DHS/ICE seizes domain names of torrent sites

[Nikolai]

I'm tired of the posts rationalizing theft and blaming the producers of wealth for the flexible ethics of middle class consumers.

Since you posted this after me, I guess you refer to my post. Read it again, or learn to read. I get tired of people not paying attention in this topic.

[Guynemer]

There are no good alternatives to pirating. You can't beat free.

[Nikolai]

There are no good alternatives to pirating. You can't beat free.

Reality proves otherwise. See Spotify. It has to a large degree mined the ground under pirating where it is provided.

[KrazyHorse]

There are no good alternatives to pirating. You can't beat free.

Sure you can. I've bought dozens of books for my Kindle instead of pirating them. That has nothing to do with fear of prosecution or morality. It has to do with the customer experience (ease of purchase, service, etc)

[Riesstiu IV]

There are no good alternatives to pirating. You can't beat free.

That's not necessarily true for books. I value having a physical copy that I can add to my library. If I pirate a novel, all I get is a pdf file that I wouldn't enjoy reading. I recognize that it wouldn't be the case for everyone.

[Guynemer]

This is what I'm saying--it doesn't matter that her stuff is available on Kindle. People still download it for free, illegally.

[KrazyHorse]

This is what I'm saying--it doesn't matter that her stuff is available on Kindle. People still download it for free, illegally.

And what makes you think that every one of those represents a lost sale?

[Guynemer]

Every one? Maybe not. But many, or most? Absolutely.

[OzzyKP]

HC & Guy, what limits should there be on copyright, if any? Should the estates of the Brothers Grimm sue the pants off Disney for Cinderella, Rapunzel, etc? Should every American get sued for singing Happy Birthday?

Copyright used to be more reasonable, 14 years initially, but now it is more like 100 years. Patents expire in more reasonable time, why don't copyrights?

Copyrights also favor big corporations. The copyright term is longer for corporations than for individuals.

[KrazyHorse]

Every one? Maybe not. But many, or most? Absolutely.

What nonsense. In one post you're claiming that people are incredibly price-sensitive ("you can't beat free") and in the next, you claim that they are completely price-insensitive (quantity demanded is insensitive to price).

In reality, you'd be lucky to convert 10% of the illegal downloads to sales. Look at what happens to news sites when they erect paywalls; their traffic drops by a factor of 10 or a hundred

[Guynemer]

I don't know, Ozzy. Like I said, I'm not an economist.

But it pisses me off royal to watch my wife work her ass off writing novels that are then pirated on Day ****ing One.

[Nikolai]

Life is cruel. But if the books are provided at a good price for digital enjoyment, the loss will be minimalized. Myself, I don't like to read books on a screen. I need some paper in my hands.

Seriously though, I agree pirating is not the way it should be. But it is not up to the consumers alone to decide how this develops. If the providers give a superior offer, piracy will be marginalized. It has already begun to happen to music.

[Tupac Shakur]

Do they really offer special massages for $20 in the Village? I thought you had to go out to Flushing for that kind of deal.

[Wiglaf]

Nobody panic, let's all keep it together here, Krazyhorse is trying to use his economics on us. We knew the day would come but we need to stick to what we know. First of all the simple economics are this: The RIAA spends about $30 million per year on anti-piracy lawsuits. Therefore music piracy does $30 million in damages to the RIAA per year. That is basically nothing because a single Kanye West album, which is like a cultural nuclear weapon that does nothing but set black culture back 40 years, just made $10 million in its first week.

Now would that Kanye album have been produced had there been no piracy? That is the question, Krazyhorse must answer. This is a syllogism I think.

[flash9286]

Copyrights also favor big corporations. The copyright term is longer for corporations than for individuals.

Not necessarily, individuals get life plus 70 years. Works made for hire get shorter of 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation. So it depends on how old the author was when he created his work and how old he was when he died.