Originally posted by: vwtankgirl
Originally posted by: knyghtbyte
Due to a minor disability going out shopping and hanging around listening to music in the shops isnt something i can do easily, hence my d/l to see if i like the song/artist. Although thankfully a lot more artists now do websites with a song or two on a flash like setup.
If people didnt pirate so much then costs in shops/online stores would be cheaper, not necessarily by a lot, but enough that most people would be able to afford what they wanted. It due to piracy that things got so inflated, thankfully mass competition has driven things down a little. Im not a goody goody two shoes, i just dont mind rewarding the people who create something that makes me happy. I like the Steam idea of online content delivery with PC games, i think its very good, it takes the publishers out of the equation, and hopefully once the ties with them are cut then the content will become cheaper, even if only by a third it will be good
I don't have any physical limitations and I don't like to go to the mall and shop for stuff. Rude employees and even ruder customers to deal with... but I will spend my hard earned money to get the things I want.
Piracy has been around a long time, this didn't just start with the internet.. but it did get worse. Piracy or no, the prices haven't come down that much in the last 10 years on music prices. (wow, $4!)
Now I am not saying I agree with d/l stuff, but I do like to try before I buy. Everything I had ever d/l I did end up buying. I never d/l a movie... the philes were too big for dialup.
I would be glad to help this kid out by sending $5 to pay off a $4K fine, as long as he wasn't stupid enough to do it again. JMHO.
Just to make clear that in my post i did mention piracy forms other than internet d/l, and yes they have been around a long time, HENCE the fact that prices have generally been quite high, obviously CD was a higher price in its earlier days as it was a new format , new formats/products always cost more either due to initial production costs being higher before mass marketing happens to it, or simply because people are mugs and need the latest gear straight away. But if tape-tape or CD-tape or CD-CD copying hadnt been around then prices would have been slightly lower, production costs are neglible now on the level these things are made, its mainly the shops that increase the prices so drastically, but if more people bought from the shops, the shops would have to be more competitively priced against other shops to retain customers. Example in England being that altho the cost of a CD is reasonably high (£13), they are almost always doing a 3for2 deal or 2 for £20 offer. Oh, and given the general rate of inflation in UK, the fact that CD's have barely increased in price isnt bad, can of coke 10 years ago cost around 30p, now around 50p, CD's havnt increased anywhere near that much.
I dont agree with d/l something and keeping that you have no intention of buying in regards to music, but i do personally think being able to d/l music is a good way to spread the choice available from other countries or lesser known artists who are very good but limited by their style of music, providing that if you like it you buy it after or delete if from your drive. For me the d/l songs really are just tempory, i have a high quality hifi and no way can i enjoy listening to the music properly from MP3/WMA type files, hell, with DVD-A/SACD discs becoming more and more present even CD is beginning to sound a little, hmm, restrained...lol. (of course vinyl is another matter entirely....love the stuff)
I dont agree with d/l (as in pirate, not pay per download) Movies though, its very rare for a typical large budget Hollywood film not to be released in just about every country that supports techonology to VHS level. So there is no reason to d/l them, there are plenty of sources to get information on the films content and quality from TV clips to magazine reviews and internet trailers so you can decide if you want the film or not.
I agree in some ways with the rude employees thing, however quite often they are rude to customer because customers often treat them like sh*t first. If you approach with a smile to their counter more often than not they will respond in a more positive tone. I have worked in a few industries that concern dealing with people/customers and a smile (genuine, not massive toothy Miss World style) goes a long way.
As for sending money to help someone out, if they were a family member i would probably be willing to, but someone i dont know, who WILLINGLY broke the law KNOWING it carries a penalty if they get caught, does get caught then that is their own fault, sounds harsh, but by doing an illegal act they are already making my life more expensive so why should i feel i want to spend even more money concerning their actions??? Sorry, but the guy has to bite the bullet, if i commited a crime then i'd expect to be punished and accept the consequences. For instance, the train line i go to work on is poorly maintained mainly in regards to staff being in the ticket office, so often people just go to the platform and ride without paying, then they get caught sometimes on the train by a ticket inspector, after paying for the ticket (overland train) or paying the fine (underground tube train) they then moan about it to their friends. They expect it to be a free service? why should it be free?? a company is there to make money, if it was still a government run institution then thats different. So someone who expects to be able to d/l movies free when the companies that make them invest millions in the process and expect to get it back is dumb enough to leave it in their shared folder as well so plenty of other people can d/l it deserve what they get, like i say, its unfortunate for the person, but as the saying goes, you commit the crime, you do the time.