Pirates are mostly just lazy

The only times I’ve been tempted to download pirated movies or TV shows is when getting it through some other channel is more of a hassle. It isn’t because I am cheap and don’t want to pay for it…au contraire, I am happy to pay for it (I was at the video store renting RocknRolla when I had the inspiration for this post), it is just that I am often lazy and in some circumstances the internet is an easier place to get what you want.

It is also true that many pirates are paying to use services like Imageshacks’ Torrent service. Again, in such cases it isn’t because they are cheap, rather they are looking for the most convenient way to get the content, and indeed they are proving that they are prepared to pay for that convenience. In many cases I don’t think movie piracy is about the money.

If I was a movie studio I would be looking at how I can get my movies into peoples hands as easily as possible. Sure people are flocking to the movie theatres these days, which is a reflection that the theatre can be a great experience, but equally there are loads of people who are not looking for that experience, people who want to stay in on a Friday or Saturday night….make it easy for them and you’ll satisfy another audience.

Right at this moment, in New Zealand there is no where I can go to download a copy of Burn After Reading to play on my TV. I can get it from iTunes, but then I have to play it on my computer which isn’t real convenient. What I want is a file I can play on my TV or on my (non Apple) portable media player. Sure I have thought of buying an Apple TV, but I am resisting because I don’t really want another media device and I keep expecting someone, anyone, to realize that the player who makes it easy for everyone is going make a killing.

I don’t deny that there are people who will download pirated content even if it was readily accessible in a convenient format from commercial sources. I do think though that a big part of the bittorent audience are not motivated by free, but rather by convenience. When it becomes easy for everyone to get their digital media content from commercial sources in formats they can play on the devices of their choice then the likes of thepiratebay.org will become less relevant. The movie studios need to figure out how to make bittorrent feel like a hassle.

It occurs to me that we are living in a slightly weird period where the technological sophistication of certain media consumers is getting ahead of the media producers and so that segment of consumer is turning to the likes of bittorrent. Just like the music industry is finally realising that DRM doesn’t help anyone, it seems like there’s a certain enevitability to the future of digital movie distribution…studios will continue to fight it, but eventually they’ll realize that they have to give the people what they want, which is really easy access to the content online in formats that are flexible enough for the consumers to do what they want with it.