[citation][nom]sstym[/nom]I like the fact that the studios will give an estimate (pulled out of the stygian depths of their flesh, no doubt) of how much the pirated version cost them.Thinking of it, it did do a lot of damage: if you downloaded it and watched it before it was out, you were able to tell your friends how bad it was and stopped the studio from bilking them.[/citation]
Yeah, no lie. Thanks to that steaming, pile of crap legislation known as the DMCA, groups like the MPAA and RIAA can pretty must just invent losses, then directly subpoena ISPs to give up people they claim are pirating their stuff, and then order those people to pay thousands of dollars or face civil and criminal charges for damages in the hundreds of thousands or even millions (isn't that extortion?).
It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that piracy doesn't cost them anywhere near what they claim. People who pirate fall into several categories; some are people who wouldn't have purchased it legally, others purchase it specifically because they were able to get the free (albeit illegal) preview, very few are in the category of, "I would have purchased it legally, but now I won't because I was able to pirate it).