Comics piracy crackdown

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Thanks for setting me straight! I must have been on drugs or something.

I think it's just your sarcasm detector that needs to be recalibrated.

[Iphinome]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

I'll be charging about what it costs out here to buy a beer. So, if people read a free edition of Risen and think, "Hey, I'd buy that guy a beer if I ever ran into him," just buy a download instead!

Since your book isn't in a genre I read could I just buy you a beer if I ever bump into you?

[SpiderMatt]

The response to comic book piracy has been relatively mild. This just points that out. The website that was shut down was not a primary distributor of unauthorized comics (not nearly to the extent of file locker sites, torrents, IRC, and DC++). It was just one site that was run by a bellicose individual with an already tainted past. He was kind of asking to get to where he is now. Besides, comic companies generally don't have the resources to waste fighting other distribution sites that can actually have a legal purpose. With large organizations like the MPAA and the RIAA pouring (wasting) hundreds of thousands of dollars into fighting the same fight comic companies might be interested in, they needn't get involved at all. If any precedent a comic book company can piggyback on is set, then they get the advantages of a winning court battle without the expenses.

[SpiderMatt]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

I'll be charging about what it costs out here to buy a beer. So, if people read a free edition of Risen and think, "Hey, I'd buy that guy a beer if I ever ran into him," just buy a download instead!

Nah, that takes away some of the advantage. If I'm inclined to buy you a beer if I ever run into you, I've probably already taken into account the fact that my bumping into your is a pretty unlikely circumstance. I would also have to recognize you, which makes the situation even more unlikely. So in all likelihood, I get to save that five bucks. However, should I ever find myself in that circumstance, then presumably we'd go to a bar where we'd sit down and chat over the beer. It would be the polite thing to do, anyway (and really, why would I buy you a beer otherwise?). So then I get the added bonus of your company, which, given this scenario, would mean I'd get to talk to an author I at least like on some level.

[alexul]

I don't think the money loss caused by the copyright violation is that big as different organisations say. I believe Bill Gates said that without piracy, Windows wouldn't have been installed on so many computers. There is another point of view on the problem, and I'll give a personal example: When Naptser came, there was a rock band on MTV, but I couldn't find their album in our small town, so I started downloading it (I was on a 128kbs modem and it took 6 hours). I liked their music so much that when the album became available I bought it, and then the next two.

The point is that if someone is into something, music, movies, comics they will buy it. If not, they will go for something free, or cheaper or a substitute. So an author should think: hey, I sell 1000 books to 1000 people but I know there are 2000 people who are reading it so 1000 are stealing my stuff. But will, putting the police on them, bring me more money, will I sell 1500 books? Probably not, there will still be 1000 sells but the exposure will be minimized. Less exposure, less popularity, less potential clients. Hight quality works won't be affected by piracy or anti-piracy laws, simply because people like quality and are willing to pay for it, but for low quality or even medium, I believe less exposure would mean total annonimity and even the end.

I am not for pirated material, and making profit by selling others work should be punished. Closing a site, could be seen as a good decision at the moment, but also means that less of the producs are known by the people, so on the long run it could be not that good.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

What you do now is up to you and your personal moral sense. You know my preference, but you have the "gotcha" in your pocket if you're intent on posting Risen or somesuch. You have to decide what's more important, what's right, etc.

I'm a consumer, not a distributor. If I've got you worried about it, I actually only saw it in 2 places. One was in a huge collection of books that begin with the letter J, the other was on a download forum that you need to register with (the actual file is on Rapidshare). It took about a minute to find them on Google, so if it really bothers you, you could get both links removed from Google's search results and contact Rapidshare about it.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Now there is a new concept -- authors have bills to pay! Do they actually eat and drink like regular people? And let me propose another radical new idea. Those that download their books actually pay something to help the authors instead of just thinking of saving themselves a few bucks?

I know it sounds crazy, just a silly idea. After all, the author probably just wrote it on a wordprocessor and all he or she did was create a series of 0s and 1s. How can that be worth anything?

I bet people said the same thing when public libraries were first introduced. After alll, why would people pay for books when they could read them for free? All the writers and their pet kittens would starve, and nobody would ever bother writing books again.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by PKFFW

No, because it is far more easier to do. When something is far more easier to do, more people do it.

By your own past reasoning the fact that industry profits are up should support the fact more people are infringing. Haven't you previously stated that studies have shown that the infringers are the biggest buyers as well?
PKFFW

About 5 years ago, all the car boots /flea markets had lots of people selling unauthorised content on CDR, they all had big crowds around them as people chose what to buy from them. Now, you see maybe one or two people selling them, but there is very few people even looking at what they have to sell.

2 questions: Why aren't people buying those CDRs any more, and what are they doing with the money they used to spend on them?

Answer those questions, and it should start to make more sense.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by alexul

I am not for pirated material, and making profit by selling others work should be punished. Closing a site, could be seen as a good decision at the moment, but also means that less of the producs are known by the people, so on the long run it could be not that good.

Both good points. It is the people who sell unauthorised content that should be the targets of any action. People who buy from them are obviously prepared to pay (something) for their content, so they can be considered a lost sale.

People who download it for free, are either doing so to see if they like it, or they are people who would never pay for it (or anything else) anyway. The former might buy something else from you as a direct result of that download, the latter constitutes no loss at all so there is no point worrying about them. Even the latter might buy related merchandise, assuming any is available, so it's all win with nothing to lose.

Drive it back underground and at best you will send people back to the CDR sellers.

[PKFFW]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

2 questions: Why aren't people buying those CDRs any more,

Because it is far easier to download it from the net than buy it. That is also why many people who were never buying those CDRs are also now downloading it from the net. Because it is far easier to do so.

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

and what are they doing with the money they used to spend on them?

As you've stated previously, I'm sure many of them are spending that money on legitimate content. I'm also sure many of them are now spending that money on other things and gaining all their material for free as they would have done in the past if they could have.

However, the fact they may or may not be spending that money on legitimate content does not speak one way or the other towards whether or not more people are now acquiring copyright material illigitimately than there were in the past.

Cheers,
PKFFW

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by PKFFW

Because it is far easier to download it from the net than buy it. That is also why many people who were never buying those CDRs are also now downloading it from the net. Because it is far easier to do so.
PKFFW

There was never any way to measure how many people were buying those CDRs, whereas it is relatively easy to measure how many people are downloading them. You might think it is much more prevalent now than it was in the past, but that is only because it is more visible.

What will be interesting to see, is what happens to entertainment industry profits when downloading is forced back underground where it was before. I believe they will fall back down to the level they were at pre-download era. Mainly because of all the people who will go back to buying CDRs.

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

I'm a consumer, not a distributor. If I've got you worried about it, I actually only saw it in 2 places. One was in a huge collection of books that begin with the letter J, the other was on a download forum that you need to register with (the actual file is on Rapidshare).

It's on AH, for crying out lout. So, yes, definitely out there.

[stustaff]

Originally Posted by rogue_librarian

It's on AH, for crying out lout. So, yes, definitely out there.

AH? amazon home?

[mr ploppy]

It's on all the free PDF search sites as well, but I couldn't find any working download links.

[PKFFW]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

There was never any way to measure how many people were buying those CDRs, whereas it is relatively easy to measure how many people are downloading them. You might think it is much more prevalent now than it was in the past, but that is only because it is more visible.

I think it is more prevelant now because so many more people I have contact with state they have downloaded material even if they have never bought material on CDR from the back of a truck.

Almost everyone I know personally has downloaded a movie or album or software program at some time, from grandmothers through to pre-teens. Most of those people have never bought anything on CDR from a guy in the street.

Many random people I come in contact with through work or socially are in the same category.

Most people I have contact with through forum boards admit to downloading something at some point.

Many people under the age of 20 have grown up downloading things and never having bought CDRs.

Now, whilst all those people new to the "illigitimate content" scene have come on board because of downloading you still have all those people who were buying CDRs from the back of a truck who are now downloading instead.

So the idea that the number of people obtaining copywritten material through illigitimate means has not grown at all since the advent and subsequent growth and popularity of the internet, file-sharing etc is, in my opinion of course, simply ludicrous.

Originally Posted by mr poppy

What will be interesting to see, is what happens to entertainment industry profits when downloading is forced back underground where it was before. I believe they will fall back down to the level they were at pre-download era. Mainly because of all the people who will go back to buying CDRs.

It wont ever be forced back underground.

As new measures are taken to stop downloading, new measures to circumvent those measures will be taken. Just like when new DRM comes out it is very quickly cracked.

Cheers,
PKFFW