[…] I said it before, and I’ll say it again – Piracy is a social phenomenon. Websites such as Pirate Bay will keep spurting up, because there is insanely huge demand for them. People want to be able to download (not stream – fuck streaming) copyrighted content that is un-encumbered by DRM and not have to pay for it. […]

I’m a law student at a top tier law school planning on working in the info privacy/security sector. My first summer I did copyright work for the university library, so I’m pretty familiar with the issues. The university got lots of both DMCA take down notices, RIAA pre-litigation extortion letters, and RIAA subpoenas requiring preservation of evidence.

So I do know, by name only, plenty of individuals hit by these suits. Yes the chance of being caught is minuscule. But, these things can really cause you lots of problems. $3-4k for a settlement is pretty minor compared to the costs of fighting these things, even if they’re inaccurate/unjust.

The problem with piracy of entertainment, as I see it, is habit. Once individuals find they can get it free, especially given rising costs elsewhere (food, gas) they have a really hard time getting back to paying $15 for an album, $18 for a movie, or $60 for a video game. Software suffers a similar problem, but it seems exaggerated. Plenty of individuals think, “I spent $2,000 for this computer, the software I need should be included in that price.”

[quote comment=”9265″]I have yet to see an album which was briliant from start to end. Usually, you get one or two good songs, 2-3 other average songs that may or may not grow on you and the rest you couldn’t care less about. So unless you are a big fan of a given band, you rarely want a full record – you just want the songs you like. And thus the CD sales are falling. Because people now have alternatives (some legal, and some not) which let them just get the stuff they like, at a price they can agree with.[/quote]

I find I can’t listen to standalone songs – I listen almost exclusively to entire albums. I’ve found lots of fantastic music, if you’re interested check my last.fm profile (warning: it includes the music my wife’s listens too as well, but it is the minority and she generally has good taste).

Anyway, that was an aside. The real point of quoting this was to make the comment that consumers don’t choose prices in nearly any mass market. If consumers can’t agree with a price point, that doesn’t entitle them to pirate. Refusing to purchase at $20/cd is what brought about great deals like Amazon’s $1 mp3s, emusic, etc – and that’s what we need.

These control maniacs thinks that sharing is illegal? Its just like your saying don’t breath my air… I mean, com’on! Do they really get payed on doing these things? No body’s perfect! Not even them…

[quote comment=”9264″]very few people have more than a handful of music CDs newer than ten years old, and those that do tend to have CDs of local bands. As Ian says above, people for the most part just don’t buy CDs for music they get from other sources.[/quote]

Heh, I noticed that too. But I think this is because we have choices now. Before mp3’s, CD burners and mp3 players, this was the only reliable way to get a good quality copy of that one song you really liked – you had to buy the whole damn record.

Now we have choices. You can buy that song on iTunes, Amazon or one of the dozen other stores. You download it from one of the few dozen p2p services. Or you can skim through popular music blogs, and forums which specialize in posting links to mp3’s or whole records uploaded to rapidshare or megaupload.

I have yet to see an album which was briliant from start to end. Usually, you get one or two good songs, 2-3 other average songs that may or may not grow on you and the rest you couldn’t care less about. So unless you are a big fan of a given band, you rarely want a full record – you just want the songs you like. And thus the CD sales are falling. Because people now have alternatives (some legal, and some not) which let them just get the stuff they like, at a price they can agree with.

[quote comment=”9261″]Also a few things one i found on wikianswers:
Bands certainly make more money from concerts. Most major label contracts only pay a small fraction of each CD– there are many, many reductions taken from the artist’s royalties. So unless your CD sells millions of units, you’re not going to make much. For live performances, however, the artist keeps most of the money.[/quote]

The problem is that you’re still accessing a service without providing the recompense the service owners ask for it.

[quote]I don’t have the money to buy adiquite food for myself… let alone music. [/quote]

Again, this implies the argument that ‘if I can’t afford it, it’s okay to take it’. Not being able to afford something isn’t a justification for taking it – it’s not like music is required to keep you breathing. Not being able to afford music is simply an inconvenience you solve by taking it.

Sure you may have bought some led zep CDs… what about the other music you use but not enough to buy CDs for? That ‘one track’ you really like? Have you recompensed anyone for it? Not that I particularly care, but it’s an example of an unpaid service.

Out of the people I know, most will pirate a lot of games, but buy a few; some people pirate a few videos but have extensive DVD collections; very few people have more than a handful of music CDs newer than ten years old, and those that do tend to have CDs of local bands. As Ian says above, people for the most part just don’t buy CDs for music they get from other sources.

[quote comment=”9238″]Wow… Really? I thought that this would fall under the fair use clause. I mean, you could argue that you are simply “quoting” small port of a published collection or anthology of poems for educational purposes, no?[/quote]

You could attempt to make that argument, but it’s rough ground. Imagine if throughout the unit the teacher is giving copies of various works do demonstrate different styles. Essentially, the teacher is creating an “anthology” of works. For secondary schools, this generally isn’t much of an issue because someone doesn’t want to be known as “the guy who sues public schools,” but it is a consideration. That’s yet another excuse for English teachers commonly sticking to really old works that are public domain.

[quote comment=”9241″]The beautiful thing about it is… although its “theft”, you know the person still has THEIR copy of it so its not like anyone is hurt.[/quote]

The big companies try to equate it to theft, but it is infringement. I think Luke posted the climbing a tree to watch a baseball game analogy that works pretty well.

[quote comment=”9260″]However, I *HAVE* bought some zep CDs after i had some saved money… also some pink floyd… people i have never thought of listening too…

And I have a teacher who claims to have purchased more music when napster was big than any otehr time in his life.[/quote]

I bought a lot of music when MP3s (and thus “sharing”) were first becoming popular too, but I don’t believe that’s the norm. In general, a person isn’t willing to buy a CD with songs s/he already has.

The more transparent that services selling music (or whatever product) can become, the more that they will beat out piracy. If I have to click a million boxes, input my CC#, confirm my address, opt out of stupid newsletters, etc., then the service is getting in the way of the product.

Consider the popularity of Netflix; it is easy. I can create a queue with little effort. I can watch a movie and return it, watch the next one and return it, and watch the next one and return it without ever having to go back online as long as my queue is large enough. I never have to bother with stamps. It probably also helps that movies people download are typically lower quality than DVDs, but I think ease of use is the biggest factor in their success. I don’t even have to browse for movies; it suggests them for me.

Humankind is always moving toward greater laziness; companies would do well to capitalize on that.

Also a few things one i found on wikianswers:
Bands certainly make more money from concerts. Most major label contracts only pay a small fraction of each CD– there are many, many reductions taken from the artist’s royalties. So unless your CD sells millions of units, you’re not going to make much. For live performances, however, the artist keeps most of the money.
Basically this can be extended to the debate about pirating digital music: it’s not going to kill the artist, it’s only killing the record companies.
Here’s a great article on the subject:
http://www.musiclaw.info/contractbasics.html

Why do you think its the Recording Industry of America that has the issue not the Singers Guild of America (or whatever bands call their little group)? They make their money on concerts and merchandise

You see… I am not trying to take the moral high ground… I know its wrong.. but currently I am homeless by almost every definition. I don’t have the money to buy adiquite food for myself… let alone music.

However, I *HAVE* bought some zep CDs after i had some saved money… also some pink floyd… people i have never thought of listening too…

And I have a teacher who claims to have purchased more music when napster was big than any otehr time in his life.

[quote post=”2485″]The argument isn’t that you’re stealing from other endusers, it’s that you’re depriving the creators of their due. Essentially the crime is you’re using a service (entertainment) without submitting the requested recompense to the owners/creators.[/quote]

Very true. It is not a victimless crime as it is often claimed. But it is not always as simple. A pirated copy does not always equal a lost sale. A lot of pirates would never buy a given game, or watch a movie if it was not available to them for free. At most they would possibly consider “borrowing” it from a friend, but if the friend never got the game/movie, they would just forget about it and move on.

It’s kinda like with free online services. If you offer free accounts, everyone signs up for the service just to check it out and you end up with a million user accounts that were accessed once and then abandoned.

[quote post=”2485″]I just hope that Spore comes out before the US gets it’s treaty with Sweden to shut down piratebay.org…[/quote]

Oh wow, we are doing a treaty now? Meh, no matter…

We will still have mininova, sumo torrent, torrent reactor, torrent-damage, demonoid and etc… Not to mention emules, lime wires, and the other p2p networks I hardly ever use because torrents are better. Oh, and usenet.

[quote comment=”9241″]
The beautiful thing about it is… although its “theft”, you know the person still has THEIR copy of it so its not like anyone is hurt.[/quote]

That’s misdirection. The argument isn’t that you’re stealing from other endusers, it’s that you’re depriving the creators of their due. Essentially the crime is you’re using a service (entertainment) without submitting the requested recompense to the owners/creators.

[quote]Look at me, I found that I am a crazy Led Zep fan… But I only listen to country… How would I have ever heard zep?[/quote]

Dunno. But ‘entertaining me for free’ isn’t well supported by ‘my life is enriched by it’ – surely if it has value to you, you’d recompense adequately?

Don’t get me wrong, I am an unabashed pirate. I just don’t go for the high moral arguments about it. For me, it’s about convenience. I’m not afraid to purchase a game – I even loved EUII so much I purchased it three times (lost one disk in a move and another was damaged in another move) – but nothing kills ardour for a game like getting home, unwrapping it, running into DRM issues, it not being resolved, emailing support (who may or may not get back to you any time soon, if at all) and not being able to use it for possibly days, or even at all. But frankly for everyone, it’s about convenience. People don’t listen to pirated music they don’t like just to spite the RIAA. People don’t play games they don’t like just to laugh at Starforce. It’s all about convenience.

Piracy does hurt vendors. Not as much as they say, but not as little as piracy advocates say either. But yes, it’s here to stay. I just hope that Spore comes out before the US gets it’s treaty with Sweden to shut down piratebay.org…