We do not promote pirating on Spectrum. Keep this in mind when you post.

Should music, videos and audiobooks be free?

With many people pirating these days, most people would say yes to this question.

If you think they should be free, tell us why.


However, artists, movie producers and authors and losing millions of dollars to piracy.

How would you suggest we stop piracy?

There is no real way to stop piracy, the companies keep thinking of new forms of copy protection and the people keep finding ways to crack their new technology. People like the challenge of being able to crack the new copy protection, the same way that hackers like the challenge of being able to hack into other people's computers and spread viruses across the internet.

Piracy will always exist, the best thing that the game companies can do is focus more attention on making a good game instead of trying to create the next generation of copy protection. If its a great game and enough people like, more people are likely to get it legally. I buy games from the store that I really like, not just for the game, but to support the companies that make the best games.

How about music?

Should it be free?

As for your other question emilia of "Should music, videos and audiobooks be free?", of course they shouldn't be free. How else are the game developers supposed to support themselves. The fact is that if we the people want good video games, we will just have to learn to pay for it. If everyone is going to get the games illegally, then we are just going to hurt ourselves in the long run by destroying the game industry.

I support the sentiment of the Free Software Foundation and making software free and open to the world for the betterment of knowledge and all that, but the fact is that this is simply not the reality of life. If someone is going to make something that other people want, they are going to sell it for a profit, not just give it away for free. Everybody wants to make money.

My opinions are the same for music, videos and whatever else.

I think some things are ridiculously overpriced and people arent willing to buy things because of the price

That's just the free market economy emilia and the laws of supply and demand. The fact is if people stop buying games, the price will go down. The price is quite irrelevant to this discussion imo because sure people are more likely to buy a game if it is cheaper, but there will always be pirates and I don't think the price would have that much affect on that decision because for me, I only buy a game if I really want it, not because of the price.

Price has everything to do with it.

Think about how much money you would have to spend to have 100,000 songs.

Emelia, I think there is a very simple answer to your question: If music, videos, Audiobooks and other digital content can be copied freely legally and easily, what incentive is there for people to produce the material in the first place. Some people might still make such content just for charity, or to get there name know, but it can't be done for profit. IF we make digital content free almost all production will grind to a halt for lack of funds

For that reason, I try to pay for the digital music and movies I want (Itunes or Amazon). unfortunately, sometimes I just can't find a company that will sell me the movie or song I'm after, in which case I may be tempted to get it via less legal means

You have a point there

I buy music from bandit.fm when they have a special or when the price of the song is less than 50c, but that's it.

I was more referring to only video games in my previous post.

I agree with you entirely Squigle

I don't think there is a real way to stop piracy for good, it's always going to happen.

But i'd rather buy a physical CD then download a it when the quality could be crap, Steam is great for games because it is DRM itself, if we had more games using Steamworks where it has to use Steam to run then game piracy would be dealt a heavy hit imo.

I usually download TV shows as they air, because they won't air in Australia for months and i will buy the DVDs when it comes out.

So then why do people pirate then? And I am not talking about the people who crack stuff. I am talking about the people who leach off hackers.

Steam is good, but it isn't going to stop piracy.

People download content illegally because they don't have to pay for it Emilia.

Its quite simple.

So then how much are people willing to pay until they with pirate something?

They pirate cause they always want something for nothing, or usually can't afford it why most people under 18 pirate cause they don't have any money.

Music shouldn't be free, but maybe more affordable, if you like a band you should buy their music and support them so they can make more albums and tour a lot more.

/agreed

Well i'm in a dilemma atm, Windows updated and it fixed the crack that came with my pirated version of Windows 7 Ultimate Edition , so i'm trying to decide whether to find another crack or just buy a legit copy, this might be my first legit copy of Windows since Windows ME hahaha.

Just so you know, there's an easy way to get windows 7 or vista installed just using an upgrade license (cheaper). I'm not sure if its fully legal, but I figure if they didn't want us to do it, they wouldn't have made so easy. You don't need any technical computer knowledge at all.

All you do is install your windows 7 CD from boot up, and when it asks for a code just skip it. It will install the full version, and demand it get a full licence after 30 days. Then, with your windows still running, you enter the CD again and hit the upgrade button. As soon as it sees its running on a Windows, it lets you enter the upgrade code. You then install a second time and viola, your legit.

I prefer just paying the $20 for a legit version from a uni. And use on as many computers as you want. Then when it says key is up, just call M$ and they'll activate it no questions asked.

I don't think anything should be free just cause people are going to download it illegally anyway. I think almost all industries are moving in the correct path. With iTunes, and Amazon, digital music is getting very cheap. Sell more for less is a good sales tactic. If I want one song I don't have to buy a CD anymore, just pay the $.99.

Furthermore, with all the push for digital media in the living room, cheap movies and shows are becoming near perfect price. We have the subscription side (ex. Netflix) where you can use as much as you want for a fixed price. Content at the current time is limited more, but that should change with time as Netflix is moving away from a DVD sales company and strictly streaming.

Then you have the pay for the content side (ex. iTunes). Where you want to watch the old season of House, all you have to do is pay $.99 a episode. This is also pretty great as if you want to watch a show thats not on Netflix or Hulu you can for a reasonable price. they also have a system like they do with CD's where if you buy the whole season you get a discount.

Audio books I really don't care about. I've only got a couple audio books and if I remember they were cheap (like $5).

You can't stop piracy. But one of the main reason people pirate stuff is the price. Offer stuff at a cheaper price and you'll help slow it down. You'll never stop it, but will help the impulse buy in which people see that Netflix and such only cost $8 a month and they get free movies. The company gets money from a source that odds are wouldn't of watched there content. Therefore should take a eye off piracy.

(All this is coming from a guy who pirates a lot, but is slowing down. Haven't pirated a movie in a long time thanks to Netflix, Hulu and more. But I still pirate music as I'm cheap and for the amount I want, I'd be broke. But I do buy cd's of artists I want to support.)

I love the idea of Hulu, but the problem with those sorts of sites is that they're only available in the US, which irritates me.

I pirate games a fair bit, but with games that you can play online vs other people and games that I really enjoy, I pay for them.

I pirate TV shows, but that's mainly only when they've been out in the US or UK and haven't been aired in Australia yet. I did this with the last season of Doctor Who - I downloaded the episode, watched it, and then watched it two weeks later when it was on TV.

has anyone heard that limewire got shut down?

limewire.. one of the many pirating software, only used it for a while until i found out that it was only good for music :/ might as well torrent if u want anything. not that im saying i am a pirate

uTorrent and mininova <3

Fair thee well LimeWire don't let the door hit you on the way out.

lol dirp hurp dirp