Netflix proved this idea incorrect. People pay for movie access they could still torrent because of the access and peace of mind.
As for the parent above, if an easy USB-USB device that was easy and existed, I'd buy it. It isn't just movies anymore, it is also about giving grandma the HD video of her granddaughter's dance recital as easy and quickly as possible.
As far as I know, Netflix didn't primarily target serial copyright infringers or the destitute. Most of the Netflix early adopters I knew were reasonably well off middle-class film aficionados, and movie piracy over the Internet was not very common in those days (as the majority of the country was still on 56-kilobaud modems and even pirating music was a time-consuming task).
As for the parent above, if an easy USB-USB device that was easy and existed, I'd buy it. It isn't just movies anymore, it is also about giving grandma the HD video of her granddaughter's dance recital as easy and quickly as possible.