Damn right this is an issue that isn't just victimless crimes!
Like all of us "legitimate customers" who have to put up with more and more bullshit telling us to keep being good little legitimate customers. WE are the only victims in this deal.
Oh, but I guess I didn't realize how all of those Hollywood executives and highly paid actors can only afford to live in modest sized homes (because they can't just live in
one house, goddammit! That would be unjust!) and simply cannot bear the cost of multi-million dollar movies - oh wait, that's a complete load of horseshit.
The second notice shows the logo for the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, complete with a grumpy-looking eagle, a warning that piracy is "not a victimless crime," and directions to the IPR site, [http://www.iprcenter.gov/] which promises to explain how piracy is affecting the US economy.
Anything less than a video of that bit from South Park where wealthy musicians can't afford super deluxe gold plated private jets and what not is a slap in the face, I'm afraid. Aren't there
real criminals they should be focusing on? Like the ones who actually cause damage that isn't just a bullshit "estimate" of "perceived losses" that are only an accurate representation of how much
more money producers and publishers wish they had made in profits?
"Law enforcement must continue to expand how it combats criminal activity; public awareness and education are a critical part of that effort," announced ICE director, John Morton.
"And we can't wait to get around to that whole 'Pre-Crime' thing from Minority Report. Maybe throw in some 1984 in there with invasive searches for good measure!"
What the hell
more do they want from the "public?" The content should actually justify the cost of a legal purchase, but at the rate these anti-piracy crusaders are going, piracy will end up being the only way to get any conceivable content without a full thirty minute video on piracy, followed by a word from their sponsors, and 5 minute portions of the actual "content" laden with product placement and interrupted by advertisements and further anti-piracy warnings. Given that the warnings were annoying enough to begin with, throwing shit more on top of the dung heap isn't going to make the whole mess any more palatable to the general audience - an audience who, by the way, is increasingly growing more tech savvy and is therefore better equipped to obviate these extra anti-piracy notices (likely through illegal means, no less).
No, these corporate asshats need to get it through their heads that paying customers have more than done their part; it's up to
them to give us a reason to keep coming back. These companies actually might have to reevaluate how they operate their distribution, marketing, overall final product; the whole works. But that's effort and it's much easier to make a mountain lion out of a mole while forcing their own consumer base to ingest propaganda that victimizes their rich, corporate asses.