Illegal file sharing on the Internet, what should we do?

[schnipps]

As said cant be stopped ever, can just be reduced with a steam like system for everything and equipment that only accept files that have come from that source, they connect to the server to check it before playing the track/game/movie.

Why people also use torrents and P2P is still beyond me these days, secure usenet is where the real trading goes on. They cant ever shut usenet down and its almost impossible to track.

 

[Dr.EM]

I always buy the music/film/games I want, in physical format too. I'll normally wait until the price goes down, a lot of older DVD's are about £3 now, not a lot if you have a good idea you'll like it. With music it depends, some I'll buy when they're new out, others not. A lot of lesser known artists music never reduces in cost anyhow. I'd be sad to see CD's obsolete but know that it's a probability at some point

I like Youtube having song videos on it. This gives me a chance to hear music and decide if I might want to buy it, it's hardly good enough quality to want to listen to a lot so it works well imo. Myspace and LastFM too.

Not a fan of piracy and illegal file sharing. The only times it's more understandable is mabye for students or similar trying to get creative software (photoshop, music production, video editing stuff) where they simply can't due to the massive cost imposed. Not something I do myself, but I believe piracy of this type of software is extremely widespread.

 

[Kreeeee]

To stop piracy a few things need to be changed:

1 - Make access to legit media easier than pirate media (ala Steam and iTunes)

2 - Offer benefits for purchase over download (e.g. multiplayer gaming, "map pack keys", t-shirts)

3 - View piracy as competition and be more competitive with price, quality, distribution and availability.

 

[fez]

Its hard to feel too bad for all the record companies who earn such a massive % of the profit on the sales of all the media types. I dont think you can stop it because free is always cheaper than you will get it from a shop regardless of the price.

 

[Kreeeee]

HiDef, ad free goodness. The way it's meant to be viewed.

Heroes, American Dad etc are designed to have adverts and watching them without adverts misses some of the necessary pauses.

 

[rsatd]

Dont get me started on the steaming pile of turd that is Steam.

I own Half Life, Half Life Opposing Force, Half Life Blue Shift, have all CD keys and CD's, I recently tried to get into my Steam account to get back into CS, now my e-mail address is a really old NTLworld address I no longer have access to, can I play CS through my account, NO! Can I start another account with my CD key, NO! I am royally screwed unless I jump through hoops to get Valve to reset by sending proof etc etc.

That was the final straw for me.

I still get mail on my ntlworld account , last time I used their login (to make a re-direct to googlemail), you had to prevent the page from loading to get into the login screen that allowed you to enter your ntlworld details.

The account is still there, as I get spam and other things that are still registered via it. Il drop a link when il get home. *Marks thread*

 

[eXor]

Heroes, American Dad etc are designed to have adverts and watching them without adverts misses some of the necessary pauses.

Care to provide an example? A fade out to black over a couple of seconds is more than enough.

 

[Barks]

I'd pay £2/album or 20p song.

 

[ColdAsIce]

Care to provide an example? A fade out to black over a couple of seconds is more than enough.

Agreed, it is very obvious with the fade out where the advert would have been and doesn't ruin the flow of the tv show like a long advert does...

 

[antijoke]

I still get mail on my ntlworld account , last time I used their login (to make a re-direct to googlemail), you had to prevent the page from loading to get into the login screen that allowed you to enter your ntlworld details.

The account is still there, as I get spam and other things that are still registered via it. Il drop a link when il get home. *Marks thread*

Think is can't remember the password or reminder info.

 

[rsatd]

Ah... that may be a problem...

 

[rpstewart]

To stop piracy a few things need to be changed:

1 - Make access to legit media easier than pirate media (ala Steam and iTunes)

2 - Offer benefits for purchase over download (e.g. multiplayer gaming, "map pack keys", t-shirts)

3 - View piracy as competition and be more competitive with price, quality, distribution and availability.

Can I add another?

4 - Offer "upgrade" pricing.

If I own something on DVD and want a Blu-ray copy why should I pay full price again?

 

[rsatd]

Also agree with Kreeeee, I got a whole bunch of dvd's stored around, and want a media centre to play them on demand. What would be easier, to download them all or to rip them? I know for sure downloading would be way way easier.

 

[DominicStar]

So many people think they are getting a fair deal when buying an mp3 from itunes etc.

Put that mp3 through a really good sound system and then put the cd equivalent, difference is night and day :S

We accepted the loss of quality in the move from analogue to CD though. You shouold be able to download full WAVS in this day and age.

 

[antijoke]

Ah... that may be a problem...

It is a major problem, and I do not want to jump through hoops getting my account back. It really annoyed the hell out of me, and it still does.

 

[ColdAsIce]

Can I add another?

4 - Offer "upgrade" pricing.

If I own something on DVD and want a Blu-ray copy why should I pay full price again?

Open the flood gates for everyone with a copy on vhs too :]

 

[I get around]

I have lots of pirated software, music and films. Then again I have lots of legal stuff too. And i'm sure most of the people on this forum, though some won't openly admit it, have at least some illegal downloads on their pc.
When I can afford to i'll always buy a proper copy of an album or film, it's nicer to have.

Software is the main thing I refuse to pay for, it's all to damn expensive. I use photoshop, visual studio and msoffice with college a lot, I can't afford to shell out for those programs they cost a bomb. And I can't get enough time on the college network. If I couldn't download those programs i'd be jeopardising my grading, i'm not prepared to do that so someone who gets paid too much anyway can get more dosh.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

I have lots of pirated software, music and films. Then again I have lots of legal stuff too. And i'm sure most of the people on this forum, though some won't openly admit it, have at least some illegal downloads on their pc.
When I can afford to i'll always buy a proper copy of an album or film, it's nicer to have.

Software is the main thing I refuse to pay for, it's all to damn expensive. I use photoshop, visual studio and msoffice with college a lot, I can't afford to shell out for those programs they cost a bomb. And I can't get enough time on the college network. If I couldn't download those programs i'd be jeopardising my grading, i'm not prepared to do that so someone who gets paid too much anyway can get more dosh.

The college / University should provide you with sufficient resources to do the course.

This can be in the form of a student license or computer labs that stay open past hours.

I see what you're saying, but there's plenty of ways to use/get the programs legit

 

[rsatd]

Microsoft loves students using their software, because when they go into their jobs, they will know how to use ms software and ms will get more revenue.

 

[Glaucus]

Microsoft loves students using their software, because when they go into their jobs, they will know how to use ms software and ms will get more revenue.

the company will be using ms software anyway. It's what everyone knows. so companies don't have top spend as much money training people up.

Apart from the Os I know use free software and when possible opensource.
Things like oppenoffice is great and I don't see the need to pay for any software for the majority of people. unless you need drawing packages or something like that.