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Piracy Economics

Posted by kdawson on from the lawsuits-make-a-poor-marketing-strategy dept.

Reader Anonymous Coward the younger sends in a link to an article up at Mises.org on the market functions of piracy. The argument is that turning a blind eye to piracy can be a cheap way for a company to give away samples — one of the most time-proven tactics in marketing. The article also suggests that pirates creating knock-offs might just be offering companies market feedback that they ought to attend to. (Microsoft, are you listening?)

10 of 347 comments (clear)

  1. Arrrrr!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Firrrrrrst pirate post!

  2. Re:Piracy is marker of immature market by Smight · · Score: 2, Funny

    We prefer the term "undocumented workers" to slaves.

    Volunteers are the open source version of labor. If you decide to let some guy off the street extract your rupturing appendix, there's a slim chance they might actually be qualified to do that at their day job. Of course sometimes guys on the street will tell you they are "just as good as a doctor" but most of them are just trying to infect you with viruses.
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    IOU one (1) signature
  3. Heave around line 3 Jim Lad! We set sail! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Pirate Economics 101:

    1. Plundering
    2. Wenching
    3. Yarr!

  4. Re:Piracy is marker of immature market by SpaceLifeForm · · Score: 2, Funny
    With built-in WIFI, even a stand-alone PC with Microsoft software is not trustable.

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    You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
  5. Re:wtf? by QuantumG · · Score: 3, Funny

    You are welcome to drop by anytime.. just bring your physical object copying device from the future with you ok? Speaking of which, can I have a copy of that?

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    How we know is more important than what we know.
  6. Re:mises.org by yndrd1984 · · Score: 2, Funny

    We cover the full spectrum from run-the-economy-by-vote communists to market-worshiping anarcho-capitalists. Enjoy!

  7. Re:Piracy is marker of immature market by ajs318 · · Score: 2, Funny

    How about calling it "normal behaviour" ?

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    Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
  8. Re:Piracy is marker of immature market by init100 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Piracy can really only apply to copyable objects. You can can steal a Civic but you can't "pirate" one.

    You have obviously never heard of counterfeiting.

  9. Re:Piracy is marker of immature market by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    One of the reasons for this is that you can pirate all you want at home, but if you're a business caught pirating, you are going to get screwed. In an uncomfortable place. (and not like in a station wagon)

    A station wagon isn't all that uncomfortable. Maybe you were thinking about the back of a VW.

  10. Re:copyrights by ultranova · · Score: 2, Funny

    A long tyme ago I used to write. I was in the process of writing a book and some articles a magazine editor was interested in printing when an accident ended it, seeing as I was in a coma I couldn't write. However I never would of tried to write anything for publication if I knew I couldn't copyright it. Why would I spend so much tyme writing something if someone else could take what I wrote and make some money off it without me seeing a dime?

    So, in short, you didn't create anything under copyright, but you wouldn't had created anything without copyright either, so copyright is better than lack of copyright. I guess that's a very good argument, as far as pro-copyright ones go.

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    Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.