One Word. SOPA.
“There will always be pirate sites, just as there will always be knockoffs of Gucci bags and Rolex watches. It’s a cost of doing business. In a way, it’s a form of guerilla marketing: “Our stuff is so good, people who can’t otherwise afford to pay for it are settling for cheap copies.” (Via PC World)
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One thing that hasn’t even been mentioned is the COST of internet service… which is just ‘slightly’ required to be able to download pirated material. We’re talking a minimum of $50 a month for high speed cable… and that’s not even the super high speed option. I can’t even begin to count how many people I know who have combined internet/tv bills totaling over $200 a month.
I mean, seriously, even when I was young and had no real financial responsibilities, I wouldn’t spend that kind of money a month on movies. But then… it only cost $5 to see a movie in the 80s. And a soda & popcorn didn’t cost $20 (or more if you take the entire family)!
What I’m getting at is that I still go see movies in the theater. I still buy books. People still spend absolutely insane amounts of money for home entertainment. The entertainment industry is NOT hurting. They are greedy… and willing to fork out millions annually for lobbyists to keep feeding that greed via Washington.
“Many of the companies spent more on lobbying than they do on taxes.”
Did you realize that RIAA alone has spent $90 million in lobbying just in the past 10 years. Imagine how much that number becomes when you put together all of the entertainment companies that are lobbying for SOPA.
This is money going directly or indirectly to congressman/individuals… when these same companies will do anything and everything in their power to find tax shelters to avoid paying taxes to the same government they are asking to protect their ‘profits’.
Tax money that is desperately needed to keep this country from spinning any deeper into deficit and recession.
(Tax analysts estimate that more than one hundred billion dollars of tax revenue is lost per year due tax shelters used by wealthy individuals and corporations.)
