Piracy..

So with new light shed on internet piracy with the leaked work print of Wolverine a month before theatrical release.. the pot gets boiling once again.. this being one of the biggest leaks in years... how do you feel about Piracy? Is it really a bad thing? share your thoughts.... or for that matter.. upload them and distribute your thoughts illegally


Personally i don't see anything wrong with it..

1) sales continue to increase for movies/box office... Dark Night was the highest pirated film last year.. box office sales tilted near $1bn.. DVD sales were also through the roof... the movie industry is projecting $10bn in sales in 2009...

2) iTunes rakes in billions each year.. that's just records and songs downloaded.. that's not counting how many cd's are being bought in the stores also..

3) Spore.. an EA Games release was the most pirated game of 2008 with an estimated 1.7mil illegal downloads.. with cruel DRM restrictions it made pirates feed off this insane idea that you would only be able to install the game.. i think it was 3 times.. then the game would not install anymore.. EA though claims that this piracy did not effect the sales of the game.. claiming over 1mil copies sold

4) if piracy is such an issue and these record companies are whining about sales loss.. then why are websites like Last.FM ok? people aren't paying for the music still.. they are streaming full length songs with no fees...

 

also.. no i have not downloaded the Work Print.. i don't want to watch a movie where the sound/music cuts in and out.. and there are still green screens and unfinished CGI.. noticeable wires attached to the actors.. etc.. i can wait for a screener to be leaked

 

I personally don't see anything wrong with piracy, because even if I download something, if I really like the artist or whatever, I'll go buy some of their shit as well.

Corporations do make enough money as it is.
Also, hear about a band, and I download an album of theirs, I might go see them live, or to buy some of their other albums. On the other hand, I would almost never buy an album if I've never heard any of the band's music. Piracy is like a way for corporations to advertise, they just don't realize it yet.

 

I watched House of 1000 Corpses bootlegged when it first came out

 

See, the way I go with downloading music I don't see as bad, I do still buy music at stores, it's just I can't afford all the music I want to buy, I listen to too much, plus I'm reluctant to spend money on a band I really know nothing much about and the internet and free downloading has helped me find a lot of bands that I now love and have purchased their music.

On the flip side though most people I know don't buy any music at all anymore iTunes as a whole is really being propped up by people who don't listen to that much music and don't do computers much so have no problem for paying for a song they want, and older people.

 

yea.. i totally fall into that category.. unless its something local and unattainable by means of piracy

 

I don't think piracy is bad at all. Like you said, Dark Knight was the highest pirated film, but still raked in a shit load of money. I think that people (like I used to be) are still a bit unaware of pirating and stuff like that. I don't know too many people that download movies off of the internet and bootleg them. I think people would rather go see it in the theaters.. that's just my opinion, though.

 

haha.. Halloween came out like a week before theatrical release.. then i went and saw it in the theatre.. both versions were different.. and i still ended up goin to see it like 3 times at the theatre

 

exactly.. some people i run into totally don't understand piracy.. i'll be talking to a co-worker about a movie and they'll be like "thats not even in theatres yet" and i'll be like "oh.. i had no idea.. i just downloaded it"

but the theaters are still going to thrive on the fact that people need to be social from time to time and they are gonna go see movies with their friends.. if anything companies like iTunes are going to put record stores out of business before pirates will because its much easier to pay for a song and download it than it is to go search your local shop for the CD you are looking for.. same goes for NetFlix and copycat companies... i'm waiting for the day theatical releases are streamed.. though we may not see that until the industry gives up on trying to fight piracy

 

lol, i know.. people will ask how i watched a movie that never even came out yet and i say well i downloaded it and watched it on the computer, and they don't even know how to do it, let alone that you could even do it.

and obviously theaters will still make their bank, because people like going to the movies with friends, and it's always been a staple of entertainment for us.

 

eh its no big deal. most people who pirate, will always do so, there will always be a way around shit. the best bet would be to either not obviously appeal to the pirates, or just ignore and be happy that sales are still extremely big.

whether a dude buys his dvd's from a chinese duder with a gymbag, or dl's it from a seed, it doesnt make a difference.

Sony psp's success is mostly due to the ability to pirate the shit out of movies and games with it.

piracy ftw. i love it.
you know how a library represents knowledge being available to everyone, well imo, this is the same thing. data. whether you buy it in something you can touch and feel or just 'steal' a buch of used guigahurtz.

meh

 

The one reason I don't like piracy even though I do it to a pretty high level with music is that the small local stores are really feeling the pressure. Exile on Main st in Branford and Cutlers in New Haven are great privately owned stores that sell awesome stuff(vinyl along with local CDs, posters, t-shirts and stuff and have awesome sized used sections and are just great stores and the people that run them are awesome) but they're really struggling

 

though i'm not gonna say its 100% NOT why its the reason closing... small business is just in a lot of hurt in general... economy is for shit.. plus there are a lot of other factors im sure that are more.. like i said earlier.. amazon.. itunes.. etc.. also play a HUGE factor.. all those isheep with their ipods are dedicated to buying music off of itunes.. which is really killing music store sales

 

I now talked my friend into buying House of 1000 Corpses and I own Devil's Rejects on Blu-Ray (not nearly as good as House)

 

i'm downloading a cd as we speak..so i guess thats my stance.

i also bought pf's 'animals' today at walmart so i guess i'm not a complete bastard. i already had the cd pirated but i like listening to cd's in my car too so its a good deed i guess.

 

indeed you are because you bought it from walmart

 

indeed.. because they sure aren't selling those things because of their shitty load speeds

 

a lot of the problems with piracy arise from the out of date copyright laws, along with the refusal of these companies to change/adapt to the digital era, some are picking up and moving forward with better business plans...while the RIAA is trying to stay in the past. the market is moving forward, and eventually places like the RIAA will be closed down

 

the load times go way down when you pirate the ISO onto the memory stick

 

who cares if it has any bad effects, i hope it does and people see how expensive 2 hours of footage is. but a fucking month in advance is incredible.