For some people piracy is absolutely about money. They want something but don't want to pay for it. Simple as that.
But for a lot of people, piracy is simply about convenience. Almost without exception, the movies and TV shows I pirate aren't on Netflix. The music I pirate isn't on Spotify. It's just easier to pirate it when it's not made conveniently available. On another site (which will remain nameless), I asked a person who described himself as a self-made multimillionaire if he still pirates things. His response was, "Fuck yes. HBO give me a way to watch Game of Thrones when I want it, until then I'm going to The Pirate Bay". Geographical restrictions for content is an absolute crapshoot filled with arbitrary restrictions and a lot of people just don't want to deal with it.
But it is also important to point out that Google, Microsoft, etc have NOTHING TO DO with piracy websites. Nothing. They are legitimate businesses who are being bullied into fixing something that isn't their problem. If the MPAA and other similar organizations want to fight piracy, they need to accept the reality that they are competing with it. And win that battle by making it more convenient to get things through legitimate means. I know this is anecdotal but it's just intended to illustrate my point: I used to pirate TONS of music before I got Spotify. Now I barely ever pirate music. I used to pirate video games before I downloaded Steam. Now I never do.The benefits of using these things outweighs the cost.
But last but not least, this won't work. You cannot censor the internet effectively. You can still find child porn online. Even when the entire world is united in its contempt for it and dedicated to making it unavailable, you can still find it. If they can't get rid of CP, they won't get rid of pirated music.
I could not possibly disagree with you more.
For some people piracy is absolutely about money. They want something but don't want to pay for it. Simple as that.
But for a lot of people, piracy is simply about convenience. Almost without exception, the movies and TV shows I pirate aren't on Netflix. The music I pirate isn't on Spotify. It's just easier to pirate it when it's not made conveniently available. On another site (which will remain nameless), I asked a person who described himself as a self-made multimillionaire if he still pirates things. His response was, "Fuck yes. HBO give me a way to watch Game of Thrones when I want it, until then I'm going to The Pirate Bay". Geographical restrictions for content is an absolute crapshoot filled with arbitrary restrictions and a lot of people just don't want to deal with it.
But it is also important to point out that Google, Microsoft, etc have NOTHING TO DO with piracy websites. Nothing. They are legitimate businesses who are being bullied into fixing something that isn't their problem. If the MPAA and other similar organizations want to fight piracy, they need to accept the reality that they are competing with it. And win that battle by making it more convenient to get things through legitimate means. I know this is anecdotal but it's just intended to illustrate my point: I used to pirate TONS of music before I got Spotify. Now I barely ever pirate music. I used to pirate video games before I downloaded Steam. Now I never do.The benefits of using these things outweighs the cost.
But last but not least, this won't work. You cannot censor the internet effectively. You can still find child porn online. Even when the entire world is united in its contempt for it and dedicated to making it unavailable, you can still find it. If they can't get rid of CP, they won't get rid of pirated music.