grown up | Fredrik deBoer

grown up | Fredrik deBoer: “We only pirate because it’s so inconvenient to get these legally!” You could literally download thousands of movies, books, games, and albums from a moving plane. “It’s so expensive legally!” There’s thousands of movies to rent, albums to buy, and games to play for $5 or less, all delivered, in seconds, to objects you hold in your hands, in your own home, or anywhere else you prefer to be. “People only pirate things that aren’t available to pay for!” Torrents for movies and albums you can instantly download for less than $10 get downloaded by the millions. “It’s only taking money from millionaires!” In fact many of the people hurt most by piracy are independent and experimental artists who have are already just scraping by, or the creative middle classes that perform essential services for artists. “VHS and the 8-track went away too!” Those are mediums, not art forms. VHS giving way to DVD didn’t mean there were no more movies being sold. People refusing to pay for movies and music makes it less likely that some movies and albums will get made. “Piracy is a triumph for the little guy!” Literally the opposite.