To me, this gives the lie to MPAA. I like things like that. ;)
If they waited for the DVD or Blueray to be released they could watch it an unlimited number of times after paying once. Should each time they watch it at home on a legally purchased DVD be considered a lost theater sale?
I imagine that if you surveyed bookstores, you'd find that there is a strong correlation between the best-selling books and the most-shoplifted books. Does this imply that shoplifting should be legal?
If you want to argue against the MPAA, you're going to have to find a better argument than this one.
I'd say that no matter what the correlation, the penalty for shoplifting shouldn't be $25,000 per book.
Seems to me that that's a very shaky analogy. There's no way for the bookstore to end up ahead on that transaction. But there ARE multiple ways for a movie studio or recording studio to end up ahead on the transaction that I am highlighting here.
I think this is a very strong argument against the MPAA, despite what you say. The MPAA, as we know, likes to claim and pretend that all piracy is evil, that it costs them massive amounts of revenue in all cases, that they cannot possibly survive as an industry in a world where piracy exists. These claims are far from proven; some would say they are ludicrous.
You let that straw man live for all of a millisecond before you struck him down, you cruel bastard.
Yes there is, following the same line of reasoning you've been using on this page. Someone shoplifts the book, reads it, likes it, and recommends it to multiple friends.