Sometimes I feel I'm the only person left in the world who a) still buys media; b) doesn't mind doing it; c) thinks it's wrong to pirate things; and d) doesn't consider it my right to be able to consume any media I want, and the only reason I'm not doing it is because it's priced too high - IMHO, DVDs, CDs, etc. are luxury goods.
Still, I realise I'm in the minority here - the 70% figure definitely doesn't surprise me. Just, for some reason, makes me a little sad.
You are not the only person; I buy when I can. But the emphases on can here; in Europe where I live, you get, via the web, news about every new tv show, movie, game and book immediately after it comes out. And then you have to wait for ages (depending on the popularity) before you can watch / buy it here. Digital products like ebooks, games, movies and tv shows should not have a geo limiting factor to them; they are digital. As long as they do, I don't see how copying can be prevented.
Take apps like Pandora; very easy to use, very nice to use. Doesn't work in the EU. Lame.
If 90% of the cool content you can buy online wouldn't be US only for such a long time after release and if everything was easier to use, I believe copying would be less common. Why would you risk (viruses, the law) it or go to the trouble of acquiring illegal materials if you can easily get it at the same time US citizens get it?
(I'm using the US as an example here mainly because most content I like from other countries I can immediately buy, but that might differ depending on your taste.)
Well I just bought a new TV that can play DivX and XVid. I don't think I can watch Netflix or anything like that, because Samsung does not yet implement it (?maybe Netflix, but I am not in the US, so no use for me).
What I could probably do is bittorrent movies and watch them on my TV.
I occasionally rent movies from the store, but I always overpay because it takes me too long to return them. Somehow bittorrent seems like the only sensible option. I wouldn't mind paying, but they don't let me.
Still, I realise I'm in the minority here - the 70% figure definitely doesn't surprise me. Just, for some reason, makes me a little sad.