"While we recognize that some people will steal just for the sake of it, we really believe that most prefer the legit route -- when given a choice"
Its a nice sentiment and I really wish it were true. I used to repeat this mantra all the time with regards to music. But as several experiments with the pay-what-you-want model (Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, etc) have proven, the majority of people will still steal even when given the choice to do the right thing for very little money. Reasonably priced DRM free music choices have definitely helped, but its not anywhere close to making up for the decline in physical sales.
It's sad really that people are so selfish. They'll essentially find any excuse in the world to justify what they were going to do anyway ("music sucks these days anyway", "the artists don't really make any money off of record sales", etc...). And when you give them what they claim they want they just switch to new excuses.
I guess all we can hope for is that industry people realize that they will never have the market they once had and that some legitimate money is better than nothing. But if they keep the media locked down they are well on their way to getting a whole lot of nothing.
Actually I do think music is different. Call me crazy but I think musicians should get paid to perform not to write one jingle and be set for the life. The purpose of copyright is to motivate to create, not to do the opposite.
Also, the cost of music is still pretty high. I'm not familiar with the examples you gave since I really don't listen to music -- you're officially old when you stop looking for new music to listen to.
Honestly, I do wish to pay for content legally, however the way TV works just isn't the best way anymore. With the Windows Vista CableCard business, I can't watch any premium channels without paying for a new computer. That's BS!
It's really just easier to setup a Windows Media Center PC + uTorrent and automatically download TV shows.
"But as several experiments with the pay-what-you-want model (Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, etc) have proven, the majority of people will still steal even when given the choice to do the right thing for very little money."
However, NIN and Radiohead also made a boatload of money. I submit that revenue that you ACTUALLY receive is more important than revenue that you could potentially receive but don't. For some people the reservation prices is zero and will always be zero and it's not worth spending any money pursuing it.
Also, it's hard to categorize the act as "stealing" when you were specifically allowed to have a copy zero price.
“An engineer explained to us that hundreds of ear impressions were gathered in the name of research, and while each one obviously boasted its own unique shape and size, one single characteristic remained uniform across the board: the entrance into the ear canal is not a perfect circle, it's an oval.”
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"While we recognize that some people will steal just for the sake of it, we really believe that most prefer the legit route -- when given a choice"
Its a nice sentiment and I really wish it were true. I used to repeat this mantra all the time with regards to music. But as several experiments with the pay-what-you-want model (Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, etc) have proven, the majority of people will still steal even when given the choice to do the right thing for very little money. Reasonably priced DRM free music choices have definitely helped, but its not anywhere close to making up for the decline in physical sales.
It's sad really that people are so selfish. They'll essentially find any excuse in the world to justify what they were going to do anyway ("music sucks these days anyway", "the artists don't really make any money off of record sales", etc...). And when you give them what they claim they want they just switch to new excuses.
I guess all we can hope for is that industry people realize that they will never have the market they once had and that some legitimate money is better than nothing. But if they keep the media locked down they are well on their way to getting a whole lot of nothing.
Actually I do think music is different. Call me crazy but I think musicians should get paid to perform not to write one jingle and be set for the life. The purpose of copyright is to motivate to create, not to do the opposite.
Also, the cost of music is still pretty high. I'm not familiar with the examples you gave since I really don't listen to music -- you're officially old when you stop looking for new music to listen to.
Honestly, I do wish to pay for content legally, however the way TV works just isn't the best way anymore. With the Windows Vista CableCard business, I can't watch any premium channels without paying for a new computer. That's BS!
It's really just easier to setup a Windows Media Center PC + uTorrent and automatically download TV shows.
"But as several experiments with the pay-what-you-want model (Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, etc) have proven, the majority of people will still steal even when given the choice to do the right thing for very little money."
However, NIN and Radiohead also made a boatload of money. I submit that revenue that you ACTUALLY receive is more important than revenue that you could potentially receive but don't. For some people the reservation prices is zero and will always be zero and it's not worth spending any money pursuing it.
Also, it's hard to categorize the act as "stealing" when you were specifically allowed to have a copy zero price.