Financial punishment imposed by government would be a good indication for the public as well that the particular company screwed up. The bigger the sum, the better headlines.
Many areas of technology are strictly regulated. Are there any specific obstacles in information technology area for having such regulations?
Isn't it funny that whenever a large institution counts the loss of sales caused by piracy, they estimate the amount of illegal copies made and just multiply it with the price of the product. But if copying were impossible, would everybody have bought the product anyway or have saved their money instead?
Every time a piece of music (or a software product) is being illegally copied, it is also being advertised for free; no expensive music videos or other promoting methods needed. Did they ever think of that?
Having just a digital copy on one's hard disk is not very satisfying. It is nice to have one's favorite music on CD. Such artifacts are important to people. Who wouldn't appreciate a collection of such objects more than the just absolute price of those objects (or a corresponding collection of mp3s)?
A CD is also a backup of your music. And: if you like the music you listen, you might want to pay for it. Why? Because it is more enjoyable to listen to one's favourite music when not feeling like a thief.
But buying a complete CD by just hearing a piece on the radio and the rest in the record shop? Not if you can evaluate the CD in your home in mp3 form first.
Slashdot Mirror
Financial punishment imposed by government would be a good indication for the public as well that the particular company screwed up. The bigger the sum, the better headlines.
Many areas of technology are strictly regulated. Are there any specific obstacles in information technology area for having such regulations?
Isn't it funny that whenever a large institution counts the loss of sales caused by piracy, they estimate the amount of illegal copies made and just multiply it with the price of the product. But if copying were impossible, would everybody have bought the product anyway or have saved their money instead?
Every time a piece of music (or a software product) is being illegally copied, it is also being advertised for free; no expensive music videos or other promoting methods needed. Did they ever think of that?
Having just a digital copy on one's hard disk is not very satisfying. It is nice to have one's favorite music on CD. Such artifacts are important to people. Who wouldn't appreciate a collection of such objects more than the just absolute price of those objects (or a corresponding collection of mp3s)?
A CD is also a backup of your music. And: if you like the music you listen, you might want to pay for it. Why? Because it is more enjoyable to listen to one's favourite music when not feeling like a thief.
But buying a complete CD by just hearing a piece on the radio and the rest in the record shop? Not if you can evaluate the CD in your home in mp3 form first.
----