Piratebay hounded..

Interesting...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/24/2551628.htm?section=world
Seems like Piratebay and the whole Torrent scene are under attack..

Also, why did no one cover Isohunts trial, with MPAA, which began several months ago ?..

Maybe because Piratebay got jailed or something..

Anywho,
My opinion: If everyone had global release dates, and a global rating system, then really, I wouldn't bother Pirating games or movies.
The main reason I downloaded BSG was because it wasn't aired the same time here. On TV. I watch Life here regularly, but that's because It's one episode behind, not 1 season behind..Same with Stargate,etc.
To this date I regret pirating games that were generally good, like Fallout 3, and H.A.W.X.. Actually, Just Fallout 3.

 

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You could always just use downloads as a "try before you buy" system. It's all I ever did with music. If you want them to produce quality products you have to show it's in demand and make sure they have money to produce more by buying it.
Ironically I found so many good bands I wouldn't have brought otherwise it ended up costing me a fortune!
I'll always think this issue is blown out of proportion, if people want something that badly they tend to pay for it, otherwise they pirate for free. :shrug:

 

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Specifically on piratebay though they're entirely innocent and the sentence was decided by a corrupt judge.
They created a legal way of filesharing which people choose to use for illegal activity. It's like blaming microsoft for all the virus' in the world.

 

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Why hasn't everyone at Google been arrested and sentenced? I mean a search engine that indexes (autonomously) copyrighted material, that doesn't "house" the files but helps people find them. Obviously they must be implicated in crimes against humanity, amongst other trumped up charges. </End Saracasm>

On a Serious note, the RIAA and MPAA tend not to take into consideration that their loses aren't so much incurred by films being copied and shared but it's also a natural effect of "Saturation". If you were to take into the consideration the number of bands that played on commercial radio stations and film releases of the early to mid-1980's like "ET", the numbers of other material on the market taking up a market share were comparatively few. This aids in for instance "ET" or "Starwars" gross turnover.

However now, 30 years on, Hollywood is squeezing out abortions (Movies coated in assorted cheese) every month. So instead of maybe 2 blockbusters hitting a one year period, your looking at 30-40+ titles. Movies are a Fast Food but the problem is they are still packaged as Gourmet. The same can very well be said with music, which for years the bands and artists owed their popularity from being freely played on air. Distribution through online is much the same, I mean it should be free to download an MP3 of an artist (minus any charges for storage or bandwidth). I can understand them being upset about having actual CD rips of an artist, after all an album is an artists lifeblood (At least that's what the corporate vampires tell us.) So I can understand they want to have their CD sales fund their lavish untamed lifestyle, so they can burn out and die young rather than go to Fastfood junkie heaven like Elvis.

I wouldn't be surprised if those corporates occasionally give a hand bumping off those stars falling from their limelight (If only for them to assume another name and to act a different life in some remote part of the world), as for every downed star, that market saturation is lessened, allowing the ones left to shine that little bit more.

 

I think pirating has its place in the market. I happen to enjoy taking pictures, and messing around with photos is a hobby of mine.

However, I do not believe I should have to pay $700 for Photoshop. That's outrageous. It should be criminal to charge that much.

So, I say thanks to Pirate Bay! Woo! Long live the pirates!

 

^ well said .

 

I agree with most of what's been said here.
They used to release demo's of all the good games, now they're all kinda falling in quality.

 

I used to buy things based on previous incarnations of a series or reputation of the company but I've been caught out a few times lately with lazy and piss poor development of a series.
It seems every year to become more about taking money regardless of the product quality and I'm not sure I remember the last time a good solid game came out. They seem to use the general public as beta testers now before patching. :shrug:
Maybe I'm just unlucky but off the top of my head I recall these without trying(and I do/did like all these games);

COD5 WAW - unplayable multiplayer for 4 months due to bugs.
FM2007 - buggy as hell until first patch(3 months)
GH - faulty hardware for 3 months
Pro Evo 5 onwards - lazy and poor developmental improvement of the series.
Fifa series - likewise, but slightly less lazy.
RA3 - just who the fuck came up with this one????

 

All the good movies these days are indie films - which don't make much money. I can't really think of any great bands that exist after 2000 - I saw Dylan live a couple months back just out of my awe of him 50 years ago - the show was "ehh."

I play guitar and sing/write my own music and I can only speak for myself but I would be completely happy if there were only a handful of people who loved and really got my music - and I could make a living off of live performances.

I think people are just generally greedy today. I say fuck em'.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGG MATEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXkxSl4f6vw

It's just like robbing the elderly!

 

It's possible to do however it's very much the lines of a "Starvin' Artiste" considering that if you play guitar and sing, you can possibly solo at pubs and bars, however don't expect to charge on the door and make a killing. For that sort of turnover you'd need a band and that's where it starts to get expensive, since the band then wants paying. (You then have to take money out for promotion, travel expenses, Food/drink as well as new equipment before you can even consider spending it on yourselves. You might even have to hire a manager etc.)

And band relationships aren't necessarily what they are cracked up to be. I mean can you imagine marrying the ugliest person imaginable just because your sounds great? It's kind of like that but multiplied by each band member. (Believe me they might be cute members to begin with, but once they've been on the road 30hours and have a gig..... Let's just say thats why televisions use to fly out of motel windows)

The internet has it's pro's and con's in regards to this though, one the con... there are hundreds, if not thousands of "same" sounding people (The worst thing for an artist is to realise they are just one of many artists that all do the same thing, it can spoil the art and wreck havoc on their proverbial soul.) however the pro is there is an even greater audience of people out there that wouldn't probably never reach the pubs/clubs or venues you might play. So you can find fan's of your work, just don't expect to become a prodigy overnight.