Study: Cutting prices is the only way to stop piracy (From the Well Duh dept.)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

http://www.thinq.co.uk/2011/3/15/cutting-prices-only-way-stop-piracy/

The Media Piracy Project, published last week by the Social Science Research Council, reports that illegal copying of movies, music, video games and software is "better described as a global pricing problem" - and the only way to tackle it is for copyright holders to charge consumers less money for their wares.

The three-year study into media piracy in emerging economies concentrated on countries such as Russia, Mexico and India, where piracy is endemic.

The academics concluded that societies where piracy is rife are no more immoral, or less willing to pay for content - the problem is that in those parts of the world, legitimate CDs, DVDs and software are five to ten times higher relative to local incomes than they are in the US and Europe. (...)

The report condemns what it calls the "strong moralization of the debate" about an issue that the authors claim is really a matter of price and consumer demand. (more at link)

Emphasis mine.

[bluestateguy]

1. Any economist could tell you that without some wordy wonky study

The more expensive you make a good or service the greater likliehood there will be of a black market arising in that respective industry.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

5. Apparently, the more obvious a truth is, the more ferociously people resist it. -nt

[msongs]

2. "cutting wages is the only way to stop unemployment" = people who want something for nothing will do

anything to get it.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. Is that supposed to be about the article in the OP? Did you read it?

Do you have some opinion to offer that's (a) intelligible, and (b) actually relevant to what the article talks about?

[PoliticAverse]

3. If you cut prices enough people buy things they don't even want... n/t