this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
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Putting aside the argument that privacy is NOT theft. The argument that piracy hurts creators has been shown to be largely false.
Most of the time the people who pirate software or media wouldn't convert to real sales if the piracy option wasn't there. Those people simply wouldn't buy the product. And even if some of those did convert to real sales, it wouldn't be enough to make or break profits.
Secondly, there's a knock-on benefit to having more people use the product regardless of legitimacy, as it increases word of mouth sales. The more people that talk positively about a product, the more people hear about it, and consequently the more sales you'll make.
Microsoft learned that lesson with Windows licenses. They really don't care if someone has a legitimate license or not. The more people they keep on their platform the more it translates to sales in other ways. I still meet people that have never heard of Linux, because there's a network effect of "everyone uses Windows", despite Linux accounting for around 5% of global desktop marketshare.
Quick edit: this isn't an argument to say that piracy is fine. The point I'm making is that from a logistics perspective, it can actually increase sales in some instances.