79% Of Americans Would Rather Download Movies Illegally Than Subscribe »
Posted by: Jordan 1 year, 5 months ago"US consumers are still downloading movies illegally despite the growing availability of subscription based movie download services according to a study conducted by Advanis Inc. Subscription based movie downloads have grown in prevalence with companies like Apple Inc., CinemaNow, MovieLink and most recently Wal-Mart offering movie downloads f
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hiscity1 year, 5 months ago
As for broadcast video, there's another reason.
Advertisers don't grasp that their commercials are offensive in several ways. That offense is worse than any copyright infringement. Often it is outright insulting. Such as:
- painfully LOUD audio,
- boring content,
- monotonous repetition of commercials,
- obvious scams and spam,
- insulting our intelligence.
I'm sure you can think of others. Of course they pay the price for offending us in the marketplace.
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Harbeas1 year, 5 months ago
Says a lot about our country and its views of right and wrong doesn't it?
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entermyworld591 year, 5 months ago
Its simple free will always beat paying, no matter how little one has to pay for something.
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Aidenag1 year, 5 months ago
With how insane the prices on software,games,movies and music has gotten, its no wonder people pirate. Not to mention how often games and software go "Gold" and hit retail while still being pieces of crap, not ready for use. Its crazy not to pirate things at the very least to give then a test run...
I pretty much dont buy any software or games anymore without first downloading it and seeing if its something i would use,watch or play. Personally i dont see the problem with this method. Without it, i sure wouldnt be buying $500 photo editing software thats non refundable if i decide it totally sucks within the first few days.
When i go buy a car, i get to test drive it. And expect the same with other items i cant decide if i would want any other way than by trying them out for myself.
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redLineRunner1 year, 5 months ago
It certainly does say something about our country and its views of right and wrong. Evidently, free doesnt trump paying, it trumps "right" as well.
And Im sorry, but I dont buy the "test drive" justifications. First off, if you buy from a store that has a "no refund" policy, shop somewhere else. Buy it from the internet. Second, if I want to know about a game or piece of software, I can call up a dozen reviews, try the downloadable demo, or go read any number of magazines to find out about the features and all.
Aidenag, you may "test" the software out then go buy the full version, but if that is true, you are in the minority. Most people will "test" it, then figure "why go buy it, Ive already got it."
Its a sad state of affairs really.
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Aidenag1 year, 5 months ago
show me ANY place that lets you return a game or piece of software cause it stinks, or wasnt ready for release yet... PLEASE! lol
Its the largest reason i download, I just cant shell out like $300 for a 178mb program called Dx0 without at least TRYING it before im stuck with it. And not just some half featured demo, but a full version that lets me see if its something i would use....
And yeah im in the minority, i know it. Im an "Old school" pirater. who actually supports the stuff they stole but enjoyed :) use to be pretty common practice to do it like i do back in the 90's. before the days of Napster.
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agentX1 year, 5 months ago
Ah, yeah the old days before YouTube and Bittorent. Kids these days are spoiled. I remember spending hours using Hotline and KDX (or whatever internet underground program I had running) to find and download movies. I don't have to anymore thanks to YouTube, but Viacom has no basis to complain. Half the stuff they release is crap anyway. They should be thanking people for even bothering to watch it.
I don't bootleg movies anymore, but if there is something I want a hard copy of, I buy it used off Ebay or Craigslist.
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redLineRunner1 year, 5 months ago
You are telling me that a $300 program doesnt have reviews? Doesnt have detailed features lists, performance reports, and basically all of the info you need to make a decision?
Im not familiar with Dx0, but I did a search based on your email and found several sites that offer a demo and a wealth of information about the program, including version comparrison, detailed faq's and so forth. Im also willing to bet that with another search, I could probably find a users forum somwhere on the net.
So, with that, you are telling me you cant get enough info to make a decision? Or is it just that you take the easy route?
I dont mean to pick on you, but I dont really understand your reasoning? You NEED to try out every facet, every capability of the program before you buy it? You dont trust industry reviews, user reviews, etc?
If you pay for the software, that is great. But most people can buy software using the tools available and be completely satisfied with their purchases.
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nu20071 year, 5 months ago
No, it doesn't say anything about our views about right and wrong. It does say everything about the law of economics. The same people who pirate software/music are also those who moan about the loss in 9/11. Of course there are also those who buy them with full price tag and moan about the loss in 9/11. To avoid ambiguity, the law of economics is not about morality. It is about supply/demand and money. Simply following the law of economics doesn't make you right or wrong, just make you think where money should best go to.
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nu20071 year, 5 months ago
Software can never be refunded! It is North American-wide policy, if not global policy. The only time it can be refunded is when the box is sealed and has never been opened. If it is sealed, how do you test it? Shareware is the only way to legally test the software but it is rarely fully featured. Of course the piracy issue is not really about "test driving" the software, but I must point out your wrong comment. Piracy is of course driven by greed, getting the best out of nothing. It is for sure an act of stealing. But the existance of this piracy issue is really traced back to the Law of Economics, the "Invisible Hand." Not to justify piracy, but the reason why piracy is so wide spread is because it is economically favorable. Software really should not charge that much. You can buy a laptop for $600, why you pay a software for $500?
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nu20071 year, 5 months ago
Ok so you are buying the intellectual properties (IP) created in the software. Fair enough, it certainly is valuable. But what about hardware? Is it not a product of IP? A laptop probably contains 100's, if not 1000's, of patents. The facilities to manufacture CPUs, DRAMs, hard drives, etc. involves 10's to 100's of vendors working together to build, test, and ship the final hardware to the end customers. Not to mention 10,000 - 100,000's engineers, scientists, and manufacturing workers, as well as 10-100 billion dollars worth of machinary to mass produce a laptop. Just designing the layout of a CPU is as, if not more, complicated as the software code. What about DRAMs? What about hard drives? Well, don't need to redesign every CPU, neither do every software. Both are mass produced. Well, how about raw material cost? A laptop vs. a software CD/DVD, which one do you think cost more in material? So software can never be justified for such high premium on so many levels.
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nu20071 year, 5 months ago
Finally, the "Invisible Hand." Can a laptop be easily counterfeited? Can a software be easily pirated? A 3-year old can give you a no-brainer answer. The "Invisible Hand" also works on hardware that are priced based on branding, not material cost nor craftmanship. Women's apparels are good examples. An LV purse costs you $1000-$10000, but you know the raw materials craftmanship combined never costs that much. Add to the equation is the low barrier to counterfeit the purse with the same or even better quality. Based merely on the Law of economics, why people don't buy counterfeits? Software companies had been ripping you off for years with their high price tags, just that you are not aware of it. They had been stealing your money for years, don't you know?? So who is the devil? Both the software companies and the end consumers! In fact, the root of evil is money! Well, although it sounds really cliche, but it's true and always will...
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redLineRunner1 year, 5 months ago
I love comments like this. Sorry, not to pick on you, but I believe software companies have been "ripping me off" as much as I think McDonalds has been responsible for me being fat.
No one makes you buy that copy of Grand Theft Auto or what ever game. No one makes you buy software. If software companies are ripping you off, dont buy the software.
But come on, its not really about "getting back" at software companies for high prices. Just like downloading music illegally isnt about "getting back" at evil record compainies.
Its about getting something for free. All the rest is just justification.
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nu20071 year, 5 months ago
Same logic applies to record companies! You think they are about keeping moral integrity by asking you to buy legitimate high-priced music? It is about getting money out of your pocket. If they price fairly, it's fair deal. If they appear to price fairly but in fact ripping you off out of your illiteracy on the true production cost, it is not a fair deal! Please don't argue the production cost of music is more expensive than hardware that plays it, because it is not. For the record, many people downloading pirated music are really partly about "getting back" at the evil record labels. The rest is of course greed. Did I not emphasize that upfront? About being free not to buy something you feel unfair, I've heard too much of such comments. Bull shxt! Can you afford not to use M$ Windoze at all? Many instances there is no/hard to find a substitute. People won't go extra 10 miles to get something just for morality when software maker did not begin with good moral intent!
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nu20071 year, 5 months ago
If subscription-based movie/software downloads with low price tags are long available BEFORE piracy comes to the picture, I am sure piracy issue would not be as wide spread as now. But since consumers have accepted by the concept of free pirated software, subscription-based service cannot easily recapture the critical mass anymore. Now you need laws to strictly enforce copyrights PLUS high quality subscription-based services, working as "good cop bad cop" to steer customers back to legal goods/service consumption behavior. It is not easy. It takes a lot of time, education, high self-control of morality!
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hiscity1 year, 5 months ago
The solution is coming quickly. We already see it in software applications. A real time connection to the distributor or vendor that authorizes your use of the product during that session. All that's needed is dial-out calling, such as with a land line telephone, cell phone, or net connection.
So in order to use the product legally, and be charged for it, you have to be able to connect to the source.
Windows is headed in that direction. ESRI mapping products crash if you don't have a net connection keeping them alive based on their very expensive licenses.
A vendor could provide keycodes for sell that change frequently (1/2 hour or even every minute) to decrypt their product.
I'm definitely insensitive to trying to legislate solutions that cause an increase in the police state, lawyers, and civil suits. That's an attempt to make me pay for others "not locking their doors."
So yeah -- the media producers and vendors can all get stuffed.
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Submitted By:
Jordan
Hi, I'm Jordan Running. By day I write about software for Tucows.com. By night I blog at swirlee.org (sometimes), do some programming ...
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