Comment Re:Lies, damn lies. (Score 1) 214
Though I agree with most of what you write, I disagree with the using Microsoft as an example. It isn't the same as a movie.
OSes have network affects. My life is somewhat easier if you have the same OS as me. My life is a bit easier still if you have the same apps as me. If everyone around me has Windows, maybe I buck up and pay for Windows myself. Also, Microsoft has both Apps and OS divisions. Piracy in OS may be tolerated (it was early on) if it leads to more app sales. Movies have some sense of group culture if you and your friends have seem them, but no where near the network effects as OSes.
One thing we all miss is not the Piracy fight really is a fight against technology. It's not the fight against pirates as much as the fight against digital distribution.
In the old days (pre 2000's) the business model for a record label was as a gatekeeper and a Venture Capitalist for bands. You're a band, you'd get signed, you'd get an advance, which was expected to be earned back by product. The advance would pay for your studio time, your mastering, your distribution. That, and rock stars generally are not that careful with money with what's left over, so they'd be in debt quickly. Well, now because of the advance, you're essentially in a state of indentured servitude until you pay it off. The studio owns the masters, owns the copyright, you get by on touring. The studios were vertical, they owned the CD pressers, and they'd charge you for each CD they made (even though that business ran a profit on its own).
In a digital model, the studio is cheaper (iPad + garageband? joking, but probably not too far off), pressing fees go away, and distribution fees go away. So, now the studio doesn't have financial hooks in you. You don't owe them anymore. Their business model is now gone. If they said "poor us, our business model where we get bands into debt so badly that they are stuck with us for essentially life is gone" they'd not get much sympathy. Piracy? yeah, claim that and you might get some action.