Quote:
Originally Posted by mr ploppy
What is interesting is why they would buy content that they could get for free. It's a shame there hasn't been any research on that part of it because I do believe it is something we could all learn from. Would they continue to buy if piracy was wiped out? Obviously they won't be able to if they get kicked off the internet, but say people were just fined instead. Would the fine money come out of their entertainment budget and lead them to download more instead of buying?
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for myself, i like having things. books looks nice on my shelf and are more precious to me than code sitting on a gizmo. if i really enjoyed something i pirated i go the extra mile and by a hardcopy of it (if available). so in a way i kind of do penance for my piracy by giving the author more money. its the book and (hopefully) ultimately giving it a place on my shelf thats important to me. the piracy is simply the means i use to decide if i'd like to add it to my permanent collection. i truly don't appreciate things i get for free, if its something i liked i'm not content with having a "bootleg" copy. thats not good enough for me and i have a genuine wish to reward the author for the entertainment they provided me. i will blindly buy an entire series if i enjoyed what i saw in the first book. i just did that recently, i bought an authors 11 book bibliography after reading just one of his books in a series because i enjoyed it so much.
i'm also not a constant pirate, i don't sit and download everything i come across. i have to have an interest in it. its actually been a few weeks since i've downloaded anything.
i don't fully read everything i pirate either. if it doesn't hook me after a few chapters, the writing proves lackluster or it just seems meh after a quick scan, it gets deleted.
if piracy were unavailable i would have to be far, far more selective or buy used. i can't afford to buy $15 trades/ebooks willy nilly from authors i'm totally unfamiliar with. i used to buy movies left and right until netflix came along. that allowed me to be more selective instead of plunking down $20 for every movie i was mildly interested in. i'd sooner chop off my arm than give up books but like i said i'd have to be far more selective and frankly i'd end up buying less as a result.
when i see people actually being fined or whatever i'll step away from ebook piracy. fear of getting a legal notice in my mailbox is why i don't touch movies, cds or video games. getting slapped with a court summons or even risking a "bricked" xbox 360 isn't worth it to me. the negative FAR outweighs the positive.
sorry for the nonsensical ramble but its early/late and i haven't slept yet.