Sony leaks reveal sinister plans to control our internet! With good link this time!!!

[Mr Khan]

Intrinsic said:

In all honesty, and if we are to be really sincere and honest about all this. This will only affect people copying and sharing copyrighted content. Which for all intents and purposes is 'ILLEGAL".

I think the lines have been blurred so much that the general populace seems to forget that these companies do have a right to protect their copyrighted content. They know they can't stop people from making those copies and they can't stop sites from hosting them, but they can at least stop or track people from getting on those sites. Or prevent that content from being distributed.

Its easy to do the whole power to the people and freedom stuff, but lets not forget that these companies are well within their rights to protect their investments. Dont get me wrong, I can't remember when last I purchased a movie or song outside of going to a cinema for movies I am not willing to wait 3-4 months to be able to pirate a blu-ray copy of. But I at least admit that I am part of the problem, and I know what I am doing is not right. But why do it? cause its so bloody easy to just go online and get a blu-ray rip of a movie and watch it. Lets not all pretend that anything these companies feel will prevent them from bleeding money on their content is somehow a bad thing.

I feel there are better ways they can go around this issue of piracy, but whatever way they choose to employ is really their prerogative. And anyone complaining about their methods, are really only bitching about the possibility of no longer being able to get stuff without paying for it.

So really, who is the angel here and who is the demon.

Also I think the OP is twisting this to be something it isn't

The key is to think of it this way: "Would i have bought this if it wasn't available to pirate?"

If the answer is "no," then you really haven't done anything wrong. Property rights are only as good as their benefit to society, and people who would not give money for something might as well enjoy it anyway, because the pricing structure has made it inaccessible for them.

The answer to stopping piracy is more accessible pricing and access. I watch Justice League legitimately because its on netflix streaming. I stream Darkwing Duck illegitimately because it's not on any service that i know of and i'm not going to shell out for the DVDs. If Disney wants my viewership, they have to put it back on cable or put it on netflix.

It's like all of those pharma companies who bitch about knock-off drugs in the developing world. Those knock-offs are made because your pricing system is fucked to hell and you'd rather freeze out billions of low-income customers in the developing world than embrace the market price for your products.

Free markets are only embraced by these corporations when it's to their advantage to do so. Otherwise they howl for government intervention, as in this case.