriously (if at all) adversely affect music, DVD and cinema ticket sales.

Yes, CD sales have taken a little dip in the last 5-10 years, but so has the economy as a whole, and they were abnormally high just before that. If you look at music sales comapred to the 70s or 80s sales these days are phenomenally higher (I think it's like about 7-10 times higher worldwide).

Other studies have shown that the very segments of the population that pirate the most music also purchase the most music. Thus their pirating suplements their purchasing rather than replaces it.

[divea]

Piracy hasn't stopped people going to Cinemas, and tickets cost more than ever, and screens are smaller than they have ever been. If I can't go to see a movie, I'll buy a DVD. Sell me the DVD for 4 dollars and I'll buy it. You sell it to me for 30 dollars I'll prefer to wait 3 weeks and get my hands on a 2 dollar FANTASTIC copy, or not watch it at all.

Yes they say piracy means, we are depriving the small guys in movie production of a decent pay etc. really?? because buying the original for 30 means we are making the rich guys richer, no??? I mean,if Tom Cruise takes a pay cut, may be then can sell cheaper DVDs no??

As far as artistic creativity is concerned, artists are given credit even in pirated movies. It's not like a photo, where I steal it and mpublish it elsewhere and make it mine and the poor photog has to go claiming copyright. A Gloria Estefan pirated CD cannot not give artistic credibility to her, about getting paid?? She did already, no?? About royalties, ooooooooo that's about money between her and Sony, she can't and shouldn't stop me lending or selling a copy of her songs.

I dislike piracy and the whole trade, but I know that can't happen without originals lowering their sticker price. And it is doable.

[Jaboney]

A summary of studies on file sharing. Wouldn't take it as authoritative, but for what it's worth.

While most writers would simply criticize the study and move on, Wilson took it a step further and looked in to what file-sharing studies have really been saying throughout the years. What he found was an impressive 19 of 20 studies not getting any coverage. He launched a large series detailing what these studies have to say on file-sharing. The first study suggests that file-sharing litigation was a failure. The second study said that p2p has no effect on music sales. The third study found that the RIAA suppresses innovation. The fourth study says that the MPAA has simply been trying to preserve its oligopoly. The fifth study says that even when one uses the methodology of one download means one lost sale, the losses amount to less than $2 per album. The studies, so far, are being posted on a daily basis and are certainly worth the read."

[Icon]

When I really like a show, I buy it. I buy movies. But I resort to DVR TV shows, mostly eacuse sitting every day at the same hour on schedule is not a given. But definetively, that is not the way of the future. The big studios should adapt, embrace new technologies, milk the money. It is not that piracy will stop unles the options are better. Who'd rather watch HD quality downstreaming -lagally- rather than shaky camera popcorn interrupted copies? And yes, when there is a need, the market fills the need. I am considering alternative methods because of censorship/schedule issues. I'd rather pay international Hulu.

Found this gem, hope you like it:

[trubadour]

well maybe Mr. Rogers puts his finger on it (without saying it) - I guess the industry would rather we were unable to make choices as to what we like.

'If only,' they must think, 'we could more easily predict and control what they like, then we could sell only that and sell it at whatever prices we wish...'

[Icon]

To make matters worse, apparently, his programs are not available for sale on DVD. Go figure...

[sandman]

Seediq Bale bored the fucking PANTS off me! I would have been EXTREMELY pissed if I'd paid to see such unadulterated crap.

[Belgian Pie]

Here's a solution, shut down the internet and go back living as in the middle ages ...