b) they still got all the money for the cars
they produced, there is not a single missing
It doesn't work like that - in the event of a magical button that can replicate a car, all the cars they'll be able to produce and sell is exactly 1.
In such an event the car maker won't be able to recuperate its sunk costs, and the writing would be clearly on the wall, so such a magical car will never be produced, unless there's legislation in place that prevents people from giving away free cars.
In software or creative endeavorers, where the sunk cost is mostly measured in time spent on the task, there are always people willing to give away their work for free (having other incentives than money). Internet also makes it easier to find other people with the same interests and collaborate.
But make no mistake about it - hobbyists will never be able to create something like an Audi, or an Avatar or an Adobe Photoshop for that matter (yes, I'm a happy GIMP user, it ain't and never will be on the same level as Photoshop).
I buy the DVD on amazon.com, but while it's
shipping I torrent the same movie and watch it.
Is it still a theft?
Yes and No, depending on the perspective - No because you already payed for the privilege of watching it, Yes because torrents are usually of poor quality, which may make you give bad reviews to people whom would otherwise watch it themselves.
Imagine you're Da Vinci, and I'm displaying a copy of Gioconda in my museum, half the size, with the hue changed, with less details and cropped, saying to people that that's just like the original Gioconda ... after all the hard work you've put, I'd imagine you'd get upset too.
On the other hand it isn't right for people to get charged multiple times for the same movie. So I guess piracy itself is as morally-wrong as these ripoffs.
If I torrent something "getting for free"
is never the reason to do that.
IMHO, I'm also torrenting stuff because I want to check out what I'm buying ... people should really learn to make better demo versions and price their stuff according to the provided value.
Personally I'm sick of bad movies that lured me to see them because of a fancy trailer that exhibited non-representative traits of the movie.
Also for software, 30 days valuation periods are not enough for complex software like Office or Photoshop. Also, software like Photoshop Elements should be free of charge, or you should get some sort of refund when buying Photoshop.
Your comment doesn't follow from mine because I touched on both (a) quality and (b) legislature that makes distribution or possession of copies illegal.
This is an economy of scarcity -- people tend to buy the cheapest product that fulfills their needs. Those needs many-times include not getting sued to oblivion and risk huge penalties.
I was going to reply with all the legal stuff on TPB, but I wanted to point out that even the biggest-budget and most popular content can survive even if it's available for free. There are a lot of producers who distribute primarily on P2P and it doesn't seem to be any harder for them to make money. I think http://vodo.net/ is the biggest example that comes to mind right now, and individual artists like http://www.pronobozo.com/ are doing OK on their own as well.
You're touching on alternative business-models. Alternative as in different than creating shit then selling it directly ... a general business model that has worked since money where invented.
And the problem with these business models is that they aren't general enough (working on a case by case basis) and don't even survive the onslaught of technological evolution.
Music artists can make money from concerts (they always did). But in case you haven't noticed, theaters are in big trouble, artists many times having to seek out employment in sitcoms/trashy TV shows to make a living. One month ago I also watched an opera show in 3D with surround sound ... it was like being there and it will only get better.
Yes, you can find artists that do well by riding the Internet wave / the freemium business model. That doesn't mean it works on a bigger scale or that it will continue to work 5 years from now.
Creating shit and selling it if it provides value is the only sustainable and general business-model. Society would be worse without it, unless you're talking about getting rid of money altogether.
These days 720p torrents are the norm if something is at the point where you can buy the DVD, mainstream stuff anyway. So I doubt your going to really be getting something of lower (drastically at least) quality.
In such an event the car maker won't be able to recuperate its sunk costs, and the writing would be clearly on the wall, so such a magical car will never be produced, unless there's legislation in place that prevents people from giving away free cars.
In software or creative endeavorers, where the sunk cost is mostly measured in time spent on the task, there are always people willing to give away their work for free (having other incentives than money). Internet also makes it easier to find other people with the same interests and collaborate.
But make no mistake about it - hobbyists will never be able to create something like an Audi, or an Avatar or an Adobe Photoshop for that matter (yes, I'm a happy GIMP user, it ain't and never will be on the same level as Photoshop).
Yes and No, depending on the perspective - No because you already payed for the privilege of watching it, Yes because torrents are usually of poor quality, which may make you give bad reviews to people whom would otherwise watch it themselves.Imagine you're Da Vinci, and I'm displaying a copy of Gioconda in my museum, half the size, with the hue changed, with less details and cropped, saying to people that that's just like the original Gioconda ... after all the hard work you've put, I'd imagine you'd get upset too.
On the other hand it isn't right for people to get charged multiple times for the same movie. So I guess piracy itself is as morally-wrong as these ripoffs.
IMHO, I'm also torrenting stuff because I want to check out what I'm buying ... people should really learn to make better demo versions and price their stuff according to the provided value.Personally I'm sick of bad movies that lured me to see them because of a fancy trailer that exhibited non-representative traits of the movie.
Also for software, 30 days valuation periods are not enough for complex software like Office or Photoshop. Also, software like Photoshop Elements should be free of charge, or you should get some sort of refund when buying Photoshop.
This is the real problem IMHO - ripoffs.