Using your arguments (which have been repeated ad nauseum here and similarly minded sites like TechDirt), the admission charged by theaters, athletic events, and museums should be voluntary whenever the venue is not filled to capacity. Same with trains and buses. In fact, since the venues might not have gotten the memo, people shouldn't have to ask permission; they should just barge in and claim it is their right as a free citizen to see the Broadway show or science exhibit for free, because their presence isn't costing anybody anything.
Wrong. Their presence is taking up space. Space that means someone else can't use it. That means physical space is worth something so those places get to charge admission. If they charge too much, they don't get very many customers. If they charge too little, they may get too many customers for their space available. So, again, you have made the wrong connections in your mind. With copying, no one is deprived of anything physical.
The fact is that people need to be paid to offer these things, and that holds true for digital products like music as well as theater events. There are substantial capital expenditures, operating expenses, labor costs, financing and marketing costs, all of which are conveniently ignored by the young Slashdot crowd.
I agree that people need to be paid, but only what other people feel they are worth. For instance, I hate the Survivor type reality shows and never watch them. I would not ever pay them a single cent for anything. Therefore, they are worth absolutely no money to me. To someone else that loves the show, they might be worth $20 per episode. Now if they charge $10 per episode, some people will buy, but most wont. If they charge $1 per episode, many people will buy even if it's to see what all the fuss is about. Many different people have suggested new business methods to make money in todays world. There are even people making a decent living with some of these methods. So basically, it seems to me that you are saying that I have to pay some artist or group of artists that make a complete pile of sh!t because they worked hard on it. Sorry, but that will never happen. I only spend my money on things that I like. If you wish to throw away your money, go right ahead but don't expect very many people to emulate you.
If you feel so strongly about your argument, why don't you organize a flash mob to storm into your local science museum without paying? And please remember to record the event and post it on youtube, that will be highly entertaining. Thank you.
And here you are just telling someone else that they need to break the law and maybe even injure others doing it. And you say that you have the moral high ground. If your ground were any higher, I would say that you are warming your heels in the fires of hell. Oh, and just in case you think I'm a pirate, think again. I don't download movies, music or video games. I buy my entertainment even though I have been out of work for five years. I am so low on cash now and no longer have any money for retirement that I am looking for a miserable minimum wage job. Yet I still don't pirate. Which of us has the higher moral ground? The person that advocates someone else to break the law and even more importantly cause possible harm to others or the person that still doesn't steal even when they have no money left? I would say that you are worse than the pirates because you are advocating someone to do something illegal that would likely cause harm in the attempt. No wonder you posted anonymously, you don't have any courage of your convictions.
Video games have been about making money since the beginning. Arcade games used to last approximately 26 seconds a play, and you put in a quarter every game.
Yeah, I remember Double Dragon, I think it may have been Double Dragon 2, I got so good at it that I could literally play for 2 hours on one quarter. I also got quite good on Ms. Pac Man. They eventually were losing money on me because I could play for so long on a single quarter. The reason I got so good is that I would never continue a game. When I died, I started over from the beginning.
I don't do that so much anymore. I pay money for my games and there is a good story usually to follow and I want to see how it goes. Sometimes I will play a game over again just because I liked how it played e.g. Diablo, Diablo 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Crysis and a few other games. I much prefer to play single player as I really don't like the jerks I run into while playing a multiplayer only game.
Work continues in this area. -- DEC's SPR-Answering-Automaton
