You're not the only one with a headache. Trying to work out pricing for intellectual property that's inherently a monopoly is like reading entrails. It's whatever you say it is. It's pricing based on psychology, rather than pricing based on traditional microeconomic pricing principles (like cost + x%) which are driven by competition.
If you believe any "traditional microeconomic principles" are used to set any price in 2013, you're deluded. Today, a price is what the market will bear, and nothing else.
Unfortunately, when something has legal monopoly and the monopolists are unwilling to change prices, the only way to skirt that monopoly is through "piracy". And this goes beyond the entertainment industries.
no it's not , it is through regulation, which is not done by the people supposed to do it. Piracy is illegal , it would be like saying , since i cant afford these shoes i must fight "monopoly" by stealing them ... uber stupid. There are a lot of independant filmakers out here , that sell their films for less than the itunes prices , why dont you support them if big hollywood studios are so evil ? Same thing for music, people download the last PSY or lady gaga , but cant support emerging artists that are ready to sell their art for far less than any itunes download...
> it would be like saying , since i cant afford these shoes i must fight "monopoly" by stealing them
more like "these shoes are overpriced so I'm going get the pattern and start making my own copies of them and share them with my friends". you aren't affecting someone else's possession of something when you pirate it, you are just not paying the owner for a copy.
the argument is around how many of those pirated copies actually represent lost sales (and most people who've looked at the issue and aren't in some way employed by the entertainment industry think it's probably a slim percentage)
as for supporting independents, while what you're saying is probably true for music, independent TV and film as a whole just haven't reached anywhere near the quality. the instances in those mediums of high quality content produced independently are still very much the exception. in music, independents have been producing as good or better than the major labels for a long time.
You just do it because it is unlikely you get caught. That's the only reason you do it ,because it is easy. If cops were watching every bit of file you were downloading and arrest you if you downloaded something illegal you would not bother downloading anything illegaly. Likewise for people that steal in shops they are confident they are not going to get caught.
download illegaly === easy with next to 0 consequence , that's why people do it.
When you buy a soft or a song online you dont buy an object but a license that gives you the right to listen it, if you obtain the song or the soft illegally you are violating that license , and you dont get to chose what the terms of the license is. If you dont agree with the license dont download period.
Do i download things illegaly , yes, but i dont try to justify my behavior with stupid arguments to free my mind from any guilt like you do. It's illegal , be a grown up , at least acknowlegde that fact.
>Piracy is illegal , it would be like saying , since i cant afford these shoes i must fight "monopoly" by stealing them ... uber stupid.
So what if it is illegal? It is the moral responsibility of a citizen to disobey laws they believe are unjust. If I have strong convictions that piracy laws are unjust, not only do I not care if they are illegal, but I will actively encourage other people to ignore these laws. This is just one way of achieving the goal of change.
Your other suggestion is completely right though, we should also be willing to support the artists whose values align with our own.
> It is the moral responsibility of a citizen to disobey laws they believe are unjust.
Oh, come on. We're not talking about summary execution of Muslims or cutting off a child's hand for stealing bread; we're talking about twenty bucks for a movie.
If it is illegal it is illegal , end of discussion , want to change the law ? vote for a change.
FYI illegal =/= immoral , the law has nothing to do with morality. The law is the law , if you want to live in a country driven by morality move to Saudi Arabia and watch the consequences of your stupid statement.
