Anything Goes : Is Torrent downloading a good or a bad thing? by Mark Edward Mendenilla

How can giving away ones work for free help anyone?

I should restate: How can giving away ones work involuntarily for free help anyone?

I read in an article about Game of thrones reaction to the amount of illegal downloads on record where the actors said it helps spread the word. So I wondered if it has its benefits to some although its a real pain for most.

It's definitely on a case by case basis. It's strange as I've realized how much more expensive indie films can be to buy on DVD or Blu ray compared to the more commercial stuff. Game of Thrones is an odd case too, it's popular world wide, not everyone has HBO so some have no choice in say Europe but to wait the next day to watch.

The theft and larceny of Bit Torrent, P2P, hackers, illegal file sharing are basically criminal conspiracies that only benefit the Big ISP's and their ilk while destroying the creators and copyright owners of intellectual property, such as songwriters, publishers, MP & TV productions and all members of the entertainment industry whom should be receiving fair pay, royalties, residuals, re-uses, etc. It has decimated the music industry and is rapidly reducing the MP/TV industry income potentials, as well. The only people who should be able to allow any "free" copies of content are the owners of the content, not anyone else. I don't care how spoiled you are, because you're used to downloading "free" music, movies, etc., that you think this is a "right" or "expectation of instant gratification " while harming others. People that have been brainwashed into thinking that all of this behavior is OK because it's "advertising" or "promotion" (by others, out of your control), are being both stupid and a masochist. if you want to be part of your own self-destruction and further harm to the entertainment business as someone who keeps working for free as opposed to a potentially PAID professional, then do that. But D Marcus hit the nail on the head perfectly, with much shorter, defining the dilemma questions in the first comments.

I wonder... If for every illegal download of an episode of "Game of Thrones" actors who said it helps spread the word were docked 1% of their pay, would they still say it helps?

Hi Alle, I'm curious about your statement here stating pirates buy more music than non-pirates. If it is some kind of statistic, Who or What is the source/author of this "statistic"?

Piracy negatively affect revenue, which can directly affect cost to the end user, and a business's ability to sustain itself. It's not rocket science but basic economics. Proper marketing campaigns and knowing your customer base will ensure profitibility. But here's the catch, you can price yourself out of a job.

Mark, I'm not familiar with Torrent but look at it this way. Suppose you wrote a story and somebody hacked you, grabbed it off your computer, and made a movie with it. How would you feel? It's the same thing. Theft, pure and simple. You want somebody's finished product, the product of their thinking and hard work, you pay for it. For me. case closed.