McArdle at the Atlantic explores this more in depth:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/01/how-much...
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/01/is-trade...
Piracy - You can't have your cake and eat it
81–90 of 334 posts
Re: Piracy - You can't have your cake and eat it
#82I completely agree (and its hypocritical of me, because I pirate too much for my own good, but due to financial reasons rather than 'moral' ones.) Pirating Windows still helps Microsoft, because its another computer not using a competing OS.
That being said, I think it is a salient point that a pristine distribution system will curb the effects of privacy; Valve's Steam distribution venue is a great example of this.
Re: Piracy - You can't have your cake and eat it
#83This article is interesting to read and think about from a theoretical perspective. Practically, though, it is completely and utterly useless.
Fact 1: Pirating is possible and fairly easy across the board.
Fact 2: Some content creators try to limit access to maintain "exclusivity" or to keep margins high. These guys get destroyed by piracy.
Fact 3: Other services strive to make it as easy as possible to get their products legally - Steam, iTunes, the Louis CK experiment. Their stuff is pirated a lot less and they generate a bunch of goodwill on the side.
These are facts, and no appeal to morality is going to change that. You can't just tell someone to suck it up and say it's not their "decision". Of course it's their decision - everyone decides whether or not to pirate! It is ABSOLUTELY their decision. The way to curb piracy is not to appeal to people's morality and tell people they SHOULD or SHOULDN'T do something. It's never going to work.
Curb piracy by making it easier, safer, and more reliable to purchase legally rather than pirate. Articles like this do nothing but reinforce the author's sense of moral superiority.
Re: Piracy - You can't have your cake and eat it
#84Not that I disagree with a word of this article, but he's accepting the premise of those two articles: that the distribution mechanisms are a worse UX than pirating. My response: Are you high? Once upon a time I pirated content, he's an approximate recap of what my expierience looked like: * Search pirate bay * Look at 2000 results, none of which look right. * Ok, found one. * Crap it's French with Arabic subtitles.…
Pirate Bay isn't the only way to find torrents. Private networks (such as what.cd for music) are hilariously easy to use, and generally much quicker than public torrents.
Re: Piracy - You can't have your cake and eat it
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
You have no idea what you are talking about, I'm guessing this is because you have never created anything worthwhile on which your livelihood depended. I'm sure you'd be quick to whine if your employer (assuming you are old enough to work) could decide whether or not you should be paid for your work after you had done it. I hope you congratulate the next person to steal from you with a cheery "well done, that's my mo…
If you are creating something on which your livelihood depends, do so ‘under a promise of financial reward’. It would be foolish to do otherwise, isn't it? But if you choose to publicly distribute your work—accept inevitable risks. Don't like that—go get a real job. You can do contract work writing music, or doing illustration / design.
More generally, if you want to be paid then do work under a contract. There are many cases where you will willingly accept promise of financial reward - look no further than Y Combinator - but you're a fool if you don't accept the risks or pretend you should be immune to the illegal actions (rather than seeking compensation after the fact, anyway).
Even in something like retail, your product can be stolen and there's no guarantee you'll get recompense. Yet laws regarding shoplifting have remained rather constant and non-draconian in all that time. The problem with the internet is that it's all too easy to get something without paying for it, but people all-too-often forget that the benefit of the internet is that nobody can deprive you of your goods (bandwidth notwithstanding).
Yeah, piracy sucks, but look at what other sectors of the economy have to deal with. Risk's everywhere; deal with it.
Re: Piracy - You can't have your cake and eat it
#86> don't decide to take the law into your own hands...it's not your decision.
If it's not my decision that means I should not be held responsible for what I do.
Re: Piracy - You can't have your cake and eat it
#87And here I thought civil disobedience was a proud American tradition.
Re: Piracy - You can't have your cake and eat it
#88This article is interesting to read and think about from a theoretical perspective. Practically, though, it is completely and utterly useless. Fact 1: Pirating is possible and fairly easy across the board. Fact 2: Some content creators try to limit access to maintain "exclusivity" or to keep margins high. These guys get destroyed by piracy. Fact 3: Other services strive to make it as easy as possible to get their pro…
As creators, we can curb piracy by making it easier, safer and more reliable to purchase legally. As users, shouldn't we curb piracy by not pirating things?
Re: Piracy - You can't have your cake and eat it
#89I do not feel that I am morally obliged to pay and I believe that the laws should be changed. We have IP rules when it comes to a musical composition and architecture. Why not in other areas such as hairstyles or recipes?
Re: Piracy - You can't have your cake and eat it
#90It is easier to steal a Twinkie than it is to wait in line and have to pay for it, and then wait for your change. Then you have all those damn coins in your pocket...
Maybe if you had to sign terms and conditions, you were unable to share it with friends, resell it and sometimes, sometimes you don't even get to eat it, because the wrapper wont recognize your hand!