[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Keeping It Gimple

actually dude, file sharing is not the same as wallet snatching... unless i had a star trek replicator that could replicate your wallet then give the original back to you, which is what file sharing is.

and then you're back to some want/need dichotomy which is a dead end if ever there was one.

well no, sorry. you're rationalizing thievery, see. which is fine if that's what you want. i am a thief, yes, but i know i am one and don't delude myself with sophistries.

it is very simple. products exist in a market. there is supply and there is demand. the equilibrium of both determines the price. the higher the demand or lower the supply, the higher the price. the lower the demand or higher the supply, the lower the price. simple.

when supply approaches infinite, demand is satisfied with little effort and the price approaches zero.

so, when you make infinite replications of a product, you take the seller's wallet. you render her product basically worthless. she loses her ability to make an income. seller has no more incentive to sell, or seller has to hire a bunch of cops to prevent you from doing that, or they have to change their model to make your replication moot--

e.g., i'd rather pay spotify $10 a month than deal with the headache of torrents and organization and labeling and all that shit. so for me streaming makes file sharing moot.

of course, someone is going to get fucked in the process, and get less money, etc-- that someone is always the artist.

and of course the market is always going to exist. it will not cease. and it will adapt to disruptions. let's just be honest with ourselves and call those disruptions what they are-- looting. and so the market adapts to our looting.

my name is !@#$%! and i'm a natural-born looter.

there. it wasn't that hard.