Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucien21
While it is true that you can't say that number of downloads=number of lost sales I've always had a problem with this excuse.
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Take Photoshop for example. I know there are a lot of people out there who have downloaded, installed, and use Photoshop. But, these people would not be using Photoshop had they had to purchase it. So as far as profits for Adobe go, these people cost nothing to Adobe. But, the issue here is if these people did not get a free copy of Photoshop, what would they be using instead? Would they have purchased a lower cost alternative? So while Abode lost nothing, some other companies did lose something. They did not have their program stolen, but they did have their sales stolen. So while you can argue that the person would never have bought the program anyway, it means they don't need to buy one in that category of software now so someone loses the a sale.
The analogy that a free download from Baen is like a free pirated download does not wash. If I download a free eBook from Baen, I'm doing so via a legal method. I think know if I want one of Baen's offerings that is not free, I have to pay for it. But, if I was to get a book on the darknet for free and read it and decided I wanted more from the same author, That person might very well go back to the darknet to have another look.