Pirates Are In It For The Free Stuff

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Why is piracy so prevalent? Because all the cool kids are doing it and everyone likes free stuff.

The main reason is obvious: price. Many consumers who say they commit online piracy are enticed by free content. But other factors also contribute to the growing prevalence of piracy, including earlier access to content, a perception that "everyone is doing it," and the proliferation of ad-supported websites that offer free content.
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They're still talking about these?
"• Virus potential: Note the potential for downloading computer infections.
• Legal troubles: Emphasize that pirating is theft.
• Poor quality: Poor quality contributes to a poor viewing experience. Half of those who pirate are willing to consider quality as a factor. Content creators may want to explore ways to create a higher sense of value or quality associated with paid content."

Any good digital pirate knows how to avoid (viruses, bad quality) or accept (legal risk) these "pitfalls."

When will they learn? You can't beat pirates with a stick (whack-a-mole). You can, however, buy them out by making prices lower (*cough Steam cough*). Steam's the one platform in which everyone wins (at least in terms of games). DRM for the content-providers, ease of access for users and no arbitrary limits (i.e. how many computers content is allowed on) as all content is tied to a single account.
 
honestly i believe its because if one pirates a movie they get just that, the movie, no rules apply to it, there are no ads, no bullshit menu's to deal with, its just the movie, if i wanted that movie in mkv instead of avi or dvd-5 then all i would have to do is re-encode it, no biggie.

but the free part definitely gets people, i know i wouldn't purchase every season of house or the Simpsons, because i dont like them THAT much, but if im bored and dont have anything to do, i can pop one on.
 
I'll be honest, Netflix has more or less eradicated any reason for me to pirate movies and most TV shows...there are of course shows that aren't available on DVD that you can ONLY find through piracy, but for the most part, a Netflix subscription and some time spent getting the right films in your queue will fulfill most of your watching needs.

Hell, we don't even have any kind of TV service any more...it's all Netflix and the DVDs/Blu-Rays we own now.
 
What I don't understand is why don't content producers just take it easy on the restrictions on their content. I mean, it's not stopping anyone from getting their content illegally.

Just make it easy to get the content and don't put any DRM on it. With steam, it's harder to pirate the game than to just spend the money and buy it, espeically when it's $10 or $15.

Give me direct downloads of
1. Full Bluray quality (.iso or similar)
2. 1080p rip
3. 720p rip
4. 480p rip
5. Ipod/iphone/ipad/generic smartphone/media player profile

All for the price of one movie, $20 or $30. I guarantee a lot of pirates would just end up paying to not have to worry about bad rips (audio sync issues, bad subs, video issues, etc). And if they don't want to pay for the bandwidth, just include a 2nd disc with the hardcopy that has all of these on there.
 
Try before you buy?

I don't buy crap as far as games anymore simply because I play Quakeworld and Q3 and that's about it anymore. I'd sure pirate and test it out first if I was going to gamble $60 on something that can't be returned.

The good old days where there were demos and shareware are long gone, and so am I as their target demographic.
 
Ryan711 said:
What I don't understand is why don't content producers just take it easy on the restrictions on their content. I mean, it's not stopping anyone from getting their content illegally.

Just make it easy to get the content and don't put any DRM on it. With steam, it's harder to pirate the game than to just spend the money and buy it, espeically when it's $10 or $15.
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Ah yes, and Steam! Steam, ESPECIALLY in the past couple of years, has done more than anything to reduce my piracy rate of games to near zero. Now that they've got the service rock-solid stable, have a HUGE catalog, and constantly run specials, there's pretty much no reason to pirate games anymore.

Especially during the holiday sales. This past December, I bought a metric assload of games (mostly for other people as presents, but also a few for myself) and spent less than $100. Not sure of the exact number, but I think it was right around 25 or 30 games, all told.

By the way, for any of you Steamers out there, my username is Pojut.
 
Well of course.

The main reason people don't run around taking things for free is twofold: Strong consequences, and the fact that depriving someone else of something elicits a "this is wrong" response in a decent moral person.

Piracy has neither of these. The consequences can't be made any stronger without the consequences falling out of balance with the severity of the crime, and incentive to enforce is so low since individual piracy is not something that affects others in the community. So the fear of consequences is watered down to almost zero.

There's also the fact that the "Piracy is theft" comparison is wrong. If it was theft, it would be done far less often. Theft is essentially just transferring possession of something to yourself unlawfully. Since in piracy nobody is deprived of what is being pirated, it doesn't trigger that sense that the person is doing anything wrong.

Even if you can convince people that they should pay for the product, you have a lot of people who simply don't have the money to spare on stuff like music, movies, and software. These people could never pay for it anyway, so the deterrent factor is even less in these cases. Not only are they not depriving anyone of the product, there was never the possibility of them purchasing the product in the first place.

All these things considered, there is virtually nothing that can be done to convince people not to do something when it isn't harming anyone, financially or otherwise. It's just too easy for an otherwise moral and decent person to justify, unlike most any other crime.

A business model based around selling something that is not tangible and finite carries with it certain risks.
 
It's totally true. I bought Magicka a few days ago because the price was good. Let alone the dozen or other games that steam puts on sale. These developers and movie producers are such greedy assholes. There's no reason their movies need to cost as much. It's the same reason that digital distribution ( like netflix) is going to kill the cash cow otherwise known as DVD/Blu-ray. You can't look me square in the face and tell me that a piece of plastic with a thin-as-hell piece of aluminum in it costs that much to make. I can understand that they need to get money back for the movie production costs but isn't that how they justify charging 10 bux a person in theaters?
 
I know a few people who pirate movies. For them it is like Pokemon. Gotta get 'em all.
 
Can we agree to post these articles only when they have new data or propose new ideas? Or at least add a Captain Obvious tag so we can ignore it.
 
lilfiend said:
honestly i believe its because if one pirates a movie they get just that, the movie, no rules apply to it, there are no ads, no bullshit menu's to deal with, its just the movie, if i wanted that movie in mkv instead of avi or dvd-5 then all i would have to do is re-encode it, no biggie.
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Nothing pisses me off more than having to sit through shitty previews watching a purchased movie. I've love to cram that DVD down the throat of the corporate stooge that thought that was a good idea. Ripping a DVD just to get rid of that crap and watching just the movie used to be my favorite reason to rip a DVD.
 
Wait, so if I try this piracy thing, I get whatever I want for free?

HOLY ASS, WHERE DO I SIGN UP!!1
 
NKDietrich said:
Even if you can convince people that they should pay for the product, you have a lot of people who simply don't have the money to spare on stuff like music, movies, and software. These people could never pay for it anyway, so the deterrent factor is even less in these cases. Not only are they not depriving anyone of the product, there was never the possibility of them purchasing the product in the first place.
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A certain percentage of the population will steal anything not bolted down. I won't even try to estimate how large a percentage. I'm met plenty of people that pirate because they are cheaper than dirt.
 
images

Copying is stealing. Looks like I robbed the Louvre. I got to appreciate the Mona Lisa for free. I'm killing the art industry. Also the travel industry.
 
fattypants said:
Copying is stealing. Looks like I robbed the Louvre. I got to appreciate the Mona Lisa for free. I'm killing the art industry. Also the travel industry.
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You bastard I can't believe you stole one of the most priceless paintings in the world. Return that immediately.
 
They are leaving out one major thing that I think many or most wo download pirated software/movies/music use to justify their actions.

"Piracy is a victimless crime".

And if they are like most pirates I know, who only download stuff they wouldn't bother getting if they had to pay for it, then they are perfectly right.

The problems stem from those who download stuff they would have bought if it were the only way to get it.
 
Zarathustra[H];1036863368 said:
They are leaving out one major thing that I think many or most wo download pirated software/movies/music use to justify their actions.

"Piracy is a victimless crime".

And if they are like most pirates I know, who only download stuff they wouldn't bother getting if they had to pay for it, then they are perfectly right.

The problems stem from those who download stuff they would have bought if it were the only way to get it.
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Yep. That's also the big flaw behind the lost income claims these industries make. They claim that everything that is pirated would have otherwise been purchased. I think most of us pirate things on occasion, but we all know those people who just download thousands of dollars worth of stuff every month.

Even if they wanted to buy all that crap, there is no way they could.
 
Ryan711 said:
What I don't understand is why don't content producers just take it easy on the restrictions on their content. I mean, it's not stopping anyone from getting their content illegally.

Just make it easy to get the content and don't put any DRM on it. With steam, it's harder to pirate the game than to just spend the money and buy it, espeically when it's $10 or $15.

Give me direct downloads of
1. Full Bluray quality (.iso or similar)
2. 1080p rip
3. 720p rip
4. 480p rip
5. Ipod/iphone/ipad/generic smartphone/media player profile

All for the price of one movie, $20 or $30. I guarantee a lot of pirates would just end up paying to not have to worry about bad rips (audio sync issues, bad subs, video issues, etc). And if they don't want to pay for the bandwidth, just include a 2nd disc with the hardcopy that has all of these on there.
Click to expand...

Stop, being, logical...
 
Ryan711 said:
What I don't understand is why don't content producers just take it easy on the restrictions on their content. I mean, it's not stopping anyone from getting their content illegally.

Just make it easy to get the content and don't put any DRM on it. With steam, it's harder to pirate the game than to just spend the money and buy it, espeically when it's $10 or $15.

Give me direct downloads of
1. Full Bluray quality (.iso or similar)
2. 1080p rip
3. 720p rip
4. 480p rip
5. Ipod/iphone/ipad/generic smartphone/media player profile

All for the price of one movie, $20 or $30. I guarantee a lot of pirates would just end up paying to not have to worry about bad rips (audio sync issues, bad subs, video issues, etc). And if they don't want to pay for the bandwidth, just include a 2nd disc with the hardcopy that has all of these on there.
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Because the business is not to sell you the content. The business is to sell you the disc or whatever physical medium contains the content and mark it up 3000%. The more times they can do so the better. That is why they have artificial release windows and regional market segmentation. When the internet came, their old and antiquated business model did not fit in with a physical medium-less distribution scheme so they started demonizing it just like they demonized cassette tapes, and VHS tapes and so on. They lost in the past and they will lose once again. It's only a matter of time.
 
So let me see if I get this...

...I have OTA antenna, a tuner card and capture board (HD) and DVR (freeware).

If I capture House in HD, edit out the commercials (easy enough), and transcode for a mobile device this is all cool.

But if I log on to Giganews and download the episode I'm a pirate?

WTF?
 
And here I thought pirates were in here because Linux just won't distribute itself.
 
Sovereign said:
When will they learn? You can't beat pirates with a stick (whack-a-mole). You can, however, buy them out by making prices lower (*cough Steam cough*). Steam's the one platform in which everyone wins (at least in terms of games). DRM for the content-providers, ease of access for users and no arbitrary limits (i.e. how many computers content is allowed on) as all content is tied to a single account.
Click to expand...

Im going to have to disagree here. As a consumer you dont really win.

If you buy a book, and are done reading it you can resell your book. If I buy a game I can resell that game when Im done with it. With Steam not only do I own that game forever, I cannot even give it away to a friend. I also cant play on my laptop unless I have an internet connection, even for a single player game. That's a major downfall.
 
I'd say over 50% (easily) of people pirating games/photoshop/etc would not have bought it anyways due to PRICE GOUGING on a few things lately, or just plain being poor.
 
And yes, steam is not the answer.... especially for people who don't have broadband available at the time. And if you don't have internet at all, you're SOL and you can't even get to the games (which steam owns until they are shut down some day and you are screwed for good unless you made backups)

And If I'm not mistaken, games on steam are hacked and cracked also so don't think they are safe from piracy at all......
 
Jerkson said:
Im going to have to disagree here. As a consumer you dont really win.

If you buy a book, and are done reading it you can resell your book. If I buy a game I can resell that game when Im done with it. With Steam not only do I own that game forever, I cannot even give it away to a friend.
Click to expand...

This I'll agree with, and it is annoying. They should have a lending and resale section. Not doing so borders on unethical.

Jerkson said:
I also cant play on my laptop unless I have an internet connection, even for a single player game. That's a major downfall.
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This is just plain wrong. All games can be run in offline mode. You just have to download the game files to your laptop before going offline. Then you can either manually set steam to offline mode, or it will detect (after a little while) that it can't connect to steam and do it for you.
 
wra18th said:
Well, I see Captain Obvious is at it again.
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i actually read the article because i was wondering how a seeder could make money seeding, once i actually got into the meat of the article i came to the same conclusion you did....
 
Sovereign said:
They're still talking about these?
"• Virus potential: Note the potential for downloading computer infections.
• Legal troubles: Emphasize that pirating is theft.
• Poor quality: Poor quality contributes to a poor viewing experience. Half of those who pirate are willing to consider quality as a factor. Content creators may want to explore ways to create a higher sense of value or quality associated with paid content."

Any good digital pirate knows how to avoid (viruses, bad quality) or accept (legal risk) these "pitfalls."

When will they learn? You can't beat pirates with a stick (whack-a-mole). You can, however, buy them out by making prices lower (*cough Steam cough*). Steam's the one platform in which everyone wins (at least in terms of games). DRM for the content-providers, ease of access for users and no arbitrary limits (i.e. how many computers content is allowed on) as all content is tied to a single account.
Click to expand...
I agree with your points. But good God, I am SO sick of ignorant people calling copyright infringment "theft"! :rolleyes: It's wrong, it's ignorant, and it's stupid, they're not the same crime, nor are they they significantly the same in most other ways.
 
Ryan711 said:
What I don't understand is why don't content producers just take it easy on the restrictions on their content. I mean, it's not stopping anyone from getting their content illegally.

Just make it easy to get the content and don't put any DRM on it. With steam, it's harder to pirate the game than to just spend the money and buy it, espeically when it's $10 or $15.

Give me direct downloads of
1. Full Bluray quality (.iso or similar)
2. 1080p rip
3. 720p rip
4. 480p rip
5. Ipod/iphone/ipad/generic smartphone/media player profile

All for the price of one movie, $20 or $30. I guarantee a lot of pirates would just end up paying to not have to worry about bad rips (audio sync issues, bad subs, video issues, etc). And if they don't want to pay for the bandwidth, just include a 2nd disc with the hardcopy that has all of these on there.
Click to expand...
If I have to download it, and I don't get a physical disk, then I think I'd be willing to pay $10 for ~ 720p DRM free.

I like Netflix, but, they don't have a lot of movies and don't get new releases right away.

I'm sick of the industry's greed and high prices recently so I don't really have any pity for them over the piracy issue.
 
From the invention of the printing press to now, always some industry crumbling and a new one rising. The people always win.

I'm sick of the industry's greed and high prices recently so I don't really have any pity for them over the piracy issue.
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I seed extra every night knowing I'm fighting their greed.
 
• Virus potential: no worse than checking your e-mails
• Legal troubles: pirating is NOT theft.... mmmk?
• Poor quality: there is no legal alternative to get good high quality content when you want it, where you want it or how you want it

The fact of the matter is that there are more sources of entertainment now then there ever was. There just aren't enough consumer dollars to go around to buy everything you want. I can only afford 1 full price game a month (which isn't bad really, esp compared to a lot of people). When I see the March release schedule there's at least 5 games I'd pay for, but can't afford to.

The reality is that middle class income has dropped 13% over the past 30 years while the average cost of living has increased by 30%. Combine that with the increased sources of entertainment as mentioned above, and you have a recipe for people taking what they want at a price they see fit: free.

There's this thing called supply and demand that the entertainment industries just don't seem to get. They need to adjust their expectations of profit per copy and reduce the price to increase volume of sales. When you have an increasing piracy problem clearly people are demanding the product at a lower price point.

Then you also factor in the huge amounts of money wasted on regurgitating the same shit every year or 2 in every single entertainment industry and it's no wonder no one wants your products.

Bad business is bad. It's as simple as that.

America was founded partially on the principles of innovation and frontiersmanship. How people like Bobby Kotick make it to CEO I don't understand. It's long been understood that title was synonymous with Chief Risk Taker. When your business strategy is literally, "Create the same game every year or 2 till it's dead" is not a business strategy at all. That's more akin to business suicide. Maybe not now, nor in 5 years; but even EA saw the light. You can't run a business like that. You can only kill your IPs and your consumer good-will.

Innovation, critical-thinking and creativity are key to long-term success.
 
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