Nick:

I actually dont do any of these. I download HD from a private bit-torrent tracker. I have about 1 TeraByte of HD movies and tv programs. My favorite movies I try to buy on DVD to support the good ones. I also watch and record with HD-DVR with verizon fios and get on-demand HD for ~$70 a month. Buying physical media is no longer needed.

$20 - $40 bucks for a Blu ray at retail? Are you kidding? Prices in the tech field should be going DOWN, like all computers and componenents, not UP. I guess it will come down over time, but still, my opinion is that studios are selling even DVDs at rip off prices. How else is it that they can sell/show 80 HD movies a day on cable, satellite, or fiber and are only getting a small portion of $80 bucks a month. Until the price of movies comes down below the hassle/annoyance ‘price’ that it costs me to download these suckers and store them.... its a rip off. And, yes, I know they want to run a business and need to pay their bills and fund their shows....but actors and the entire industry are paid way too much. The industry should all get used to making a lot less $$ as the new generation of tech savvy kids that dont-take-BS-from-money-grubbing-organizations, comes to fruition.

Pingmeister:

I love when people try and justify stealing. Friend, it’s not the big studios you’re hurting. They just throw a percentage of their bazillions at some lawyers to try and knock out as many bittorrent sites as they can.

The ones you ARE hurting are the independent filmmakers who are struggling to fund their movies with next to no profit margins.

Do me a favor and just post “I like to download movies so I don’t have to pay.” That’s honest. I respect it more than when you try and point at a handful of actors who make way too much money ignoring the vast majority of movie actors who need second jobs to pay their bills.

kcmurphy88:

I think Nick makes too much money. So let’s enslave him so we get his work for free.

@Pingmeister: Comments duly (sp?) noted. It has made me think, which is a good thing. I do respect and think about your counter argument seriously.

I love when people try and justify stealing. Friend, it’s not the big studios
you’re hurting. They just throw a percentage of their bazillions at some
lawyers to try and knock out as many bittorrent sites as they can.

It is stealing. You are right. Read below in reply to kcmurphy to see why i think it shouldnt be a big deal though. And why I WOULD and DO pay for stuff, at the right price and service level.

The ones you ARE hurting are the independent filmmakers who are
struggling to fund their movies with next to no profit margins.

This is likely true, although I do not know details in indie industry. I am unsure what to think and respond to here. You may have just convinced me to pay for indie content more often. How do I define indie content though, or movies that are not indie but made with indie actors? If that is the case, studios and labels are again making off with too large of profits. I def was not just targeting actors who make too much. I guess that indie actors and staff are going to suffer, partly at my hand. But I think its more so the entire systems hand, and big business unfairly controlling the marketspace. Indies can’t distribute like these mamoths. But oh, hey, wait.... theres this thing called the INTERNET. And ppl like me, wanting to download HD content, for a few bucks.... hmmmm. Can we say business opportunity waiting to happen? I have even thought of opening a business that serves indie and sign-up HD content at rock bottom prices, and super high-tech. To make sure I stayed at respectable pricing levels, I would employ a business architecture more like a democracy, taking into appropriate account the ‘votes’ of employees, customers, and potential customers. There are a couple companies out there that do that in other sectors.

Do me a favor and just post “I like to download movies so I don’t have to pay.”
That’s honest. I respect it more than when you try and point at a handful of
actors who make way too much money ignoring the vast majority of movie
actors who need second jobs to pay their bills.

I like to download movies so I dont have to pay AN UNFAIR PRICE. If I was given the pricing and service level that I think is fair... or at least even MORE fair... I would be buying a whole lot more content. Again, the level has to be more convenient than it would have been for me to go and pirate it. Sorry, your content just isnt worth any more than that.

One interesting question for myself that I have not answered though is, where does that price-at-convenience level stop. Pirating convenience will approach zero, and with a business there has to be sales over your expenses. I think again I would turn to the community as above, and ask what their view of ‘fair’ was. That definitely does not happen today. If it did, and they truthfully set prices to average fairness, I would buy a lot more and pirate a lot less.

@kc murphy88: I think that I understand how you are trying to compare. I dont think its quite accurate. I am in IT contractual for example. What would be more equivalent to what I am doing with entertainment industry, would be a company saying to themselves “Damn, Nicks prices are outrageous, and for service that is not to the level of our liking. Lets instead use some of Nicks former public/leaked work, and then go out and hire indiaIT.com which is a company that does IT contracts on huge number levels (and oh yeah happens to also hire Nick here and there), but is charging much lower comparative prices b/c they are giving us 80 IT projects for a overall average price that is much lower. 80 projects for $80 dollars, instead of Nicks 1 project at $15-$30. If Nick had tried to charge us $1... or heck, even $3 (3 times that of IndiaIT.com!) we would have gladly paid it, and many many times over.” Would I consider it stealing? Yes, I suppose so initially when they used my public/leaked works. Would I go after them? Hell no. I need to focus on what is happening and alter my strategies, business direction, quality of service, and mostly... prices. I would have to come to a realization that I have to do one off jobs for $1-$4, and do many more of them, instead of my old ways. Either that or look into new avenues of earning money. Would I be able to handle it? I dunno. I think so. One can amazingly learn to live on less resources when put to the test. I wouldnt like it. But I wouldnt blame it on the company taking my public/leaked stuff here and there. Id blame it on economics, and globalization, and Id come to a realization.

Get real entertainment industry.