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In other words, this survey uncovered the shocking fact that people who had downloaded music were 10x more likely to pay to download music than people who never downloaded at all.
This isn't really news. There have been reports like this since Napster. The Recording Industry ignores them and the media soon forgets.
I thought it was news because every time someone posts about The Pirate Bay, etc, and someone says, "Piracy increases sales of most media," someone always comes back (it happened with the last major TPB thread on HN) with, "But no study has ever shown that!" Even though there are quite a few of them, and this recent one.
Bit torrent really is often the most convenient way to get music/movies. I want to pay to download this movie, but I can't.
Damn, I thought they were talking about 'real pirates'. Arrrr, matey...
Now that actual crime-on-the-seas piracy is a going concern, there's even more reason to stop using the term for filesharing.
This isn't really news. There have been reports like this since Napster. The Recording Industry ignores them and the media soon forgets.
I thought it was news because every time someone posts about The Pirate Bay, etc, and someone says, "Piracy increases sales of most media," someone always comes back (it happened with the last major TPB thread on HN) with, "But no study has ever shown that!" Even though there are quite a few of them, and this recent one.
I have yet to see a study that takes "freely available" vs "pirated" into account, and that takes into account that there is a certain barrier to buying music online and p2p-ers have already overcome that barrier. Until such a study is made, I don't see how we can really say anything has been proven.
(edited for tone, I was being a bit argumentative)
http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/04/study-pirates-buy-...
I haven't bit torrented any music or movies in a long time. Last week I really wanted to see the sequel to a documentary I had just viewed on Youtube. Its not available on Youtube, so I went to find it for purchase online. Its not on iTunes or anywhere else for purchase. Bit torrent really is often the most convenient way to get music/movies. I want to pay to download this movie, but I can't.
Torrents have become to much work. Maybe I have just been "out of the scene" or whatever for too long... In the days of suprnova, the front page would be filled with albums or movies with plenty of seeds and MODERATORS that removed torrents that contained crap or trojans. Bittorrent now is as bad as kazaa (if that is even still around).
I buy TONS of music...mostly bands that I found back in the suprnova days, actually, and I buy most of it on iTunes...
I'm at work...dealing with the idiots at the pirate bay is too much of a pain in the ass and not worth the $9 an album costs on iTunes.
As soon as somebody comes out with something better, I'll migrate to that.
You're exactly right, it is all about ease of use. Using torrents used to be easier than going to the music store. That is no longer the case.
Although....there is still IRC ;-)
How is causation shown? Isn't it most likely that those most into music both download more music and buy more of it on physical media?
There was no indication that the study controlled for an individual's interest level in music (overall amount consumed). So, if we presume the study to simply examine the correlation of two binary variables (downloaded_at_least_1x and bought_at_least_1x), the results could be explained if most of those polled did not download or buy music or did both. Am I thinking about this correctly?
How is causation shown? Isn't it most likely that those most into music both download more music and buy more of it on physical media?
Ummm...downmodded for what? If the study doesn't claim the relationship to be causal (downloading causes buying), then its uninteresting as it doesn't support anyone's position. There was no indication that the study controlled for an individual's interest level in music (overall amount consumed). So, if we presume the study to simply examine the correlation of two binary variables (downloaded_at_least_1x and bought_…