> And you're misunderstanding economics too. Just because you can get it for free that does not mean there is no market for people paying for it.
He says the opposite of this. Redthrowaway on free vs. paid content:
The formatting was wrong, it was inconvenient, and the metadata
was filled with crap from the rippers that meant it would never
sort properly. So I bought an ebook from Amazon.
> If pirating music was impossible many people would return to paying for music, the only reason they don't now is because stealing it is consequence free.
What are you saying? Are you advocating for harsher consequences and more enforcement of existing law or more DRM? It's unusual to see so many luddites on HN. Personally, I'd prefer to see modernization of IP laws.
> He says the opposite of this. Redthrowaway on free vs. paid content:
That's a tired and no longer relevant point. His point is that people will pay for the convenience of acquiring media, and then presents an example of when it was convenient to him (purchasing an ebook when the pirated version was sub par quality). However, as I showed in my video example, iTunes (and many other companies) have already addressed this issue, they have solved the convenience part and people still pirate, which shows (to me at least and I would hope everyone else) the issue is NOT acquisition of content or convenience, it's saving money.
Also no I don't think people should be punished more harshly for media piracy, I don't ever want to try and comment on the proper legal approach because I don't understand enough about the law to do it properly, but my basic thoughts on media piracy have been previously outlined here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3694764
Piracy happens in most cases because it's FREE, this is the #1 reason, the fact that Spotify etc. are finding success should be the absolute proof: Spotify is free (or cheaper, if you pay for a subscription) than purchasing music, that's why people use it. Convenience is not a valid or relevant reason for (most) media piracy any more. There are some cases (such as acquiring the entire discography of an artist or group, which can't be done easily through any pre-existing product) which makes piracy more convenient, but the common use case of media acquisition (a single song or an artists latest album) is not part of the convenience.
Maybe iTunes "addressed the issue," but not in a satisfactory way. iTunes is not remotely convenient for me. I can't watch an iTunes movie on my TV without either a) Buying a useless gadget from Apple, or b) Removing the DRM. Also, things are generally available for piracy way earlier (we're talking months in some cases) than they are on iTunes. That is a huge, massive inconvenience.
As for prices, yes, iTunes is also much too expensive for many things — when I can buy a physical copy and have it shipped crosscountry to my house for a fraction of the cost of iTunes' lousy crippleware, something is wrong — but that seems beside the point. Yes, a lot of piracy happens because it's free. Most of that piracy doesn't really seem to be replacing sales and so isn't really relevant from an economic standpoint. Those people just want something for free. It seems like the point where piracy really becomes a problem is when it's the superior option even for people who could easily afford to buy your wares.
Also people like the convenience of choosing and sampling from a large catalog of songs/media while paying only for things they really like. That is why flat rate streaming services are popular. $0.99 in content industry's eyes might be very low and already accessible price. But its too high for consumer who probably listens to it once a month while sampling a lot of songs - one more reason why flat rate streaming is the way to go....
> iTunes (and many other companies) have already addressed this issue, they have solved the convenience part and people still pirate
iTunes still isn't the most convenient source for many things. My one experience with iTunes was trying to buy an album from a French musician. I spent several hours creating a fake French account with a legitimate French address and tracking down a French iTunes gift card. I had to give up, because the artist didn't take the time to manually check all 300 locales to include his album in.
You consider that 'solved'? The artist never got the money I was actively trying to give him.
You have to divorce the existence of piracy from the viability of the industry. What should matter to those running the companies in question is not how many people are getting something for nothing, but rather how much they're making off those who are paying, and how they can convince more people to pay. For some people, cost will be the overriding factor and they will always pirate, even if it's a worse experience. Others are willing to pay for an improved service. Focus on the latter, not the former. You will never squeeze money from the people who aren't willing to pay; they simply won't consume instead. Focus on making your money from those who are wiling to pay, and everyone will be better off.
> And you're misunderstanding economics too. Just because you can get it for free that does not mean there is no market for people paying for it.
He says the opposite of this. Redthrowaway on free vs. paid content:
> If pirating music was impossible many people would return to paying for music, the only reason they don't now is because stealing it is consequence free.What are you saying? Are you advocating for harsher consequences and more enforcement of existing law or more DRM? It's unusual to see so many luddites on HN. Personally, I'd prefer to see modernization of IP laws.