Piracy is who's fault now?

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By Duke of URL , at 02/20/2010 11:56 AM to Stuff & Things

Reputation Level: 181 - Post Count: 56

Location: North NJ

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So the entertainment industry has been up in arms about piracy for about the last decade or so. True, it's been a problem for much longer, but not as pervasive of one, now that music can be downloaded with the click of a button. The music industry fought tooth and nail to convict anyone and everyone they could, frequently criminalizing dead grandparents, single mothers, and many others very publicly. The end result showed their valid cause in a terrible light, and they have yet to stop. The biggest site for valid downloads, iTunes, has removed the restrictions that made their $1 downloads unpalatable to begin with, and I've found myself buying more and more from them as a result... Progress is good!

The problem is still very well alive in the film industry though. A recent pass of the same service, iTunes, shows that they charge a full $19.99 for a movie download. That's right, a full Andrew Jackson for a random collection of bits. To make the problem worse, you can buy the physical copy for the same price (sometimes less!), which will even get you a higher-quality copy, more features, and most importantly, something to hold onto.

It's true they sell them at $5 for a 48 hour "rental" (the only difference is the file is invalidated after 2 days). I would (on my lazier days) pay $5 to get a soft-copy of a movie... but not if it's going to go bad! I just don't see how they can rate the cost of a movie that disappears from existence if the hard drive on your computer flinches as the same as a physical, tangible copy.

People have two options available to them... pay for it, or get it free. People want to do the right thing, morally. Greed of the entertainment industry is the only ones keeping them from doing so.

Tags: greed, piracy, downloads

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