More Thoughts on Piracy

Firstly, I don't think most people want to steal anything. So MG Siegler makes the argument that people are backed into a corner with little recourse but to pirate.

I’m going to be pirating season 2 of “Game of Thrones.”

I’m going to be forced to scour the shady underbelly of the Web to find the show. The upside (from what I hear) is that I’ll likely be able to get it before it even airs. And it will probably be in better quality than any legal download and/or broadcast. And it will be delivered to me fast. And, of course, it will be free.

Again, I’d gladly pay for it. But I have no way to do so, outside of forking over an obscene amount of money on a monthly basis to a cable company, and/or waiting a year. I’m just not willing to do that. My hand is being forced.

No, it's not. You can wait. It isn't that HBO isn't making this available, it's that they aren't making it available for a long time. Having said that, I understand completely. I live in Canada so I can't watch anything online, Netflix sucks out loud, and we have to pay a premium for American content. For example, you paid $38.99 in HD? I've gotta pay $43.99.

Even though our dollar is worth (ever so slightly) more than the US Dollar for over a year now:

In response to this tech writer Dan Moren jumped on Twitter with this:

Shit: Since I either have to pay $27 to buy this hardcover or wait 3 weeks to get it from the library, I have *no choice* but to steal it.

Which lead to this:

@dmoren - $27 for the exact book you want is far different from $25/episode.

Which lead to this:

@ConradMacIntyre I'm not sure what your argument is here. That it's okay to not pay for things because they're expensive?

Then this:

@dmoren - When they're unreasonably expensive? You and I might decide to just wait, but I suspect most people would steal.

This:

@ConradMacIntyre But who decides what is "unreasonably" expensive? Plenty of people still pay for that content at current prices.

And finally, this:

@dmoren - It's about being right vs being pragmatic.

The Oatmeal chirped in on this very topic a little while back:

To which Andy Ihnatko said:

The single least-attractive attribute of many of the people who download content illegally is their smug sense of entitlement.

…

The world does not OWE you Season 1 of “Game Of Thrones” in the form you want it at the moment you want it at the price you want to pay for it. If it’s not available under 100% your terms, you have the free-and-clear option of not having it.

Marco Arment's article (which I referenced in my tweet above, and it totally worth a read) on the topic concludes with the same references to the Oatmeal and Andy Ihnatko and these paragraphs.

Andy’s right. But it’s not going to solve the problem.

Relying solely on yelling about what’s right isn’t a pragmatic approach for the media industry to take. And it’s not working. It’s unrealistic and naïve to expect everyone to do the “right” thing when the alternative is so much easier, faster, cheaper, and better for so many of them.

The pragmatic approach is to address the demand.

Exactly. And I'll go on the record right now. I have pirated all 6 seasons of The Wonder Years. There is literally *no* way to purchase this content. The same is true of many classic shows like Perfect Strangers, Night Court, and, until recently, The Fugitive. Would I like to buy The Wonder Years? Of course I would… but I have no such option.