Let’s stay on topic. I’d like to know from you how piracy protest can force studios to change their business models? Enlighten me.
The way I see it studios will double down on their shitty business practices the more people do piracy. The exact opposite of what pirate’s protests intend to accomplish. Because the only people who are left paying are paying for the shitty business models. So shitty business practices become the most profitable way. Instead of not paying at all, a better solution would be to pay for good alternatives. Like buying merch, buying blurays, going to theatres. If everyone does that, shitty business practices will become unprofitable.
I think this is a pretty good take, in line with other forms of effective protest. I don’t actually believe that most pirates are genuine protestors, though. They are just people who don’t want to pay but feel guilty about it, so instead of just admitting that they don’t want to pay they perform some moral gymnastics to rationalise their behaviour and keep the cognitive dissonance at bay. The average pirate’s train of thought goes something like this “you didn’t give me exactly what I wanted so now I am morally entitled to everything of yours for free until I decide otherwise”.
Piracy is a form of protest and a very powerful one at that, but let’s we that argument aside for the moment.
Over the last seven years, Hollywood studios have decreased movie production. And yet their revenue and profit margins have actually increased!
They do this by underpaying writers, usurping copyrighted materials from other countries and using AI.
Let’s stay on topic. I’d like to know from you how piracy protest can force studios to change their business models? Enlighten me.
The way I see it studios will double down on their shitty business practices the more people do piracy. The exact opposite of what pirate’s protests intend to accomplish. Because the only people who are left paying are paying for the shitty business models. So shitty business practices become the most profitable way. Instead of not paying at all, a better solution would be to pay for good alternatives. Like buying merch, buying blurays, going to theatres. If everyone does that, shitty business practices will become unprofitable.
I think this is a pretty good take, in line with other forms of effective protest. I don’t actually believe that most pirates are genuine protestors, though. They are just people who don’t want to pay but feel guilty about it, so instead of just admitting that they don’t want to pay they perform some moral gymnastics to rationalise their behaviour and keep the cognitive dissonance at bay. The average pirate’s train of thought goes something like this “you didn’t give me exactly what I wanted so now I am morally entitled to everything of yours for free until I decide otherwise”.