Piracy Makes U.K. Riots Look Like "Children Stealing Candy"

[Coffinshaker]

my problem with this whole "piracy costs money" theory is that it makes assumptions on what "could be". meaning, if someone downloads a movie, their thought is that it is a lost sale. but what if that person wasn't going to buy it in the first place? you can't make these kinds of assertions on what future possibilities would be. you could make the same guess that pirates are more likely to buy a game after trying it.

point is, you can't assume someone will buy something had they not pirated it. in fact, they'd probably not buy it at all if there was no piracy. so there's a problem there. what is it? well, the person sees that the costs outweigh the benefits. just simple nature here. if you take that same movie and maybe make it cost less or free with advertising, you'd likely see many of those same pirates make a switch (more assumptions).

 

[antipunt]

Because piracy = 1 lost sale.

>_>

/sarcasm

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

Williams claimed that leaves them less likely to go to the movies, buy DVDs or pay for music from iTunes and other online services, which one estimate said cost the Australian economy $1.37 billion last year.

This is gloriously wrong and a fallacy that people don't always pick up on or call out. Assuming for the sake of argument that their estimate is accurate and people in Australia downloaded $1.37 billion worth of stuff they didn't pay for, where do you think they would've come up with the money to pay for all of it? Alternately, not having paid for it, what do you think they did with that money instead? It's not like they stuck it under their mattress or in a cookie jar and just left it there.

It's pretty likely that they spent roughly an equivalent amount on other things (some of which may have been different movies and music, and some of which probably were entirely unrelated products and services), and the money still remained in circulation. It may (or may not) have been harmful to specific industries or companies, but overall the Australian economy probably didn't mind too much, at least in the sense they're talking about.

 

[Scorpid]

I disagree with this. While yes pirates aren't paying for goods does mean that some companies aren't getting the profits they desire it doesn't equal 'Pirates are stealing copywritten material and then squirling away their savings under a mattress'. Pirates that don't pay for something go out with the money they didn't spend and pay for something else. So tax wise it means nothing. If we eliminate pirates today I'd be shocked if we saw governments pulling in more money from taxing the music industry then saaay the resturants. If their work is getting stolen the people it's hurting are the companies and the fans of the products that company puts out, and of course any pirates that are fans.

Also people stop saying that he was implying murder was preferable to copy write theft. That's obviously not what he was talking about. He's talking about damages in terms of cost (and he's actually wrong for the above stated reason)

 

[Baldr]

I disagree with this. While yes pirates aren't paying for goods does mean that some companies aren't getting the profits they desire it doesn't equal 'Pirates are stealing copywritten material and then squirling away their savings under a mattress'. Pirates that don't pay for something go out with the money they didn't spend and pay for something else. So tax wise it means nothing. If we eliminate pirates today I'd be shocked if we saw governments pulling in more money from taxing the music industry then saaay the resturants. If their work is getting stolen the only people it's hurting are the companies and the fans of the products that company puts out.

Still enjoying a copy without paying the creators is still douchebaggery.
Not all media companies are billion/million dollar companies that make a lot of cash.(Including the Escapist)

 

[Scorpid]

I disagree with this. While yes pirates aren't paying for goods does mean that some companies aren't getting the profits they desire it doesn't equal 'Pirates are stealing copywritten material and then squirling away their savings under a mattress'. Pirates that don't pay for something go out with the money they didn't spend and pay for something else. So tax wise it means nothing. If we eliminate pirates today I'd be shocked if we saw governments pulling in more money from taxing the music industry then saaay the resturants. If their work is getting stolen the only people it's hurting are the companies and the fans of the products that company puts out.

Still enjoying a copy without paying the creators is still douchebaggery.
Not all media companies are billion/million dollar companies that make a lot of cash.(Including the Escapist)

Oh I completely agree. That's why I had to edit my statement. Pirates hurt fans of the work of the company and the company itself but not the entire global economy.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I would suggest that nothing that has ever been created by any of Murdoch's companies has ever been downloaded for any reason other to see just how poor quality, hateful, or ridiculous it is. He's just mad that people are getting to mock him for free.

Also, this is a comment by the same corporation that created Fox News and the Sun newspaper, why is anyone taking it seriously, as tho there's any shred of fact involved somewhere?

This isn't a pro piracy statement, btw, just a very anti Murdoch one.

 

[Nurb]

These entertainment industry guys are idiots. Do not pay any attention

They use hyperbole and throw out numbers of losses they cannot prove and will always complain of a problem as excuses to explain bad sales, screw artists out of most of what they deserve and monopolize the industries they are a part of.

Even before internet piracy they where bitching about the VCR and trying to get it banned. There is always some scapegoat, internet piracy is just the latest one

"The VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston Strangler is to the woman alone."
Jack Valenti, MPAA

Though this generation they somewhat succeeded in spirit because there are no readily available or inexpensive DVD/Blu-Ray recorders that you can hook up to your TV and simply hit a button to record.

 

[matrix3509]

Well I was reading the article right up until I saw the name Rupert Murdoch, then I loled, and didn't bother with the rest.

 

[RoyalWelsh]

Those blasted pirates, destroying the world one illegal download at a time.

Also, it was not the UK riots, it only happened in England, kthnxbi.

 

[Baldry]

This fucking ignorant dick. I'm not usually offended by the stupidity of people or even made angry by this sort of stuff but this guy has pushed my buttons. (Maybe it's patriotism though I don't really care for England...)
How can you even begin to think pirating a song is the same as people dying, what sort of brain dead moron says that without being troll.

 

[Sanshou]

Well actually some of the UK riots was children stealing candy. But aside that point, how is internet piracy worse than people being injured or killed, and peoples property being burnt of destroyed?

Your move Australian man.

 

[Togusa09]

I found it interesting that he mentioned broken windows, cause the whole piracy cost argument sounds a lot like the broken window theory. He's claiming that it cost the economy $1.37 billion last year. So he believes that when people pirate they take an equivalent amount in cash, and stick it under their mattress? I think it's rather more likely they still spend it, probably on other media, or electronics to watch their pirated media. He's just annoyed they weren't spending it in a way that he could claim a nice bonus from.

Kleptomaniacs also have an impulsive need to steal, so chances are if someone has a impulsive need to download things en masse, they're probably not watching them, just satisfying the need. However, people do also buy things due to impulsive need, so their probably just annoyed people are satisfying their cravings for free.