Torrent, you must have heard of this word. Free downloading of everything that is digital; films, games, music, applications and what not, right? Now, torrent and piracy are so closely interwoven that when we name one, the other doesn’t fail to pop up in our mind. What fails to register to us, that there might exist a system where people can download and pay if they like the content. It is possible and yes, it is being used.
Want to see a very popular example?
Humble Indie Bundle
Gamers, at least the hardcore ones, must be accustomed to this site. This site offers you new games to play. But so does Electronics Arts. The difference then? Well, for EA games, you need to pay a certain amount, while for Humble Indie Bundle, you can name the amount you want to pay. You choose the amount you want to pay, you break out exactly how much of your money goes to the developers, the humble site who is accumulating those for you and yes, to charity. Then, simply pay that amount and it's yours (or your brother's if you send it as a gift)!
Yes, its not free but you (or I, for that matter) wouldn’t mind paying $10 for 10 exciting games, would we? It is almost free.
Now comes the question, is it profitable for the companies? Let me show you.
Does this look profitable enough? Yes, you read it right, as of day closing, July the 21st, 2014, they have accumulated a little less than 4 million dollars which people like you and I willingly paid. And how long did they have to wait to gather 4 million dollars? It came out on May 27 2014. So it took them 2 months to collect 4 million dollars, without grabbing anyone by the collar and making them pay the amount the company wishes. 2 million a month isn’t that bad, is it?
Doesn’t convince you yet? OK, lets take another look at it from another angle.
You don’t have anything against second hand book sellers or record sellers, do you? Those lovely warm old gentlemen with a smile who are always ready to bargain and often offer you “out of publication” books and records (I do collect a certain comics from them which went out of business in 1990). Did you realise that the original creator, singer or writer or illustrator, doesn’t get a penny when you buy those? What about the library? Or your best mate? Nobody gets paid when we borrow a book or a DVD. As often is the case, we buy a book after we borrow it from a friend and start loving the book. We go to the extent of buying anything else which comes up next from the author. I did it with Dan Brown.
Point is, why not treat internet as virtual borrowing system? Why MPAA and DMCA authorities ignoring and overlooking this obvious yet simple mathematics? Do they really want or expect us to pay 3 days salary to watch Transformer: The Age Of Extinction is the cinema hall? Or Godzilla 2014? Probably they do. They want to minimise their losses as much from our pockets.
What is my solution? Here are my two pennies.
Let people borrow a certain file, test it, taste it. If it is what they like, they will pay handsomely. We saw the case of the Humble Indie Bundle, didn’t we
Want to see a very popular example?
Humble Indie Bundle
Gamers, at least the hardcore ones, must be accustomed to this site. This site offers you new games to play. But so does Electronics Arts. The difference then? Well, for EA games, you need to pay a certain amount, while for Humble Indie Bundle, you can name the amount you want to pay. You choose the amount you want to pay, you break out exactly how much of your money goes to the developers, the humble site who is accumulating those for you and yes, to charity. Then, simply pay that amount and it's yours (or your brother's if you send it as a gift)!
Yes, its not free but you (or I, for that matter) wouldn’t mind paying $10 for 10 exciting games, would we? It is almost free.
Now comes the question, is it profitable for the companies? Let me show you.
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| This is What You Get When You Don't Dictate People |
Does this look profitable enough? Yes, you read it right, as of day closing, July the 21st, 2014, they have accumulated a little less than 4 million dollars which people like you and I willingly paid. And how long did they have to wait to gather 4 million dollars? It came out on May 27 2014. So it took them 2 months to collect 4 million dollars, without grabbing anyone by the collar and making them pay the amount the company wishes. 2 million a month isn’t that bad, is it?
Doesn’t convince you yet? OK, lets take another look at it from another angle.
You don’t have anything against second hand book sellers or record sellers, do you? Those lovely warm old gentlemen with a smile who are always ready to bargain and often offer you “out of publication” books and records (I do collect a certain comics from them which went out of business in 1990). Did you realise that the original creator, singer or writer or illustrator, doesn’t get a penny when you buy those? What about the library? Or your best mate? Nobody gets paid when we borrow a book or a DVD. As often is the case, we buy a book after we borrow it from a friend and start loving the book. We go to the extent of buying anything else which comes up next from the author. I did it with Dan Brown.
Point is, why not treat internet as virtual borrowing system? Why MPAA and DMCA authorities ignoring and overlooking this obvious yet simple mathematics? Do they really want or expect us to pay 3 days salary to watch Transformer: The Age Of Extinction is the cinema hall? Or Godzilla 2014? Probably they do. They want to minimise their losses as much from our pockets.
What is my solution? Here are my two pennies.
Let people borrow a certain file, test it, taste it. If it is what they like, they will pay handsomely. We saw the case of the Humble Indie Bundle, didn’t we
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