File Sharing Putting CD Counterfeiters Out Of Business?

from the perhaps-the-RIAA-should-be-happy... dept

Mon, Mar 19th 2007 11:57am — Mike Masnick

While studies have shown that unauthorized file sharing has no real impact on legitimate CD sales, the site TorrentFreak is suggesting that it has hurt one business: counterfeit CDs. The guys who stand on the street corners or at flea market selling cheap, but fake, copies of popular CDs are finding a lot less demand these days thanks mainly to file sharing. In the past, if someone didn't want to pay top dollar for a CD, their only choice was basically to buy one of these knockoffs. However, these days, with the growth of file sharing, they're better off just getting the songs free online. People who still want real copies of the CDs still buy them, but the market for cheap knockoffs just isn't there any more. Of course, you never hear the RIAA mentioning this "positive" aspect of file sharing...

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21 Comments

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RandomThoughts, 19 Mar 2007 @ 12:33pm

Positive aspect of file sharing?
Thats like thanking the IRS for taking your money before you could go out and waste it yourself.
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CasperIV, 19 Mar 2007 @ 12:52pm

Re: Positive aspect of file sharing?
There are a lot of positive things that have come from file sharing... you might not want to make such a bold statement without thinking it through. If your point was to state that reducing the revenue of bootlegged CDs was not much of a positive effect, then it would not sound quite so ignorant.

I am not going to take up comment room with a list of positive repercussions file sharing and file sharing systems have had (That is better left to a medium other then the comments section of an article). I will, however, disagree with the notion that the reduction of bootlegged CDs isn't a good thing. You are replacing an illegal organization that was probably funding crime with a free medium which is driving new technologies and bringing to light failures in our copyright system (not to mention the endless laughs at the expense of the RIAA).
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magicdiablo, 19 Mar 2007 @ 12:53pm

positive
Your welcome......I guess? :-D
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Mar 2007 @ 12:54pm

I disagree. The poor people selling bootleg CD's need money to live on, the RIAA and the music industry needs no more. In this respect I would have to say that online music is negative.
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Paul, 19 Mar 2007 @ 1:02pm

Negative..
The bootleg market will pick up again once Blueray or HD-DVD gain more ground. There isn't enough bandwidth for the average person to casually download 40gb movies, and the writers for these media are going to be extremely expensive for a while (A soon-to-be-released blueray writer and HD-dvd reader combo is priced around $1200).

This will slow down file sharing and increase bootlegging since the average person won't be able to efficiently download or burn movies for themselves. This is what the MPAA wants because it is easier to stop bootleggers than it is to stop mass online filesharing.

As for the RIAA, it is a negative impact on them as well. It is harder to stop mass filesharing than it is to stop individual bootleggers. RIAA just needs to fund some new expensive format with super quality music that will be too difficult to fileshare due to technology limitations. Not encumbering DRM.

It is time for.. Holographic music!
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Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased), 19 Mar 2007 @ 1:10pm

A negative positive
At least bootleggers had to have bought one legitimate CD to copy. Plus they had to buy all those blank discs which, if in Canada, a portion of the money goes to the RIAA. Bootleggers make more money for the recording industry than file sharing. Bootleggers need to change their business model.
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CasperIV, 19 Mar 2007 @ 1:22pm

Re: Negative..
Since when did the RIAA sue bootleggers? I always see the same ones for as long as I can remember...

Anyway, I doubt blueray or HD-DVD will make a difference. That same logic was applied to DVD's being "too big to copy" and "too expensive to burn", but here we are. Back in the day of early DSL, you just started your large downloads before you went to sleep, or while you were out of the house. Besides, only 1 person in an area needs to download it, then they can pass it to everyone else via LAN or Flash Drive. Most of the early DVD pirates (and I believe currently) were not burned to media, but just played from the computers. People who really want a high quality movie to be watched on their expensive entertainment center just buy/rent the movie.

I don't download movies because the quality is not high enough and I happen to be in a position where I can afford to. Now, if someone says they downloaded a movie because they are too poor to afford to buy it at a ridiculous price, do I call them a thief? Of course not, it's not stealing. To steal something you must take something from someone else. If they can't afford to buy the movie, they can't afford to buy the movie. That means there was no lost sale and that person gets to see the movie. The question I always find asking myself is, how many of these people keep the movies once they download them? I mean if you can download a movie for free of course you will download it, whether it's good or not, but how many of these movies get deleted after being viewed once?
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Orlando Salcido, 19 Mar 2007 @ 1:32pm

Umm positive?
This article is hilarious!

"However, these days, with the growth of file sharing, they're better off just getting the songs free online. "

Well, the RIAA should be thankful for that !!! LOL
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Mar 2007 @ 1:34pm

The majority of movies I've ever downloaded, I purchased later on DVD. Usually the only reason I've downloaded movies, is because I generally REFUSE to see the movie in movie theater, but still want to see the movie.
This past summer, I went to drive-in movie theaters for the first time in over 10 years, saw the movies from the comfort of a reclining lawn chair with a cooler of beer next to me. I recently moved from SoCal, which has almost no drive-ins any longer. I think I saw just about every movie release last summer at the drive-ins, sometimes twice, due to double and triple features. Now if the indoor theaters could give me half the social experience of the drive-in, I'd go to them and never download a movie again!
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Jolene, 19 Mar 2007 @ 1:42pm

AC is right the movie going experience sucks!!
This past summer, I went to drive-in movie theaters for the first time in over 10 years, saw the movies from the comfort of a reclining lawn chair with a cooler of beer next to me. I recently moved from SoCal, which has almost no drive-ins any longer

You hit on a good point, Anonymous Coward. While I don't buy bootleg movies, mostly because the quality sucks, I do miss the drive-ins, and would be willing to pay a decent price to enjoy the movie going experience again. Paying $12 for a walk-in movie theater ticket, to sit in front of a bunch of loud teenagers, next to some old hags who never shut up, who offer their own narration of the film, and then there's always someone's screaming baby. Forget it.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Mar 2007 @ 1:51pm

Can't say I agree with that. While file sharing is certainly becoming more and more popular I still believe the average internet user has little or no clue about torrents, let alone newsgroups.

The majority of my friends and family still purchase pirated DVDs, especially the pre-release cinema DVDs. Which to be honest annoys me no end because I keep telling them I can get the shit for virtually free and burn them onto DVD using my otherwise useless DVD writer.
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Evostick, 19 Mar 2007 @ 2:21pm

Terrorisim
Terrorists make money from piracy
Help stop terrorists by filesharing!
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RandomThoughts, 19 Mar 2007 @ 2:21pm

Re: Re: Positive aspect of file sharing?
I was, of course, speaking sarcastically.
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William, 19 Mar 2007 @ 2:35pm

what
New computer with CD DVD burner combo drive = $800
Internet connection = $54 per month
Four hours of my time downloading songs = $100
Not having to pay for a $15.99 CD = Priceless
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Newob, 19 Mar 2007 @ 5:47pm

Rock smashes scizzors, filesharing bankrupts bootl
All along, the RIAA stereotypes the people filesharing and the people selling bootlegs as one in the same group. But this is not true and never has been. Most people who copy movies or music off of the internet are willing to share with their friends and family freely and do not expect to make any money. Moreover, how can one sell this stuff if anyone can find it for free? The free availability of recorded entertainment makes it impossible for bootleggers to corner the market on cheap knockoff copies. On the other hand, if you have the money, the legit version is much more attractive than a cheap copy.
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Jim, 19 Mar 2007 @ 6:37pm

The ease of downloading movies
Maybe I am just lazy, but I download movies solely because it is easier that going out to get the real thing.

Even though I have the Blockbuster plan that allows me to drive down the street and pick up a movie for free anytime I want by simply bringing back an old one, I continually find myself downloading movies instead and watching them on the computer connected to my 61 inch TV.

The quality is certainly good enough for most movies, and the ability to do it all from the comfort of my own home makes it well worth the 2 hour download while I sleep.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Mar 2007 @ 7:04pm

Re: what
"Four hours of my time downloading songs = $100"

You're either downloading literally hudreds if not thousands of songs if it takes you THAT long to get them.

I can get pretty much any album in
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IndoDX, 20 Mar 2007 @ 2:40pm

For Some Collector
For some Collector, Buy CD is one of the best way to put on their favorites music on they rack.
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Dewy, 21 Mar 2007 @ 2:30pm

Arrghh, we not be pirates
Even the Supreme Court has agreed, filesharing is not Stealing or Piracy.

No money is exchanging hands... no one is being deprived of their right to market in any fashion they like... and where does the industry gets off feeling like its entitled to charge me multiple times for media I have already paid for or are using as an educational resource (bar band... gotta learn new tunes).

How many times shall I be charged for viewing the Mona Lisa, or applying it as a wallpaper on my desktop? I have even heard rumors of bands and clubs being charged for the performance of cover tunes... the nerve of some rich folk!

When I can be assured I will only be charged Once for my "license" to own a copy of "Back in Black" (which I bought on Lp, Cassette and CD), then I will CONSIDER their right to "control" something they have released for personal consumption.

Until then they have every right to pursue copyright infringement against use for profit with my blessing. They can make sure their song is not associated with any products or practices they do not endorse... thats fine... its "their art, their decision.

But as far as I am concerned... and feel free to hunt me down and sue my broke heiny out of existence... Artists create art for the public to consume. Musical and visual arts lose nothing in their consumption, and only gain from the exposure. Once they have "released" something for public review... there is no going back. No fee per ear can be applied, no "pay per veiw" after the moment of creation and release.

How they market and control the commercial and political use of said art is entirely up to them, but once they expose their art, it is part of the public's conscious.
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Jus Rhymz, 21 May 2007 @ 12:44pm

Pirates Live On
My best friend is a CD/dvd pirate. This guy has everything. He sells cd's 8 for $20 and DVDs 4 for $15. Everything is $5 each. I used to buy stuff off him simply because 1. I dont know how to download. 2. I dont have time to download. 3. He has everything I would want to buy all the time.

he has a area in chicago that is about 1 mile long and full of retail shops and restaurants. He works that beat and sells his products during the day and has people order things for pick up at his place at night.

I dont see this young man as a criminal but a aggressive motivated young entreprenuer. So what Brad Pitt and 50 cent miss out on sales because of this guy selling counterfeits of their work, that just means they get to buy 1 less lamborgini while working class people like me get to save money or buy something else more important. If they hate piracy so much become authors because I never see boot leg books for sell.

anyone care to share with me in a step by step fashion how I can download music or movies for free? You guys just dontn beleive people like me dont know how to do that yet!lol
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Jus Rhymz, 21 May 2007 @ 3:23pm

More about pirates
I just wanted to say that if you think piracy is on the decline your crazy. I am african american and besides my friend who does this full time, I know of 3-4 other people including this innocent looking white girl who sells pirated anime dvds in downtown magificient mile chicago. As long as there are stores selling movies for 20 bucks and cd's for 15 bucks you will always have a market for pirated versions for cheaper prices. Even if i learned how to download unless it takes 5 minutes of less to make a copy of a movie I still will buy from the pirate. Sometimes the quality sucks but MOST times I get screener copies like spiderman 3 and the invisable. And pirated music IS THE EXACT SAME in quality as what you buy in stores. So you guys dream on if you think times are hard for the pirate because to me as a consumer of pirated goods my connections basically are giving me more product for cheaper prices. 2 years ago I paid 15 for 4 cd's now I pay 15 for 5 cd's. I used to pay $10 for a pirated dvd but now I pay $5. the bootleg guys are not going out of business they just have to charge less because 1. every body is doing it, 2. people are downloading so you just cant charge what you use to. PS whenever police stop my friend for selling movies, they give him a ticket for soliciting without a license. they never charge him with piracy or get his address to raid his home with the piracy equipment and master copies. Piracy is not dying due to downloading.
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