I award you no points

"An indictment accused Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue."

Popular file-sharing site Megaupload.com shut down; founder, others indicted on piracy charges - washingtonpost.com

The very important question I want you all to ask yourselves right now is - where is that $500 million?

If, as it is claimed, online piracy hurts the US economy because people are not buying the things that they are downloading for free, where is that money going instead?

Is it going to the pirates? No. Is it going to sites like Megaupload, The Pirate Bay and Demonoid that are used by the pirates? No. Are people hoarding that money in their bank accounts and rubbing their hands with glee as they watch their bank balances collectively rise by $500 million? No.

That money is being spent, by people, on goods and services…it is still going into the US economy. Indeed, it’s often going to the very corporations who complain about online piracy.

They’re still getting your money. There’s no magical extra money they’d be getting if piracy didn’t exist. This isn’t about piracy. It’s about controlling the internet, controlling the flow of information, and limiting your ability to consume the media they want you to consume, when they want you to consume it. This isn’t about piracy, it’s about control.

(via iandsharman)

Notes: 73

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    Although in the long run, I agree that what this will lead to is the control of information, but where are the royalties...

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    If only everyone would apply this logic to the rest of the economy. “Public works” are only paid for through taxes....

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