Quote:
Originally Posted by Namekuseijin
nope, not anymore: it's a culture in itself, regardless of money. People prefer to simply find a free download than to pay 99 cents for some digital content. That's why content producers should make deals with data flow providers such as telephone companies and ISPs... if you can't control theft, just tax for road usage...
I see my coworkers renting DVDs and ripping them. What for? Do these people even enjoy watching them the first time around to warrant a second peek among their thousand of other rips? It's something like consumption greed, you just have to have it. I see it as a symptom...
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I think this depends greatly on the media. Most music can be listened to in a few minutes. Most films can be viewed in a couple of hours. This is not the case with most books. Most books are long-term investments in terms of time. The culture you're referring to is about consumption. Because books can't be consumed quickly, it doesn't hold the same value.
If the value is placed on possessing the media rather than actually consuming it, then who cares? There's definitely no monetary loss for a person who copies a digital book and doesn't read it, or a movie and doesn't watch it. In fact, in a practical accounting of that situation the copied ebook/movie/song is costing the thief more than it's costing the producer of the media in terms of storage.
As for a content tax: It gets really messy, and you inevitably end up charging people who don't use the "road" and not charging people who do. Whether it's a public tax (ugh) or something that content providers setup privately with access providers, it's trouble.