Disclaimer: Originally published on the St. Cloud State University campus paper, the University Chronicle on the Oct. 19 2009 issue. Written by Jun-Kai Teoh, Managing Online Editor.

This article may not be reproduced in any form, including online or print media, without first and foremost contacting the University Chronicle.

There’s always a rant against piracy. There’s always a rant against how the ability to share files over the Internet is evil and horrendous and all that jazz.

What I think, on the other hand, is that overpriced low-quality rubbish is evil and horrendous. What I think, is that the entertainment industry needs to pull its head out of its ass. What I think, is that someone should pull me away from this keyboard now before I go on.

Or maybe not, I need to get this out.

The entertainment industry likes to rail and rant about how piracy is killing their profit and their sales. What they absolutely love is to draw up a number on how a specific movie, song or game has been pirated “x” amount of times, and that “x” is the amount of sales that they’ve lost.

Let’s stop and be a little bit logical here shall we?

Just because some random person downloaded that album or movie off the net, doesn’t mean that the person would have bought the album if it wasn’t available for free.

And just because he downloaded it for free doesn’t mean he’s not going to purchase it either. Because hey, if that album is really that butt-kicking, ear-numbing, mind-blowing awesome, I’m pretty sure that the pirate’s going to pay for it.

A “guesstimate” of 1,000 illegal downloads of a $19.99 movie does not mean that you lost $20,000 worth of sales.

I’m not going to pay $49.99 for a game that may or may not be good. I’m not going to pay $19.99 for a movie that may or may not be good. I’m not going to pay $15 for a music album that may or may not rock my world.

In short, unless I’m pretty sure that it’s going to make me giggle like a schoolgirl or shout like I scored the winning goal in a soccer game, I’m not going to throw my money away.

But hey, I’m not arguing for piracy. I think piracy’s bad, I just think that the entertainment industry isn’t approaching the whole issue in a way that makes sense.

Adding DRM (Digital Rights Management) to games, music and video?! What? It isn’t enough that I paid for your product but now I can only watch the video under certain conditions? I can only listen to my music on a certain computer? I can only install that preposterously expensive software once?

Really? You’re going to screw your customers over in an attempt to keep business?

That’s like going to Subways and having the person serving you spit into your sandwich and handing it over to you with a big smile saying “Thank you and please come again!”

I don’t think piracy is the main issue here. I think it’s the effect of a horrible entertainment industry, and not the cause of the loss of profit for the entertainment industry.

The industry can keep on suing people through the RIAA or screwing their customers over with more and more funny DRM methods, but pirates are just going to come back over and over again.

Because hell, no one’s going to want to pay for rubbish.

Maybe, just maybe, the industry should be looking at what they’re doing instead. Cut the premium price for crappy movies maybe?

Heck, sell me “Borderlands” for $10 bucks and I’ll be able to get at least five other gamers to buy it along with me. But at $49.99 for the PC? Dream on 2k Games.

The media industry is throwing a tantrum because they can’t rip people off as easy anymore. Ten years ago, whatever they said or decided was the rule, and people either bend over and took it up in their rear or they walked away.

Now that people have a say and they’re saying it through rampant piracy, I think it’s time for the entertainment industry to listen and reassess themselves. I think it’s time for them to stop laying all the blame on pirates. I think it’s time they grew up and act a little bit more mature.

But hey, don’t go pirating. Cause when it comes to pirates vs ninjas, ninjas would win.

Never mind me.

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