The Solution to Movie Piracy
Hey Hollywood, I have a secret to share with you. I think you’ll really like it. It’s how you can put a dent in piracy, in one easy step!
See, here’s the thing. Most people pirate movies because they can get around the bullshit, like this, or this. See, people want your media, and most are willing to pay you for it. But when you make consuming your content such a pain in the ass that it’s easier for a potential customer to just log on to The Pirate Bay and steal your movie, you’re just shooting yourself in the foot.
This is something the music industry understands (thanks to some prodding from Apple), and is why we have such wonderful services like iTunes and AmazonMP3. There is nothing like that for movies right now. Yes, both iTunes and Amazon have movie download services, but the selection sucks, and it’s ridden with DRM.
Fighting piracy by pushing our government to pass rights-infringing censorship policies is not the best way to get people to like you. Sure it might curb piracy, but all those people will probably be so enraged with your stupidity, that they won’t give you a penny, ever. So…not really a win, is it?
For an industry that’s hellbent on destroying evil pirates, you’re completely overlooking the easiest solution to all your problems: make accessing your content easier! Drop DRM, don’t force people to wait 2 months just to rent your movies, drop all that limited availability bullshit, and embrace digital distribution and streaming by putting all your movies up for digital download.
I know, it’s a big scary world out there, but it will all be fine. Giving your customers what they want isn’t going to bring about the end of civilization. Everything will be perfectly fine. Your customers will get what they want, and they’ll be giving you money for it. That’s how business works.
Now, I am not a pirate. I have never pirated a movie, because I don’t think it’s right to do that. That being said, if I buy a movie on BluRay or DVD, I reserve the right to do whatever I can to find ways around your DRM and rip that movie to my computer for personal use. I’ve never shared my rips, and I don’t ever plan on it.
So, get over yourselves, take a deep breath, and embrace change.
