Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Movie piracy, and misconceptions. (not a rant, but still long)

Stompy · 11-08-2004, 10:19 AM

What's interesting is how the MPAA made claims, "Oh, we're losing so much money due to piracy," yet last year was the 2nd biggest income in their entire history ($9 billion), and all this while P2P usage was UP.

I think that just about ends the debate right there about whether or not it hurts them financially. Is it morally wrong? Sometimes. I think it's more wrong for someone to constantly churn out crap and market it to others, but hey, I guess we're all entitled to our opinions. As long as companies are allowed to get away with that, then I have no problems with downloading things.

If you make something good, it will sell regardless of the piracy that goes on. The new eminem CD comes out in a week, right? The damn thing is already available online, but how much do you wanna bet it's gonna sell like crazy?

To make a long story short, downloading any of these isn't the same as physical theft (and I'm sure this point was made somewhere above) and only becomes a problem when you introduce a hypothetical situation like "What if everyone just downloaded them?" Well, what if? Then we'd have a problem, but not everyone does.

There's also a lot of false assumptions that are made when discussing copyright infringement, and a popular one being, "Everyone who downloaded this item would've paid for it regardless." Not true. I've downloaded about 25-30 PS2 games in the past 7 months, and most of them haven't held my attention for more than a few days. I woudln't have rented them either... most I would've paid no mind to. To me, a game isn't worth buying unless it really sucks you in. No $$ lost there. Do I have the right to just up and download it? Nah, but I'll do it anyway considering it doesn't matter either way.

As for movies... the only movie worth seeing last year was Lord of the Rings, and I haven't even seen THAT yet. Oh, and Kill Bill (there might be one or two others, but I can't think of em right now). I've downloaded a LOT of DVDs of movies that came out in 2003, but had I not downloaded them, I wouldn't have cared to see them either way. I might've seen em through netflix, but I pay a constant fee through them. Even during months I don't rent movies from em! No $$ lost there.

I'll always download movies, games, and music. Those that I feel are worth buying, I'll buy, but other than that, I've been suckered into buying too much stuff for far too long only to find out it sucks ass. It's about time the average joe has leverage over the industry, IMO.

The whole thing really doesn't concern me either way. I'm sick of hearing people whine about it. Honestly, the more I hear people whine or complain about it, the more I download

[edit]
Here's a good article as to why music sales have declined: http://www.economist.com/displaystor...ory_id=3329169

11-08-2004, 10:19 AM	#46 (permalink)
Stompy Banned from being Banned Location: Donkey	What's interesting is how the MPAA made claims, "Oh, we're losing so much money due to piracy," yet last year was the 2nd biggest income in their entire history ($9 billion), and all this while P2P usage was UP. I think that just about ends the debate right there about whether or not it hurts them financially. Is it morally wrong? Sometimes. I think it's more wrong for someone to constantly churn out crap and market it to others, but hey, I guess we're all entitled to our opinions. As long as companies are allowed to get away with that, then I have no problems with downloading things. If you make something good, it will sell regardless of the piracy that goes on. The new eminem CD comes out in a week, right? The damn thing is already available online, but how much do you wanna bet it's gonna sell like crazy? To make a long story short, downloading any of these isn't the same as physical theft (and I'm sure this point was made somewhere above) and only becomes a problem when you introduce a hypothetical situation like "What if everyone just downloaded them?" Well, what if? Then we'd have a problem, but not everyone does. There's also a lot of false assumptions that are made when discussing copyright infringement, and a popular one being, "Everyone who downloaded this item would've paid for it regardless." Not true. I've downloaded about 25-30 PS2 games in the past 7 months, and most of them haven't held my attention for more than a few days. I woudln't have rented them either... most I would've paid no mind to. To me, a game isn't worth buying unless it really sucks you in. No $$ lost there. Do I have the right to just up and download it? Nah, but I'll do it anyway considering it doesn't matter either way. As for movies... the only movie worth seeing last year was Lord of the Rings, and I haven't even seen THAT yet. Oh, and Kill Bill (there might be one or two others, but I can't think of em right now). I've downloaded a LOT of DVDs of movies that came out in 2003, but had I not downloaded them, I wouldn't have cared to see them either way. I might've seen em through netflix, but I pay a constant fee through them. Even during months I don't rent movies from em! No $$ lost there. I'll always download movies, games, and music. Those that I feel are worth buying, I'll buy, but other than that, I've been suckered into buying too much stuff for far too long only to find out it sucks ass. It's about time the average joe has leverage over the industry, IMO. The whole thing really doesn't concern me either way. I'm sick of hearing people whine about it. Honestly, the more I hear people whine or complain about it, the more I download [edit] Here's a good article as to why music sales have declined: http://www.economist.com/displaystor...ory_id=3329169 __________________ I love lamp. Last edited by Stompy; 11-08-2004 at 10:28 AM..