I think you’re wrong buddy, it’s socially acceptable for a ton of people!

At any rate, it’s far more profitable to sue for $100,000+ per song than it is to sue for $0.99 a song.

They will.

There are plenty of people who will do exactly that.

You haven’t considered the lower class in your economic theology.

Try as they may, not everyone can afford to pay for the essentials and they will take what they need, right or wrong.

Is stealing to survive illegal? Of course.
Is it malicious? Not at all.
Is it wrong? Hardly.

The usual department store’s markup is around 200%. Furthermore, most department stores are franchises with the support of a large corporation behind them.

Losing a few t-shirts isn’t going to bring down the industry.

Mr. and Mrs. Doe may have a foreclosed home, bankruptcy, no jobs, and four children in elementary school. Their families may be no better off then they are. Their town may not have a shelters. There may not be any place to get things like food and clothing for free. They may not want to beg.

Is stealing their only option? No.
Will they try to other ways? Probably.
Will they run out of options? Eventually.

How is this relevant to digital multimedia?

People need entertainment like they need oxygen, clothing, shelter, food and water. Humans found ways to entertain themselves even before the dawn of civilization.

If they can’t afford it, they can’t get it for free, and they can’t make their own–they will take it.

The biggest problem with your analogy however, is the same one with every argument from the MPAA: physical property and digital property are /not/ essentially the same.

I understand it’s your job to fight a changing world so that your industry can suck the last few pennies out of it’s dying markets, but sooner or later you have to admit defeat.

That’s not to say there’s no profit in multimedia. Of course there is. Of course people will want to see their favorite bands live or watch movies on the silver screen now and then. There will always be initial broadcasts to plug commercials into.

Easily replicated mediums, like digital files, CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes etc etc, are not a viable market any more. Accept it, or squander all of your resources fighting the inevitable.

Broadcasts, live performances, and the theater experience are where you stand a chance to make money.

Perhaps the MPAA doesn’t believe this is enough money to support the industry. Try it and be surprised.

How could I have missed the connection that downloading bits is the same as physically stealing clothing or a TV?

Furthermore, I should probably stop developing http://tormovies.org because the website can be used to advertise movies in ways that the media industries don’t like.

Honestly, why the hell do we even have the internet? All it’s good for is all you thieving jackasses from stealing these hard working Amerian’s 1s and 0s! They put lots of effort into those 1s and 0s and they should have the right to shut down any medium they desire to protect them!

I propose that we change the name of the internet from World Wide Web (WWW) to “Tom Cruise” so that everyone remembers just how much work went into this.

You know who else supported sharing? The communists. That’s right, all you people who support culture are secretly just communist bastards.

Of course artists could make more money by embracing a new business model, but who cares about the artists? Who it should really be about is the media INDUSTRIES the artists just MAKE the content, it is the industry who gets to decide what people really want and what country those people are allowed to be in.

I am sorry media industries for running on a platform of an open culture, because really what I mean is not “share your life and let your friends take part in something that makes you feel emotions” I mean “you should be able to be lazy and rip everything off that you want”.

Thank you Alex Swartsel, without you I would have never seen the light.

Over the past few years, the studios and broadcasters were able to effectively combat this by making their content more available through cheap subscription plans like Netflix and free, ad-supported sites like Hulu. That made it easy for users to watch what they wanted, in a bright, well-lit place, without having to search Torrent sites. But it seems there’s been a general pullback from that strategy, and that, along with general economic malaise, could lead people to stop paying as much for content. In other words, a perfect storm for piracy. But what Janko is advocating for is not piracy, but just the opposite — more and easier access to legitimate streams of content.