Probably more like 5% and to call pirating marketing is such a stupid cop out for a reason of why you're stealing something... just call it what it is. Demos are made for a reason.

Seriously I bet it's like 1% or less.

illu

Canada2531 Posts

January 18 2010 14:51 GMT

#22

On January 18 2010 17:32 Saturnize wrote:

Show nested quote +

I'm willing to bet >20% of people actually do this, but i may be wrong.

I am willing to bet >5% of people actually do this, and I am never wrong.

Zoler

Sweden6339 Posts

January 18 2010 15:18 GMT

#23

On January 18 2010 23:51 illu wrote:

Show nested quote +

I am willing to bet >5% of people actually do this, and I am never wrong.

beat you to it

SuperJongMan

Jamaica11586 Posts

January 18 2010 15:24 GMT

#24

I've pirated some music I've actually later bought, or even better, it prompted me to go to a live show.

Movies... ok maybe I have never done shit for a pirated movie... but I pirate and don't watch a lot of them anyways. And I still go to theatres but cmon, how can you watch Death Race if it wasn't pirated?

Games.. -_-;; sorry I still haven't found a better game than BW and I might pirate and try a bit but I dun think I'm much of a gamer... just star mania. I mean, nowadays for 20bucks you keep out two games for a month with infinite renewal from blockbuster even so.. -_-;;

Outside of music, no one cept myself has gained from my piracy.

And Software piracy...lol! Who buys the software after getting a free cracked copy? Software piracy I do feel guilty for.. but I've even donated before so yeah! I try to balance.

QuanticHawk

United States32026 Posts

January 18 2010 16:14 GMT

#25

On January 18 2010 23:33 Zoler wrote:

Show nested quote +

Seriously I bet it's like 1% or less.

You're probably right.

1, 5 or 20, it's still fucking stupid to say that it's a free review of a song, game, product or whatever. Call it what it is—stealing

plated.rawr

Norway1675 Posts

January 18 2010 17:18 GMT

#26

I dunno, as long as business works from a "if it works, do it, morality be damned"-standpoint to maximize their profits, I'll pirate as much as I feel like to maximize my savings. Laws such as copyright laws are just an extention of morality anyhow, right? I'll just use their logic of what works, should be done, and it's all cool.

That being said, I use a ton of money buying games, cds and movies I actually like.

More on topic though, yea, I agree to the premise of the thread - the internet is amazing at spreading information by word-of-mouth through IM services and social netsites such as facebook, youtube and forums like this one. At least half of the music I've bought the last ten years have been from recommendations from online people, and just recently the Civ IV Succession thread on these forums have made me buy the entire CivIV collection through steam. I imagine without the internet and access to downloads and community discussions, my game and music-purchasing would have been far lower than it has been the last ten years.

Instead of looking at every pirated copy of a cd or a movie as a loss, business should look to it as advertising. Yes, they might miss a few sales in the market they normally would have by people downloading and not buying, but at the same time, they're reaching such an incredibly larger market through internet sharing and downloading. Larger market = more people = more buyers.

Of course, I guess the scary part for the big business here is the possibility for independent artists to reach the audience without the business support, not pirating in itself. With the internet and pay-to-download sites accessable and operatable for everyone, the power goes from the industry back to the artist, which will in time turn the media distribution industry obsolete if it refuses to change.

But honestly - why stick to something that we don't need anymore?

I love the internet.

ironchef

Canada1350 Posts

January 18 2010 17:18 GMT

#27

i agree, in the sense that i feel its largely untapped method of marketing a product.

Especially things like youtube. Sometimes i see obscure small companies take down interview/promos for their events/show b/c it's copy right, while the extra exposure probably would have helped them more.

That said, theres still the issue of losing revenue to piracy(and morals blah blah). Not trying to justify piracy or say 'it has benefits therefore its OK!", but its definitely something to consider deeper than INTERNET=FREE=BAD, and maybe in the direction of how to balance revenue lost vs.exposure gained.

ghrur

United States3785 Posts

January 18 2010 18:48 GMT

#28

On January 19 2010 01:14 Hawk wrote:

Show nested quote +

You're probably right.

1, 5 or 20, it's still fucking stupid to say that it's a free review of a song, game, product or whatever. Call it what it is—stealing

Hmm, ending a market which has failed due to the rise of new technology or continue pouring in money to the middle man to promote economic inefficiency...
Idk, I'd rather take the former. Want a model that works? Concerts, exclude-able and rivalry there, and where artists make most of their money.

QuanticHawk

United States32026 Posts

January 18 2010 19:04 GMT

#29

On January 19 2010 03:48 ghrur wrote:

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New legal techonolgy exists... itunes and other similar things. It's stealing. I don't see what's so hard to grasp

Boblion

France8043 Posts

January 18 2010 19:18 GMT

#30

To be fair i would never buy an album without listening to it before. So the only solution is either stream or pirate DL.

artofmagic

United States1951 Posts

January 18 2010 19:52 GMT

#31

yep illegal downloading or distribution is definitely one form of unintentional yet effective marketing and can also bring some degree of benefit to the owner.

korean, japanese entertainment are uneasy to obtain oversea (especially at time of their (un)official release) without pirating and illegal distribution. Of course you can always subscribe to those special international tv channel(but who does that). If it weren't for video site and mp3 sharing, kpop wouldnt be big oversea; WonderGirls, BoA, or Rain won't even think about expanding to America.
The illegal distribution gives their product huge exposures.

Of course, there are definitely some money lost from this distribution and I'm not siding that illegal downloads are 100% alright. But I'm siding that illegal distribution aren't 100% wrong. Lost from illegal distribution will mostly from people who are willing to pay for the goods if the illegal distribution doesn't exist. Now.. that could be a lot of sales lost. But there definitely exposure guarantee. The exposure can lead to new pirates and eventually new sales.

But the sales' lost can be much greater than the potential new sales. The new pirate can always be a pirate. Old buyers might stay as pirate forever. Well that's too bad.. pirating are unstoppable at this era. argh!

Suing a few illegal distributor doesn't bring much. Companies should look beyond that and attempt to sell good/service that can't be as enjoyable as pirating it. Concerts, physical goods, 3d movies, ad-supported video online are some area to capitalize the "free" marketing they got and negate their lost or even bring higher profit.

Some examples are:
- Progamer shirts
- Avatar IMAX
- Concert goods (tshirt, poster, etc)
- Hulu (ads)