Jack
Piracy is not a victimless crime.
Or at least, that's what the government and copyright protection organisations want you to think. But is that really true? Of course, piracy isn't paying for something that would normally cost money, but there are a lot of factors to consider if it is actually harming anyone. In many cases, people pirate content they would not purchase anyway. Whether because they physically cannot due to region locks or inability to pay for it, or they just didn't think it was worth it, some people would not spend $9.99 on that movie no matter what. Them pirating the movie does not change the end result for the creators of that movie because they wouldn't have bought it anyway. In the end, it may even be beneficial to the movie creators because they could have a new fan that recommends the movie to those who are capable of buying it.
"But there are people who pirate and just don't want to spend any money! It's not because they can't, they're just cheap and stealing from the rightful profits of content creators!" is what you might think. It's reasonable to think this way, but study after study after study have proven that pirates actually spend more money on online media than any other group. Lots of pirates consider piracy to be a "trial" of something, and if they like it they will buy it. Compare that to if piracy didn't exist. They would have no way to try it and would instead move on with their lives and pursue other interests.
In fact, both the film industry and music industry have been growing in terms of profits over the past decade. Piracy isn't the end for entertainment, as much as the government and media want to make you think it is. Organisations like the MPAA seek to increase their already giant profits by preventing people from consuming what creators make. Piracy doesn't stop income, nor does it harm anyone. It isn't even clear if "stopping" piracy, if even possible, would have a positive or negative effect on the industry. Either way, it doesn't matter. Piracy cannot be stopped, so it's about time organisations stopped wasting their money trying to stop it and instead created better content for pirates to want to spend their money on.
Sources: Click the hyperlinked text in the post to view sources.
What strategies do companies use to try to deter pirating? Are those solutions effective at stopping piracy? Does offering a free trial reduce piracy of that product/game? If so, why don't all companies offer them?
ReplyDeleteLots of companies go for the "sue sue sue" tactic. Any sense of piracy? Sue. This doesn't usually work, however, because we all know once something is on the Internet you can't get rid of it. I haven't seen anything about free trials reducing piracy, but I have seen some articles talking about how piracy rates decrease when countries gain access to movies they previously had no way to legally watch.
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