'I have a bad feeling about this'
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 10th Feb 2012 00:13 UTC
In the News "Like any space opera, the story of information technology is a very simple one. It is played out in a myriad of different ways by a revolving cast of characters, but it always has its loveable heroes, its predictably nefarious villains, innocent civilians to be saved, and bumbling bureaucrats that aren't inherently evil, but begin every story aiding the forces of darkness out of a misplaced belief they are preserving law and order in their corner of the galaxy." He might use Star Wars as an analogy (I strongly dislike Star Wars - Trekkie here), but it sums up very well how I feel about computing today.
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RE[5]: A little over-dramatic
by ilovebeer on Sat 11th Feb 2012 19:34 UTC in reply to "RE[4]: A little over-dramatic"
ilovebeer
Member since:
2011-08-08

We'll see how it goes once a million different pirate sites go up, because they know there's no danger of getting sued; charging $5-$10 a month for as much as you can download, with direct access to the files, and no need for torrents.

Two things.. First, most people are legitimate paying customers, not pirates. Second, people have been making these types of comments since the beginning of the internet -- "We'll see what happens when..." But for some reason the sky never falls. I won't be holding my breath waiting for your rapture to happen.

Reply Parent Score: 3

RE[6]: A little over-dramatic
by WorknMan on Mon 13th Feb 2012 01:29 in reply to "RE[5]: A little over-dramatic"
WorknMan Member since:
2005-11-13

Two things.. First, most people are legitimate paying customers, not pirates.


That's because most people don't know what a torrent is ;) And even if they do, there's always a chance (in the US) of getting sued and/or having your connection throttled, not to mention the threat of getting malware and other kinds of bullshit you have to deal with, such as 1 seeder vs 40 leechers. On Usenet, it's not much better because of all the spammers uploading passworded RARs, and the fact that there's a certain amount of knowledge required to deal with nzb files and such. My point is that getting pirated stuff is not exactly trivial, because the 'MAFIAA' is still trying to shut it down.

Second, people have been making these types of comments since the beginning of the internet -- "We'll see what happens when..." But for some reason the sky never falls. I won't be holding my breath waiting for your rapture to happen.


Well, we're not talking about the sky falling; we're talking about an end to the war on piracy, which is what everyone is saying they want to happen. That's what everyone is pissed about, right? People scream and cry every time a site like The Pirate Bay is taken down, saying we're gonna end up just like China, blah... blah... blah. So, what do you think is the natural course of evolution if they stop trying to shut down these sites? Doesn't it stand to reason that there would be a LOT more of them? Sure, the content industry could drastically lower their prices, but it's really hard to compete with free, when free is plentiful and super-convenient to access. 'Let's see... I could either pay $3 to rent this movie, or I could go download it from this pirate site and keep it forever...'

Look, I really don't have a problem with this 'dystopian' future, especially since 97% of the stuff being shat out of the movie record companies isn't even worth bothering with if it were free, so I really don't have a dog in this hunt. I'm just giving ya'll a heads up of what to expect, which is basically an end to people producing paid content, except for the ones that can find a way to force people to pay.

Reply Parent Score: 1

RE[7]: A little over-dramatic
by ilovebeer on Mon 13th Feb 2012 06:50 in reply to "RE[6]: A little over-dramatic"
ilovebeer Member since:
2011-08-08

Well, we're not talking about the sky falling; we're talking about an end to the war on piracy, which is what everyone is saying they want to happen. That's what everyone is pissed about, right? People scream and cry every time a site like The Pirate Bay is taken down, saying we're gonna end up just like China, blah... blah... blah. So, what do you think is the natural course of evolution if they stop trying to shut down these sites? Doesn't it stand to reason that there would be a LOT more of them?

The lower the risk, the more likely people are willing to take their chances. I'll agree to that.

Sure, the content industry could drastically lower their prices, but it's really hard to compete with free, when free is plentiful and super-convenient to access. 'Let's see... I could either pay $3 to rent this movie, or I could go download it from this pirate site and keep it forever...'

It's an enormous assumption, and one that doesn't actually have any real merit, to say that if the war on piracy ended, the majority of people would turn into pirates simply because of easier access to pirated works. By assuming that, you completely remove every individuals moral stance on piracy. I don't believe it's lack of access that keeps the majority as paying consumers. Google is, afterall, very easy to use and even grandma knows how to search for "free music" these days. People have however proven over & over & over their willingness to pay for what they perceive as products & services worth paying for.

Were all efforts to stop piracy cease tomorrow, society would not treat content as a massive free-for-all until there's none left. Those who pay for content now would most likely continue to do so.

Reply Parent Score: 2

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