Frenemy
an enemy disguised as a friend
I am constantly bombarded with piracy is against the law campaigns, the ads in movie theater previews, warnings on the music I paid for, television commercials, signs on the metro, signs on buses, every other day in the news, and so on... the Public Announcements depict late teens and 20 somethings purchasing bootleg movies, downloading music files, streaming illegal movies, games, and other unlicensed pirated content. The narrator always makes me laugh. A threating, deep male voice saying something along the lines of, "If you download music without paying for it, you are breaking the law, and you will go to jail." It reminds me of the '80s, "This is your brain" series.
Piracy is not a new trend! Throughout the years, my friends would share music, movies, or the famous hanger with duct tape to fix the cable box to get free premium channels. My generation started with copying cassettes (remember your mix tapes?), then burning CD's, next came Napster, and now bit torents. Sharing content has become easier over time. With the internet and technology today, it is impossible to stop piracy. No matter how many locks or other piracy prevention developers produce, there will always be someone to break it. It's simple economics. If there is a demand for pirated content, someone will produce it. On the other economic hand, there is a price schedule and anti-piracy mix where piracy is reduced, and sales is up.
Content producers, piracy is your frenemy! Embrace it, don't fight it. I know that when my friends would share music and movies they would open up to know more artists, movies, games... It's grassroots marketing. My friends pay for concert tickets, memoribila, and future CD's. Those friends continue to expand the fanbase of the product, who in turn spend money on tickets... introduce more people.....
The IT Crowd Piracy Video
'80s PDA Annoucement
