KLB - More Piracy to You


In other news, I realize what the problem was with the Ninja Gaiden disk. It turns out the bootleggers cut out some of the Japanese movie scenes so the data could be fit on a standard DVD-R disk. I had switched the langauge to Japanese, and therefore when the movie clip was about to play after I beat the level, the gamed failed. I guess that's what you get when you don't pay for what you play - but so far that's the only problem I've had, and it's not much of a problem at that since I just downloaded the game again (I have no will power). The problem would have been avoided had I bothered to read the info file that clearly tells you this.

Speaking of that, really - how much longer will piracy last online? Either that or how much longer before some change happens in the media world as a result of this?

For example, before I went to work today, I started to download The Simpsons Season 3 from a torrent off Torrentreactor.net. Less than 6 hours later when I came home, it had finished. In other words, in that short time I downloaded 24Simpsons episodes that look and sound perfect. A quick transfer to the Xbox, and I can watch them through the TV as if they were on DVD. Not only that, but every season in avaialable. Actually, it seems like every movie, show, video game and software that you could ever want, new or old, is readily available on P2P. I tell you, once more and more people finally convert to DSL in America, the industry is going to have to change...hopefully by making their products cheaper.

There's already a multitude of arguments going around for and against piracy. Yes, it's bad, sure. To start with, though, I guess I share the general poor guy's opinion that all record/movie companies are plain evil and greedy and I am happy I can download things for free. Of course there's more to it than that. To be honest, it's kind of like a cheap thrill. Like most others, I try to justify it by saying I'd never buy what I download anyway. Usually that's true, though assuredly there are a few things I might have bought - such as Ninja Gaiden. But I honestly do purchase my favorites. As a matter of fact, I got the best things I ever ordered: The Smurfs Volume 1 and 2 on DVD from Australia a few weeks back. (In case you're wondering, Volume 3 is being released next week.)

I do want to say that I think pirated goods are beneficial to poor people in developing countries. Think about these poor guys who bust their asses at tortuous jobs for peanuts. It makes me glad to know that if they want they can pick up a movie/music CD for less than a dollar on the street. God bless them. It's just plain wrong that they would have to spend $25 to own a movie. For them, there really is not a chance in hell they would/could pay such a price.

Well, that about does it for this topic again. It's time for me to watch The Simpsons...doh!