Morality and downloading

[Jenny A]

Come on, you don't think the guys in charge of that stuff would be using piracy as justification for charging more no matter what we do?

It does not help the situation.  If they could sell twice as many there would be justification to lower prices.  As it is, out of 10+ acquaintances, I am the only one that purchases DVDs. (The best part is that I am the only atheist in the group.)  How many people do you know that purchase rather than steal? Now look at it from the supply aspect, for every one they sell, 10 are stolen?  What is their motivation to lower the price?

That isn't a moral problem, it's a marketing problem.  I fix prices in hopes of finding that sweet spot in which I make the most money.  That price is usually somewhere in the middle.  If I sell for too much there will be more piracy.  It will be immoral, but there will be more.  So, like every seller, I have to take that into account.  The grocery store has to take the cost of shoplifting and employee theft into account too.

[One Above All]

Prices are changed according to the region. Some game developers don't go so far as to call us (consumers) stupid to our faces, but they might as well when they charge 60 USD, EUR, or GBP in the USA, Eurozone, and UK, respectively, as if the price is the same. It's not. 60 USD is about €57, €60 is about 42 GPB, and 60 GBP is about 88 USD. That means the USA pays the least for games, followed by the Eurozone, followed by the UK.

In Russia, games are cheaper than pretty much anywhere else. If game developers couldn't afford these prices (not to mention shipping and storage costs for those who still sell physical copies), they wouldn't sell their games there, period. But they do, and at a much cheaper price. That's because money comes first. It's not about selling things at a fair price; it's about selling things at a price that will maximize profits. If they sold their games in developing countries with the same price tag that those same games have in developed countries, they'd "never" make a sale. So, rather than lose that market entirely, they adjust the price so that they can still get some profit from it (and note that games in Russia - these games anyway - are at least around 33% cheaper than what we get here).

So, assuming piracy is theft, I say it's well justified.
In Portugal, we have a saying: Ladrão que rouba ladrão tem cem anos de perdão. Lit.: Thief that robs thief has 100 years of pardon.

[IATIA]

That isn't a moral problem, it's a marketing problem.

True enough, but they are not completely separate. The morality of individuals has an effect on any market. If 10 people shoplifted one item for every honest customer, where would your profit margin be then? You could raise the prices, but then you would probably lose a lot of honest customers. Even a one to one ratio can be disastrous. Fox and Hound.

[Jenny A]

But that's not how it works.  xD
The prices would remain high no matter how much they sold, because they figure if the price is high and people are buying there is no justification for lowering it to make less. 

It doesn't work that way.  Most marketers are rational.  They (including me) want to make money.  I'd rather sell 500 prints at $10 each than one for $4000 because I'd make a $1,000 more.  I'd make more yet selling seventy for $100 each which is closer to what actually happens in my case.  But I'd really much rather sell 6000 for $5 each.  Unfortunately for me, I've yet to sell 6000 of anything at any price.

[Silver]

Unfortunately for me, I've yet to sell 6000 of anything at any price.

The business world is tough.  

[Jenny A]

Prices are changed according to the region. Some game developers don't go so far as to call us (consumers) stupid to our faces, but they might as well when they charge 60 USD, EUR, or GBP in the USA, Eurozone, and UK, respectively, as if the price is the same. It's not. 60 USD is about €57, €60 is about 42 GPB, and 60 GBP is about 88 USD. That means the USA pays the least for games, followed by the Eurozone, followed by the UK.

In Russia, games are cheaper than pretty much anywhere else. If game developers couldn't afford these prices (not to mention shipping and storage costs for those who still sell physical copies), they wouldn't sell their games there, period. But they do, and at a much cheaper price. That's because money comes first. It's not about selling things at a fair price; it's about selling things at a price that will maximize profits. If they sold their games in developing countries with the same price tag that those same games have in developed countries, they'd "never" make a sale. So, rather than lose that market entirely, they adjust the price so that they can still get some profit from it (and note that games in Russia - these games anyway - are at least around 33% cheaper than what we get here).

So, assuming piracy is theft, I say it's well justified.
In Portugal, we have a saying: Ladrão que rouba ladrão tem cem anos de perdão. Lit.: Thief that robs thief has 100 years of pardon.

Sorry, not selling at the price you would like is not theft.  When things cost more in one place than another, there is usually a rational market reason for that. 

[Silver]

On a previous thread about pirating, I read a very rational comment about how pirating is not immoral, but for the life of I cannot remember it.

[One Above All]

When things cost more in one place than another, there is usually a rational market reason for that. 

I already said what the rational market reason is: if the prices were higher in those regions, their product wouldn't sell (as much). If they lost money by lowering their prices that much, then they wouldn't lower their prices, or they'd abandon the market altogether.

[Silver]

Also, deeming pirating as immoral and stealing just seems silly to me, considering how we pirate every time we speak. Every time we say something, should we not be stating, "From the dictionary"?

[One Above All]

Also, deeming pirating as immoral and stealing just seems silly to me, considering how we pirate every time we speak.  Every time we say something, should we not be stating, "From the dictionary"?

...OK, that's just silly.