12:26 pm - 02/16/2012
New Yorkers keep on keepin' on.
100 Person Poll: New Yorkers Are Not Afraid of Illegal File-Sharing
By JOE COSCARELLI
A crackdown on illegal downloading may very well be occurring in a way it hasn't since the fall of Napster. So far in 2012, file-sharing oasis Megaupload was raided and closed by the FBI, while BitTorrent wonderland The Pirate Bay plans to cover its tracks by removing all torrent files as its founder head to jail. Although the law enforcement action is focused on the people behind these sites, like the overblown bad guy Kim Dotcom, and not individual users, the arrests, seizing of websites, and potential legislation like SOPA and PIPA are clearly meant to send a message on behalf of movie studios, record labels, and other copyright holders. According to our admittedly unscientific and unrepresentative (but fascinating) poll, New Yorkers are barely taking notice.
Amid the swirl of bad news for illegal downloading, we sent out two interns, Catie Keck and Timothy Kosinski, to Union Square, Lincoln Center, and Morningside Heights to ask 100 passersby about their file-sharing habits. The most immediate thing we learned is that everyone does it:
From young teenagers to much older adults, 92 respondents said they illegally download "always" or "sometimes," and only eight said they never do.*
Next we asked whether recent woes for Megaupload and The Pirate Bay have discouraged their downloading:
Only 13 people said they were scared by the recent news and that it made them less likely to break the law, while 42 people said they're just going elsewhere to find what they want. Twenty-five people admitted that downloading is harder now, and eight people hadn't heard anything about it.
And yet overwhelmingly, a majority of people said they also pay for music and movies online via services like iTunes and Netflix:
We'll remain value neutral on this one, but the things people most commonly downloaded, according to our poll, were episodes of Game of Thrones and music by Drake. Taste aside, our lawless-leaning bunch included 30 people who said there should be no punishment whatsoever for file-sharing, while another 45 recommended a small fine. "But only if they can catch you," as one person put it, "which at this point seems hard to do."
*This post has been updated because we plugged the wrong number into the graph. 57 people, not 47, responded that they "sometimes" download.
Source.
Do you still dl at the same rate that you did before, ONTD? Or have you become discouraged by the loss of Megaupload (RIP) and other sites? Also, kudos to NY for continuing to have perfect taste i.e. dling Game of Thrones (Except Drake, tho? Really, guys? C'mon now. Even out of 100 people, for the majority to dl Drake... smhc.)
By JOE COSCARELLI
A crackdown on illegal downloading may very well be occurring in a way it hasn't since the fall of Napster. So far in 2012, file-sharing oasis Megaupload was raided and closed by the FBI, while BitTorrent wonderland The Pirate Bay plans to cover its tracks by removing all torrent files as its founder head to jail. Although the law enforcement action is focused on the people behind these sites, like the overblown bad guy Kim Dotcom, and not individual users, the arrests, seizing of websites, and potential legislation like SOPA and PIPA are clearly meant to send a message on behalf of movie studios, record labels, and other copyright holders. According to our admittedly unscientific and unrepresentative (but fascinating) poll, New Yorkers are barely taking notice.
Amid the swirl of bad news for illegal downloading, we sent out two interns, Catie Keck and Timothy Kosinski, to Union Square, Lincoln Center, and Morningside Heights to ask 100 passersby about their file-sharing habits. The most immediate thing we learned is that everyone does it:
From young teenagers to much older adults, 92 respondents said they illegally download "always" or "sometimes," and only eight said they never do.*
Next we asked whether recent woes for Megaupload and The Pirate Bay have discouraged their downloading:
Only 13 people said they were scared by the recent news and that it made them less likely to break the law, while 42 people said they're just going elsewhere to find what they want. Twenty-five people admitted that downloading is harder now, and eight people hadn't heard anything about it.
And yet overwhelmingly, a majority of people said they also pay for music and movies online via services like iTunes and Netflix:
We'll remain value neutral on this one, but the things people most commonly downloaded, according to our poll, were episodes of Game of Thrones and music by Drake. Taste aside, our lawless-leaning bunch included 30 people who said there should be no punishment whatsoever for file-sharing, while another 45 recommended a small fine. "But only if they can catch you," as one person put it, "which at this point seems hard to do."
*This post has been updated because we plugged the wrong number into the graph. 57 people, not 47, responded that they "sometimes" download.
Source.
Do you still dl at the same rate that you did before, ONTD? Or have you become discouraged by the loss of Megaupload (RIP) and other sites? Also, kudos to NY for continuing to have perfect taste i.e. dling Game of Thrones (Except Drake, tho? Really, guys? C'mon now. Even out of 100 people, for the majority to dl Drake... smhc.)
i was like lol not all of us can be rich white bitches like you
jealous you're going to ny i mean, not the show~
Edited at 2012-02-17 05:15 am (UTC)
they don't deserve my money TBH.
lol never.
I buy my movies and tv shows. I do preview music. but if I like it, I buy it. there is just so much crap that I want a way to listen before I buy. as for movies and tv I hit netflix and redbox before I spend big money. I bought a movie the other day and it was 30 bucks. goddamn prices have gone up.
it was on sale for $9 so yeah.
I also went to the movies since then, though I cannot remember what I last saw. Beauty and the beast 3D, maybe.
buy it on itunes, y'all
But generally yeah I ~illegally~ download all music, unless I: A) really really love the artist, or, B) the artist/song is so obscure that I can't even find what I'm looking for on Youtube or any other site except Amazon.com ('cause fuck Itunes if I can help it).
I'm not as obsessive about films as I am about music: I don't pay to see movies in a theater unless I really really want to see it, can afford it at the time, and/or a friend wants to go and/or somebody else pays for it. I don't buy a DVD unless I already know I super-love the movie. Fuck blueray, and I've never paid to download a movie. If I wanna see it but don't want to pay, I just wait until it pops up online or I can get somebody else to pay for me, or I get over it and go without.
Books and magazines, though, I always buy if I can afford to, even though I shouldn't, as I have really no space for them and they're a BITCH when you're moving. Or I borrow them from friends/family (ZOMGZ ILLEGAL FILESHARING). I can't use the library anymore because I owe them like $100 in late fees so fuck that shit. Occasionally I steal books (the My Week With Marilyn tie-in last year was the most recent one), but I'd rather pay. The last book I paid for was earlier this week, the sixth volume of the manga Dogs. I'm still not into the digital book stuff; I don't have a Kindle or Nook or whatever. I very occasionally download books for free in PDF form, the latest being some crazy Illuminati shit called Trance-America or something like that. But those books are usually free (from the author) anyway. The only book I ever downloaded illegally was Breaking Dawn the week it came out.
Edited at 2012-02-17 05:56 am (UTC)
But I only bought it b/c the profits go to Amnesty. Otherwise...it's been quite some time since I've actually paid for music online
Edited at 2012-02-17 05:01 am (UTC)
I am way too entitled, but for 95% of artists it is way too easy.
I do stream movies/tv online though, if I miss my shows when they're on or if it's a movie I really want to see but don't own (Alien: Resurrection was the last one).
I buy as much as I stream, since I only stream the stuff I love and I buy what I love :/
I bought the latest Cougar Town ep bc I missed it and I'd rather watch it on my Apple TV than online with ads~
Plus, I want to support an awesome show that is struggling to stay afloat :(
i still have some money on my itunes giftcard i got months ago.
Edited at 2012-02-17 05:16 am (UTC)
& katy b's album
i also do pay per view movies occasionally because my parents have a big-ass tv + surround sound that's so much more enjoyable than a rip of a dvd screener on my laptop.
And I pay for Netflix.
I like to watch DVDs on my computer while I blowdry my hair, but I need subtitles because obviously I can't hear with the hairdryer going, and I have a tough time finding good downloads with subtitles.. if anyone has any tips that would be great though! LOL.
Oh wait. I think I bought a CD or 2 in January.
Edited at 2012-02-17 05:39 am (UTC)
If im going to pay for it i want a hard copy.
watch the throne was only 3.99 but i don't feel like it was worth it. i shoulda just dl paris
Best purchase I've made in a while tbqh.
legit cannot remember anything before that
TV shows on the other hand... I've been downloading A LOT of those haha.
Worth it, IMO. Going to do the same with Arkham City when it's on sale.
I honestly can't remember the last time I bought a music CD, and I have never bought an MP3 in my life.
I buy DVDs and TV series way more often. Last one was...January? Bought Muppet Treasure Island on DVD.
The most likely I am to get something purely digital is when it comes to videogames. But the last game I purchased in a purely digital form must be Left 4 Dead in 2008. I got a physical copy of Left 4 Dead 2 (imported) and a physical copy of Skyrim (also imported).
It's also because German digital copies via Steam aren't as attractive because they've got the censorship intact. If you import a physical copy from Austria or the UK and enter that code via Steam you can usually get it uncensored, since you do actually own an uncensored copy of the game.
I think the last album I bought was the Arkells - Michigan Left bc I couldn't find it for download anywhere and an album by my friends band.
Besides that, I bought Birdy's cover of "Skinny Love" on iTunes. I don't have problems downloading stuff from big musical artists, but I want to support the little guys, so I make the effort to purchase their stuff. I do this for all the acts I've found through YouTube, too.
Movie: Beware the Gonzo
Show: Nikita
As for music.... I think I bought "Hey Soul Sister" by Train when it came out like... a year or so ago.
(what does it say about me that I'll pay 8.99 for a digital book but i loathe to pay 99 cents for a song. I was REALLY annoyed I had to pay for that song.)
I do purchase music if I feel its worth my money. Usually I'll start off with a leak or a download and then buy my own copy.
But if they're a major label artist(like Katy Perry, Gaga, Britney), I dont even bother. They can sell out arenas, they're fine.
YAS BABY.
just a heads up to people who think indexed means deleted. i also dont even really know what indexed means lol.
also, someone should make some ontd announcement about this lol. im sure a lot of us use mediafire and ive come across a lot of people who dont understand the index error.
Edited at 2012-02-17 05:18 am (UTC)
I submitted this post almost 12 hours ago.
I miss it
you could always tell who was from uptown and who was from downtown.
Also, (sensible parts of) Brooklyn and LES >>>>>>
People download Drake because they don't want to pay for his music, but they still occasionally listen to it.
(I buy almost all of my music on iTunes though, even if I download a Justin Bieber song for my bb cousin's iPod. IDKY.)
I download music but this rationale is pretty bad.
Right? God, I'd pay for Hulu+ if it meant I could watch True Blood. (in fact I tried to, not realizing that they don't have HBO shows.)
It started when Comcast pissed me off so much that I cancelled it in a rage. Then I realized I didn't need it. I've saved so much money.