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keef

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  • Jan 25, 2012 @ 04:13am

    Re:

    It certainly is a business model issue.

    Myself for example. I used to pirate games quite a fair bit, but since the introduction of the Steam platform - where content is delivered digitally, at a fair price with good customer service - I haven't pirate a game for years.

    STEAM has even been released in Russia (a famous haven for piracy) and has taken off spectacularly, earning Valve (the owners) millions.

    Movies. Before companies like Netflix if you wanted to rent a movie you had to go to your local store like Blockbuster and rent some scratched disk that may/may not work and pay exorbitant prices or download a pirate Dvd Rip version for guaranteed quality - now I can have a wider selection of that content delivered for a set monthly fee.

    Now of course the movie companies have tried to screw Netflix over.

    In 1982 the then head of the MPAA Jack Valenti, testifying before a house judiciary committee said "I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone?"

    Since then the movie industry has gone from strength to strength despite the 'threat' from VCRs and piracy.

    Give customers what they want - affordable content in convenient delivery options, and they will come to you. The STEAM platform & Netflix have already shown this.