Help! I’m Being Forced To Pirate Game Of Thrones Against My Will
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I'm not arguing that what he is doing isn't understandable, or that he doesn't have cause to complain. The statement "I'm being forced ... against my will" completely misses the meaning of "force" and "will". I don't mean to be pedantic; I only point it out because it reflects a common outlook that does not bode well for people's ability to choose wisely in a difficult moral dilemma. Other examples of this kind of talk might be: "I was forced to pay an undocumented worker substandard wages against my will because I could not otherwise afford to have my lawn cut," or "I was forced to buy from a company that I object to because the competition's product is not as cool."
ps. given this is the internet, I do somewhat have to concede that quite a significant number of people may not be in their "right minds"
You can't unilaterally buy yourself out of a transgression like that. Sure it makes you feel better but the letter of the law has no spot for the honour system.
And whether it's illegal depends on the jurisdiction. In some countries (such as The Netherlands) it's legal to download.
(Yeah, I know, physical goods vs digital goods, but _ye ghods_ there's a sense of entitlement in that post!)
As consumers, if we want to purchase something you'd hope the manufacturer would do everything in their power to sell it to us. That's not the case currently and that's his point..
If you watch Game of Thrones, maybe you'll also watch Veep or Girls or Eastbound & Down or Life's Too Short. You might notice that HBO staggers their series so they overlap for roughly half their run. The Sopranos and The Wire never ran in lockstep, The Wire would start roughly halfway through The Sopranos run. They're trying to get you to continuously subscribe, rather than just subscribe for the 13 weeks Game of Thrones is on.
I know, you're too smart to fall for that, you're just gonna PVR Game of Thrones and stop recording exactly when the episode ends. You're never going to see anything except Game of Thrones no matter what HBO does. You, however, are still atypical. Maybe the day will come where HBO's trick doesn't work and their subscribers routinely cancel and resubscribe so it's most advantageous for them, but for now it works well enough that offering Game of Thrones a la carte is a money losing proposition for them. The sales they'll get from MG Siegler and yourself will not offset the subscribers they'll lose who would rather just pay for HBO continuously than go without Game of Thrones.
HBO (and other content producers) may be stubborn and short sighted, but they are not stupid. They've run the numbers. If you want to change their minds, you have to change the numbers and, regrettably, that means you have to boycott them completely. Pirating their content just signals it's valuable and HBO is right to keep availability costly (whether through direct pricing or obnoxious distribution terms).
This may have worked in the 90s but people have other options now and they expect other options.
Pirating their content just signals it's valuable and HBO is right to keep availability costly (whether through direct pricing or obnoxious distribution terms).
I think that's the point though, people do find it valuable and may be happy to pay a premium price for it but they don't want to have to pay for a ton of other stuff especially on a monthly subscription.
If it is popular then there is no real reason they should be losing money on it, I think the piracy signals an untapped market.
It's arguably worse for those in the UK, if we want to see game of thrones then we have to fork out for a sky subscription which adds yet another set top box to our already overburdened collection and puts the money into Rupert Murdoch's pocket (there are many who would feel that piracy is a morally superior option to that).
I recently had a similar issue with OnLive - I registered for free and found that you can play over 100 games for $10 a month - a great deal, right?
Well, for some unfathomable reason, I couldn't PAY for the monthly subscription because I am outside the US. I used a VPN and added my (Bank of America!) credit card to the system without problems - now I have a subscription and enjoy Dirt 3, TR:Legend, Driver: San Francisco on my laptop AND Android phone (it's really impressive).
I'm also practically forced to order a physical CD of a band I like (I'm NOT going to do that, because I'll have to wait a month, then just rip that CD to my computer and throw it away, which is quite sad, really) instead of being able to order it online and download it.
HBO doesn't want to allow you to watch a show you like (love?) and you can do it illegally - I say DO IT if you want - sooner or later, they'll either sue everybody or understand that they need to give their potential customers the products they want, when they want, which will actually save them money and make them richer.
And the author, actors are getting paid the same amount regardless - the network pockets most of the profit, anyway (that's why I hope the current direct artist -> consumer trend is the future).
HBO is allowed to sell their content how they like, if it is costing them money then so be it. They will eventually adapt or fade away, and I don't think illegalling obtaining their content is going to convince them that putting stuff online faster is the way to go.