Music Piracy Costs Germany $660 Million, Study Claims

[cvrle77]

A new report on illegal digital downloading meant to victimize the music industry and place the blame entirely on filesharing says that while the German film industry had lost roughly $200 million last year, it didn’t even come close the the real blow received by the music industry with nearly $660 million in lost revenues.
The study was supported by the Berlin-Brandenburg Medienboard, which endorses media companies and the video game association G.A.M.E., and carried through by Berlin-based House of Research.
The study scrutinized various academic files containing information on illegal download and streaming of copyrighted digital data and the impact piracy had on sales. While focusing on the music and film industry, the study also took a look on the games industry, but the results were inconclusive due to insufficient number of relevant surveys.
According to the research German pirates streamed/downloaded 185 million films illegally in 2011, claiming 6% of the industry’s overall annual revenues. It further explains that ever since Kino.to was shut down and its founders and operators imprisoned, movie rentals went up with 29% after just one week, and spiked up to 41% in July 2011. On late July, however, things got back the way they were as a copycat file-sharing site appeared.
The House of Research recognizes that the positive impact of piracy exists, but it’s too small to count.
“One can argue about the numbers but that (piracy) damages the industry is undeniable,” said Elmar Giglinger – managing director at Medienboard.
“We now have to find reasonable solutions. As has so often been the case, hardliner positions on both sides has prevented a constructive debate.”
The debate on online piracy and copyright laws reached new levels in Germany in 2011, especially that the German Pirate Party had brought a new perspective in the political arena.

Source: P2P On!

So, my question is, how can anyone make such flawed math, claiming something that never existed, was lost?

Lets talk about both music, and gaming industry. This applies to both. Actually, to everything warez related.

Do they really think, that if there was no torrents in the first place, they would earn 660 million dollars more? Do they really think, if there is no torrent sites, anyone would even know for all those games? Even those people who bought them legally?

Do they really think, that if there was no torrents, technology would advance so fast, so many people would purchase new branded PCs, flooding the money to companies like Intel, AMD, and NVidia?

Do they not see the connection, that' if no one bought all those PCs, we would still play MineCraft, or Doom, and there would be no gaming 'industry' as it is? It's not the games that are powering gaming industry, it's technology that is moving it forward, and technology is boosted by pirating, spreading games for free. It's not the opposite way.

Just imagine an unimaginable situation, where ALL Torrent and warez sites dissapear over night.

What would boost gaming industry? Would you buy some game, without seeing it first?

If you wouldn't, would you upgrade your PC, for the sake of browsing internet, working in office, or photoshop, or todays cheapest configurations could push all those without hassle?

You simply wouldn't. Most of us played, and upgraded our PCs, because of pirated games. It's tiny minority of people, who can afford buying new games at 60-100$ and upgrading their PCs to latest hardware. But when you get your hands on free game, PC upgrade is so much easier. And, in case you don't like the game, hardware stays, for the next free game.

And, while warez is still biggest free advertising platform for them, they still want to tear that apart.

I really think, warez scene should show them, on the bigger run, what is happening, when pirates stop pirating, for more than a month. One month will show slight increase in games purchasing. But pockets don't have unlimited money in them. Once you feel you gave lots of money for mediocre game, and that sore taste of fraud in your mouth, you will never buy crap again. Soon, not only you, lots of them will do the same. Then, no one will upgrade their PC. And shit will just start falling apart.

my 22 cents.

cvrle77 Reviewed by cvrle77 on 22nd Jun 2012. Music Piracy Costs Germany $660 Million, Study Claims So, my question is, how can anyone make such flawed math, claiming something that never existed, was lost? Lets talk about both music, and gaming industry. This applies to both. Actually, to everything warez related. Do they really think, that if there was no torrents in the first place, they would earn 660 million dollars more? Do they really think, if there is no torrent sites, anyone would even know for all those games? Even those people who bought them legally? Do they really Rating: 5

[duruakant]

Do they really think, that if there was no torrents in the first place, they would earn 660 million dollars more?

Unfortunately they are as stupid as think they do.

I think warez is not damaging the industry, it helps to it.For example, if I could not listen a song via youtube by freely, I would not buy ANY ALBUM.ANY.I mean, if I can not test it, If I am not be able to listen it, how can I decide whether the album is great ?

I am supporting warez but it is not mean that I say "everything is free, why would I buy an album ?" I am saying that warez should not be illegal.

Last month, I bought ten albums, (they cost me $120 in total) because of they are AWESOME, not because of "I have to buy"

[barrix]

Warez is all about testing. You like it, you gonna buy it. Otherwise why waste money

[JGM]

People test drive a car before they buy

JGM.

[Bretteo]

Warez is all about testing. You like it, you gonna buy it. Otherwise why waste money

Either that, or it's for people that can't afford to spend $700 on a frikkin copy of Photoshop that will be obsolete in 12 months..

The Warez scene is the Robin Hood of the friggin' net if you ask me

[daboobies]

you test a man/woman before marry