Piracy helps the economy?
At least that is what "academics" claim.
If this were true, why do firms fight people stealing their music and other products? Are the firms just stupid?
Cnet has a discussion here.
"Some experts we interviewed and literature we reviewed identified potential positive economic effects of counterfeiting and piracy."--GAO report
If this were true, why do firms fight people stealing their music and other products? Are the firms just stupid?
Cnet has a discussion here.
Labels: Academia, Government
posted by John Lott at 8:42 PM
3 Comments:
In many cases, the firms are, in fact stupid. Some of them have adapted in the face of the changing economy, others are struggling to cling to a business model where the processing of copying is difficult or expensive.
(One strong indicator that these firms are stupid, or at least irrational: several of the ones that got an early start with the lawsuits are now apologizing to their few remaining customers, as the bad press and lost customers far outweighed the potential gains).
I would have to agree that they seem to be stupid and working against their best interests in the long run.
They now have it set up in such a way that the pirated version of a software product (computer game, DVD) is in fact far superior to the retail version-you can use it on any device you want, and the DVD lets you play immediately instead of bombarding you with ads.
?You also shouldn't use the word "stealing" since it is in fact copyright infringement and not stealing (as ruled by the supreme court). Misapplying legal terminology isn't a good way to go about things...unless we want police to start citing jaywalkers for "Rape of traffic"
John, you comment is a non-sequitor. Firms fight "piracy" because they are attempting to monopolize content distribution and interfere with the property rights of those who wish to copy "copyrighted" material.
So basically, firms are rational to violate others rights and protect "intellectual property", but it is not good for the economy.
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