Piracy Economics

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?)

Comments

Re:I commercially exploit a copyright, am not a th

[pammon]

So I spent a week of my own time and fixed that. Had I not spent a week, that problem would remain unfixed, and the circa five thousand people who played a game of bingo this year that was printed from my software would be bingo-less

Are you sure you wouldn't have just written it anyways, because you had nothing better to do?

So, again, how am I stealing from anyone? Simple. You have a piece of software, information wants to be free, and therefore you have a moral obligation to give that piece of software to me. How you obtained it is irrelevant. The same goes for all the software you keep in that big programmer brain of yours, too. Get to writing it, slave. I grow impatient.

"Free advertising"

[Overly Critical Guy]

Ah, the "free advertising" bullshit. Pirates use arguments like this to justify stealing EVERYBODY'S stuff, not just the ones who have turned a blind eye on purpose (essentially giving permission).

This is just another excuse people use to make sure someone doesn't get paid today by downloading their work. Along with scapegoating the RIAA and other tactics ("obsolete market," "cultural revolution," "other people will pay them by going to their concerts," etc.).