From . Sent Thu, Apr 15th 1999, 22:40
From . Sent Thu, Apr 15th 1999, 22:40
> A lot of software companies (Microsoft, Adobe, and other major victims of > piracy especially)add piracy into the cost of their products. What that means is > this: For every copy they actually sell, they predict that some X number of copies will go > unsold because that copy becomes pirated or otherwise used without proper > registration by lots of different people.I know that Adobe usually predicts > 10-12 pirate users for every copy sold- this is the way they protect > themselves. So every time you actually BUY an Adobe product (god > forbid!), you are paying ten times what the normal price would be without piracy. This may be true to a certain extent, but let's look at Adobe products as an example...most people who pirate Adobe products would have never bought them in the first place. It's a fallacy to assume that all, or even the majority of pirated copies of something would have been purchased. First of all, most of the hardcore software pirates collect hundreds of programs just to collect them, never use most of them them, and never would have bought them. Also, the vast majority of people who pirate Photoshop are non-professional users or college students who would have never purchased the product. Adobe products are by and large made for professional use. The average person has no need for a program like Photoshop. That's why it will always be aimed at the professional user. Adobe products are also very expensive....they are expensive not primarily because they are being pirated, but because they are professional products, and professional users who make thousands of dollars using Adobe products in their professional work are willing to pay $500 for a copy. If professionals were only willing to pay $200 for Photoshop that's what it would sell for, regardless of how many people pirated it. Case in point...many other software titles that are pirated just as much, or more so than Adobe products, don't cost $500. Adobe will charge as much for the product as they think the market will bear because even if they charged $50 instead of $500, the program would be pirated anyway. The type of product, along with supply and demand, has more to do with the cost of a product than piracy. I'm not saying piracy doesn't raise prices to a certain degree, but it doesn't have the "10 times" impact you say it does. I don't condone piracy btw. I think people should compensate software makers when they use their products. > Carry this over into the music industry with MP3's and what you > may very well get is a marked increase in album prices; for every song you > sell, you factor in X number of MP3/CDR pirate bastards who copy the shit for > themselves for free instead of buying it. I personally don't want to see CD prices go any > higher than they are now, and I live in the USA where they're comparatively cheap. Many people use MP3's to preview music before purchase, to listen to music they would never buy anyway, or to obtain music they are not able to buy. Just for the record, I have never downloaded an MP3 instead of buying a CD. I have downloaded MP3's to check something out to see if I like it, or to hear something I would never be able to buy (such as an out-of-print recording). Neither one of these uses reduces anyone's income..in fact it probably raises income because I am more likely to purchase something after previewing it as an MP3...if I like the music, and the music is available for purchase, I ALWAYS buy the retail CD. Don't assume everyone who uses MP3's is a pirating bastard. That's very short-sighted. Most people would rather have a CD in their hands, with lyrics, artwork etc. than an MP3...myself included. I also think that some people have turned to MP3's because of the high prices being charged for new CD's. I think that if Cd prices go up too much more, that MP3 piracy will also rise. The best way for record labels to combat MP3s is to LOWER prices, not raise prices. The lower the price of a retail CD, the more likely people will buy the CD instead of downloading an MP3. > So enjoy the free music distribution system while it lasts. What makes you think free MP3's will go away? It is going to be impossible to eliminate the distribution of free MP3s. There are simply not enough resources to stop the millions of people who trade them and distribute them.