Quote:
Originally Posted by Harmon
It seems clear to me that people who are unwilling to pay for a book when they can get a pirate version are most likely unwilling to pay for that book when they cannot get a pirate version. It also seems to me that the key to selling books is to make it easy for the customer to buy the book, and that customers will pay extra for convenience. And finally, it seems to me that when businesses treat their customers fairly, their customers treat them back the same way.
So when I put all this together, I think that The Lost Pirate Sale is an illusion.
But that's just an opinion. All I ever see on this is opinion. Has anyone ever seen a serious study of the matter?
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Even if their is no lost sale, as the person would have never bought the book, album movie etc., it's still wrong.
They still have copyrighted material that is for sale and were able to enjoy it without paying for it. That is still wrong, should be a misdemeanor and punished with a small fine proportionate to the retail price of the item (not the absurd law suits the RIAA wins)--something like MSRP + 25%.
So I think that's a non-issues. All that matters is a potential sale is lost, and the person got a copy of the material illegally. I couldn't care less if they would have bought it if piracy wasn't an option.
But yes, things should be easy for consumers to get, not full of DRM that only hassles legitimate users, and priced fairly etc. That doesn't mean they shouldn't still go after pirates.