Question for the monkeys...

[VonTurbo]

With the massive influx of legal download systems, backed by huge companies, will piracy will eventually become obsolite?

I do find myself using certain sites*coughpiratebaycough* a lot less recently.

[GOB Bluth]

I'd think it's highly unlikely.

Look at Lost as an example - it is screened in advance in the US, and although Sky One is now only a few days behind with its episodes, it's also a PPV channel. If I a) live in the UK and b) refuse to fund Murdoch's war machine, then why would I not choose to use alternative, free, illegal methods to watch shows?

Even worse - look at shows like Arrested Development, and Seinfeld. Although they are undoubtedly top shows, they have been constantly shunted around TV schedules so that it's impossible to watch them in any sequence - and people resort to alternative methods of watching. They even did the same with Buffy, ffs.

Regardless of what happens, though - someone will always find a need to justify piracy. The steps taken with on-demand and online programming will probably reduce the number of illegal downloads, but there will still be plenty of these around:

[Ray]

I firmly believe that if the studios stopped seeing every new device as just another DVD - ie: another way to make money out of the same old content then they would find more people wiling to pay for a legal digital copy. I used to use limewiore for music and then when itunes came along at a sensible price I stopped. Make it easy, available and affordable and people will pay for convenience. It really is that simple.
ARE YOU LISTENING HOLLYWOOD???

[GOB Bluth]

I think the whole on-demand concept is quite good - it gives people the opportunity to give shows a 'trial run' at times convenient to them, and if they like a show they can spend money on buying DVDs.

I've come across a number of shows through nefarious means, but have purchased DVDs of those I enjoyed - if I hadn't seen these shows through these methods, then I wouldn't have bought the DVDs, and the companies wouldn't have got my money. On-demand programming taps into this potential market, but through legal methods.

[mjt]

My brother has a house full of them and I've always hated having them around. They're not particularly (breathe on them the wrong way and they won't play) and at the end of the day they are just so much more landfill. Digital distribution via the net has got so much more going for it on every front. I honestly believe studio greed is the problem - the people who run them don't want change on their watch (as it will probably impact on their bonuses) and internet piracy is the result.

[ChunkyMonkey]

Wouldn't it just be great if there was a really simple, easy way to download video and watch it on any device in the best quality possible? Is this toomuch to ask? Really?