Digital Piracy, also known as illegal downloading of copyrighted content, also known as stealing from the corporations has become widespread thanks to the ingenious invention of the Internet.
Nowadays it would be hard for anyone to say that they have never downloaded an artist’s latest single, or a Hollywood Bluckbuster from some sort of torrent or peer-to-peer sharing program. It’s free! Why wouldn’t you take advantage of an opportunity that allows you to get what you want without shelling out a dime?
Mega music and movie corporations see digital piracy as their kryptonite. It has become a looming representation of their loss of control, power, and most importantly capital. It’s a well known fact that these companies are driven by greed; CEO’s wake every morining thinking “How can I make twice as much money as yesterday?”
The general public, however, see it as sticking it to the big guys who make the big bucks off of us commoners by fooling us into believing the hype of commercial goods. The corporations should really see this as a blessing in disguise. This could be there chance to rethink their prices, if they made the cost of new release DVDs $10-$15 instead of the ridiculous $30 then maybe consumers wouldn’t pirate as much.
Most people who still enjoy the extras that come with the movies they purchase legally will continue to purchase their movies legally, but will perhaps wait till it becomes previously viewed( at their local video store) to buy it.
However, corporations only see digital piracy as an ugly weed growing in their money garden, and as the cause of the spreading infection of their cash crops , but what about the people who are getting the content illegally, is it a weed for them as well?
The consequences for those who commit the ever alluring crime of digital piracy have had lawsuits filed against them. In fact over three thousand copyright infringement lawsuits being filed by the recording industry from the time the problem surfaced to 2004.(Strangelove,The Empire of Mind) . One aspect about the lawsuits that is still a fair bit blurry is how they chose to sue these particular people. Did the industry target only those who downloaded the content or are they focusing on those who make the content available for those to download as they wish.
Regardless, of who is being charged with pirating, it’s not like the big companies don’t make money else where, with revenue being pulled in from all kinds of angles such as concerts, radio air play, merchandises sold at concerts, on line merchandise on the artists websites. The possibilities are endless! I’m sure they’ll think of something inventive that reaches into our pockets and forces us to spend our last dollar.
Surprisingly, according to Karen Croxson, an Economist at Oxford University:
Their [consumers] piracy cannot harm the seller. Quite the opposite: because, like any consumer, a pirate will talk to others about product experiences, copying which does not displace sales can actually help business. Consumer `buzz’ is hugely important for sales success, studies have shown, and piracy drives up buzz without the need for extra marketing.
Croxson also goes on to say that Those more inclined to pirate, perhaps students, probably wouldn’t have bought the product anyway, so they represent virtually free promotion and no real loss in capital. Therefore, it appears that corporations should be thanking piraters for the free marketing of their product as well as giving them a break. The commerical buzz tehir products will receive after piraters talk about it with their other swashbuckling pirate buddies will be beneficial to them in the long run.
So for now I’ll wear my badge of digital piracy with honour and say “Information is free on the web, why not music and movies. It’s the way of the future!”
