I haven't been here much in 20 years, but some things have sure changed! Why is it better that the show was not pirated? The owners didn't lose money, definitely not in countries they have no plans to start streaming. I don't think ay money is being earned by pirates in these cases (I could be wrong). And it actually stops Disney from getting customers in places they do want to expand into. Perhaps there's a very small percentage who might pay if not for pirating, but to generate interest and a following on large scales, I think Disney would have more to gain than lose. Are you angry about the morality of pirates and think punishing then somehow would bring justice? I certainly don't expect generosity from Disney, or even rational marketing. Oh, did I mention all the Mandalorean t-shirts and toys they are likely get from "pirates" and might not otherwise? When did we start rooting for Darth Mouse and his Evil Empire?

OTOH, it's much nicer than saying "obscure, unknown or forgotten," which I think might also might fit. Frankly there's no requirement that the article author needs to be a science fiction fan at all. Don't get your panties in a bunch!

Ooops, I just read the "Vulture" article and apparently Burroughs was sober, "in Recovery," at the time. Everything else I said stands, however

My understanding was always that this was a way for Scott to throw some money at W.S.Burroughs, who was in debt, and maintaining his heroin addiction. That is why the background story about Nourse and the relevance of the name in the film hasn't often been explored. Hollywood definitely wasn't going to finance a film titled "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" so just about anything would do and Burroughs was known for crazy-off-the-wall writing- that usually ends the exploration. This is a little off-topic, but the bizarre, darkly creative nature of Burrough's writing is usually credited to hallucinations from withdrawals, or heroin itself. But not only did Burroughs did DMT-containing Yagé (better known now as ayahuasca) in the Amazon, but he continued to occasionally use the synthetic version cooked up back in the states, including some reportedly heroic doses (injecting hundreds of doses at once) To anyone familiar with this hallucinogen, it clearly inspires his nightmare visions. Heroin does nothing of the sort, and could even be described as anti-hallucinogenic. I haven't read this anywhere and it surprises me.