Who Are The Real Pirates?

[Suhit Gupta]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/177355.html' target='_blank'>http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/177355.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"We hear the content industry and rights holders complaining about piracy everyday: file sharing, physical piracy, theft-of-services, derivative works, etc. But has anyone stopped to think about how many times consumers are asked to pay for the same content? Computer files may be the final form factor, but that is not stopping media companies from extracting every last bit of value from each file. Because most media is delivered through walled gardens or physical copies, even files can be resold. For example: first you pay 99¢ to purchase a song on iTunes. Then you pay $2.49 to download a portion of that song as a ringtone. You can then pay $1.99 to use a portion of that song as a ringback tone--and $1.99 on iTunes to purchase a download of the video for that song."</i><br /><br />Very correct statement - How many times can you sell the same master file? There doesn't seem to be any limit. But then, can't we say this about all kinds of other stuff - paying for video games on different platforms, paying for movies in various formats, etc. So what do you think? Should there be a unified pricing model for the core intellectual property? Or should the current pricing model stand?

[Outlaw94]

When there only existed one or two platforms for media content the current pricing model fit. However, today when I purchase a DVD or a video game I want it to work on everything that can play it. The DVD on my portable media center, on my PSP, on my DVD player without any hassle. I shouldn;t have to spend $19.99 for the movie on DVD and $19.99 for the movie on PSP.

I don't expect to get the movie for free for my PSP but how after I buy a DVD I send in a form with a copy of the receipt and I get the movie for PSP for a discounted price. Say $5.

The movie studios would probably still make some money off of the UMD disc, given the bulk pricing they get on media and I would get my movie.

[David Horn]

The problem with this is that you could then sell both on eBay. This is what a working DRM system is supposed to sort out. You buy the DVD, put it on your MCPC, and then use it on whatever portable devices you have handy, such as a PSP or Pocket PC.