Should pirates be reported

[és:]

I prefer (speakers on)

I knew what was coming

Almost as cool as 'talk like a Pirate' day. Arg.

 

[trule]

Honestly though, someone selling bootleg movies or games deserves to be penalized for it, and they are all of the time. I do feel strongly enough about it that if I knew who the guy was and if this is a big business for him I would report him. Pirating is NOT a victimless crime.

I feel very strongly about copyright laws as I have many friends who are musicians and make their living selling music. My sister's ex-husband, who is a guitarist, found out a website was selling pirated copies of his CDs for years and he couldn't do anything to stop them even though he tried. It hurts when someone else is getting paid for your product and you don't get a royalty on it. So, unless you've actually been affected or known someone affected by such things I guess you wouldn't understand. It is actually our responsibility to report wrong doings when we see them.

Sorry but you have it wrong. Royalties are inflated to cover the losses related to piracy SO it is the consumer who pays the cost and not the performer.

In Europe there is a tax on blank CD's to compensate the entertainment industry for piracy related losses and so again it is the consumer who pays the cost not the artists.

So far record companies have struggled to cope with the digital revolution. Their greatest success has been to get Governments to collect revenue on their behalf - something I personally find disgusting.


So, sure, tell on the person selling 100's of CD's out the back of his car, but telling on someone buying a 5 dollar pirated CD is just going to divert the resources of society to a somewhat trivial transgression.

 

[charlituna]

Not necessarily true. If someone is willing to pay money for pirated software, they have a much higher chance of having been willing to pay for the real thing.

no, they have a much greater chance of buying it for cheaper because they can and they are cheap. Because 99% of the time pirated software is THE REAL THING. it's not locked down in any way. It's a full version with a serial number for the world to use just like they paid the full cost.

so as my grandfather would say 'why would anyone buy the cow when you already got the milk for free'

 

[charlituna]

In Europe there is a tax on blank CD's to compensate the entertainment industry for piracy related losses and so again it is the consumer who pays the cost not the artists.

and if pirates were shut down, you wouldn't have to pay that tax.

So, sure, tell on the person selling 100's of CD's out the back of his car, but telling on someone buying a 5 dollar pirated CD is just going to divert the resources of society to a somewhat trivial transgression.

or better yet, if you know that someone is buying those 5 dollar pirated CDs have you ever thought to tell them the whole story. to tell them about revenue lost by the artist, about how (at least in the US) low legit sales can hurt an artist by causing low confidence by the label so there's no next album etc. how pirates have caused the government to raise the taxes on black CD/DVD sales to everyone.

probably not. but if you did, maybe some of those folks that wanted to save a couple of bucks would stop and the demand would dry up and the pirates would stop.

I had a friend that was downloading movies left and right and I found out and had a little talk with him about it. Because I am in these industries and I know that he's taking money from the artists, directly or indirectly. He had no idea. the whole thing started because he was griping about why the writers and actors in hollywood were going on strike. when illegal downloads happened into the convo I caught him in a guilty face mode. He tried to argue with me that he doesn't make that much money to buy them for real AND they take up too much space in his tiny apartment.

I pointed out three things to him
1. he's got a Borders books 4 blocks away and their members program is free and sends coupons all the time. plus as you spend money they give you these goofy points for credit in the store

2. another 3 blocks away from that is a gas station that will pay him for his rabid bottle and can recycling and he can use that money as his 'movie fund'

3. netflix. for about $15 a month he can rent dvds, watch them and send them back with little effort. and the way he watches movies it comes put to like $1 a movie, sometimes less. plus he's not piling up clutter on things he bought but didn't really like after all.

I made a deal with him to try that stuff for 6 months and it wasn't a better solution (or at least as good) as downloading off torrents and usenet (where the quality is flexible and folks like to password etc) I would leave him alone with his morals. Guess what. He is the one that told me about hulu, the new imdb downloads etc. He is the one that discovered the various new iTunes sales, not me. He actually cut his cable back because he says he doesn't need a lot of it anymore. He can stream the shows with only like 4-5 ads online. And as the networks and studios come onboard with the new channels for viewing, he's actually helping shows stay alive.

 

[Lava Lamp Freak]

Sorry but you have it wrong. Royalties are inflated to cover the losses related to piracy SO it is the consumer who pays the cost and not the performer.

In Europe there is a tax on blank CD's to compensate the entertainment industry for piracy related losses and so again it is the consumer who pays the cost not the artists.

So far record companies have struggled to cope with the digital revolution. Their greatest success has been to get Governments to collect revenue on their behalf - something I personally find disgusting.

I wasn't aware of that. While it may be that way in Europe I'm not aware of anything like that happening in the USA. I do say that is all the more reason to help stop piracy.

So, sure, tell on the person selling 100's of CD's out the back of his car, but telling on someone buying a 5 dollar pirated CD is just going to divert the resources of society to a somewhat trivial transgression.

I'm not sure where this is even coming from. I never stated anywhere I was considering reporting anyone for purchasing a pirated DVD. I was considering reporting the guy who produced and sold it because it appeared that he was doing it as a business out of the back of his car. However I haven't even thought about it any more and never learned anything else about the guy. I don't even know his name. He is a friend of one of my sister's friends and she doesn't even know him. She didn't even buy it. Her friend bought it and let her borrow it because my dad had been wanting to see the movie. She gave it back to him afterwards. So case is closed on that.