StingingVelvet: A ton of people will see things as a "victimless crime" unless someone is suffering right in front of them, and I doubt that ever changes.
Maybe. The view of the corporations is that each person needs to buy their own copy, period, or else you've broken the law.
But if i watched a movie with someone, the corporation doesn't get the money for that, if i loan my disc to someone they don't get money for that, and if i sold the disc to someone else the corporation doesn't get a cut of that either. And if i borrowed a disc and copied it locally, again they don't get a cut of that. And if i had a friend record a Movie onto VHS and he give me the tape, they don't get a cut of that either. It isn't so much a 'victimless crime', it's they aren't part of the equation at all, when they think they should be. If i buy a second hand Ford Pickup, Ford Motors shouldn't be banging on my door insisting on a cut. And yet somehow for digital media it's entirely different, it's this sacred godlike territory you can't infringe on at all.
The solution to this, is to make so cheap AND so available that it's easier to pay for it in person than it is to get it via other means. I might download 10 seasons of house, but if i can get 10 seasons of house for say $1-5 per season, hell i'd rather just buy i, but if each season is $80 then i'd rather download it and not give a dime (
since i can wait 3 weeks/months for something to download in the background). And if i love house so much that i'd pay $1 per season (
or whatever a decent price would be), i might buy several copies of 10 seasons and give them away to friends and family who i think enjoy them.
Believe it or not, Crunchyroll and Netflix WERE reducing the problem because it was very low priced and you had access to a lot.... then the prices went up, and they split it out so there's 50 streaming services, and now it's not worth it. (
Actually i was iffy when they went to streaming and didn't offer DVD's anymore). No, it's too pricy, too annoying, and i can't find the seasons of things i'm interested in like Fraggle Rock.