Not so long ago I discussed the strange US laws with regards to linking to pirated videos . Although a grey area, the law lies in favor of content owners stating that simply linking to pirated content is in itself offence. I don’t agree with this law, but some people do. One of these people is Mike (I have know idea who the hell he is), who left a comment on my post, concluded that ALL PEOPLE WHO WATCH PIRATED VIDEOS ARE LAZY.

Here is the world acording to Mike:

Your argument is wrong. Period.
Pirating is wrong. Period.
If you do not like the price of a DVD or the manner in which it is distributed, then don’t buy it. If no one buys it, the distributor will change so they can make money. It belongs to them. It does not belong to you. I’m sure you’d be pretty upset if you made something so that you could sell it and make some money to feed you and your family and along comes someone that copies it and gives it away.
Too many people want everything for nothing. Lazy people have no purpose.

I thought Mike’s rash comment deserved a public response:

Dear Mike

If you’ve looked at the statistics of how many people watch pirated video you are calling ALOT of people lazy. But I’m sure the majority of people who watch pirated video have jobs, are intelligent and work hard. I seriously doubt you can find a strong correlation between laziness and people who watch pirated videos over legitimate copies.

Taking a quote from you "If you do not like the price of a DVD or the manner in which it is distributed, then don’t buy it. If no one buys it, the distributor will change so they can make money."

You’ve blown your own argument there. People don’t like the price or distribution of media (not just DVDs). Hence they do not buy it; they get a pirated copy, or just don’t watch it at all. That’s why illegal video downloads are 5 times more common than legal video downloads.

Lots of people don’t buy DVDs or other media. I know many people won’t buy a lot of DVDs because they can’t afford to pay $20 for 2 hours of entertainment.  Yes they may buy a few occasionally but would be buying them every week if it was cheaper.

When the content owners see millions of people watching pirated videos for free they realize something is not right. This is especially true when they realize that more people watch a pirated copy than they actually lose in DVD sales. In other words 1 million people may watch a pirated copy, but DVD sales may drop by only 100,000.

Piracy draws light on the staggering amount of people that want to view the content, but:

• are not prepared to pay the high prices for it
• are not prepared to buy it because of the restrictive DRM or
• would prefer to buy it on a more accessible medium that is otherwise not readily available (e.g. internet downloads).

This is not a question of people wanting everything for nothing. It is a question of people wanting fair pricing and fair access to media.

Every time someone watches a pirated video it is a protest against overpricing and restrictive DRM

I strongly believe in a world where we share knowledge, ideas and stories. The current video distribution hinders that process through overpricing and restrictive DRM.

I don’t agree with piracy, but I don’t agree with overpricing and restrictive DRM either. I want content creators to get paid for what they create and I also want them to have the ability to reach as many people as possible.

In reality piracy is the strongest weapon against overpricing and restrictive DRM. It’s the only way content owners will realize they are going about distribution in the wrong way and need to seriously re-think their business models.

The boom in piracy driven by internet video is what will make the industry change. Every time someone watches a pirated video it is a protest against overpricing and restrictive DRM

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