In order to keep that trade surplus, the entertainment industry is going to have to stop delaying the release of its products in other countries. There are plenty of people who are willing to pay, but not willing to wait.

I think this is a problem that is artificially inflated by the media. It’s been possible to get pirated copies of movies long before anyone dreamed of bit torrent. I remember going to New York as a kid and seeing obviously pirated films for sale right there on the street.

But the reason piracy has never managed to take down the media industry is quality. Back in the days of VHS the videos were lousy copies obviously filmed from the back of the theatre while legit copies were of normal quality. Now we have leaked torrent’s compressed to make the file size smaller against legit copies on Blu-Ray with crystal clear picture and surround sound.

So as long as Blu-Ray players continue to sell and Theater owners continue to upgrade their facilities I don’t see piracy doing any more damage than before.

Edit: One last point I forgot to make about how piracy has always been around. Some in the media argue piracy is going up because it's so easy to download torrents. To them I'd ask this: Is downloading a torrent any easier than renting a VHS video and copying it?

I don't know about you, but I've seen plenty of Blu Ray torrents. I agree that theatre quality is better, but some leaks are just as good as a DVD would be. The problem is knowing where to look. (Which admittedly, I don't)

You could be right. To be honest, I don't personally use any torrent software. I'm just going of friends I know who generally get mpeg quality stuff.

But it still sort of makes the point. I mean, people who copied VHS from rented copies got essentially the same quality too. I think what it comes down to for me is the people who download torrents (or copied VHS in the past) have always existed. There may be slightly more due to torrent software but I have to think the difference is negligible.

I agree with your point, and I didn't mean my post as contention. There have been, and will always be pirates, but I do think that there's a rise in piracy due to torrent software been much easier and more convenient to use.

Media was only really considered a product for a few decades in the 20th century. Before that and again now, it's effectively been a service. A movie can only be "pirated" if one thinks of it as an artifact (the physical film, disc, or file). If it's instead thought of as the experience of watching it, a viewer will compensate the provider in the same way as most services: tips. The trick is making it social, since tipping habits seem cultural.

Film critic Mark Kermode's thoughts on movie piracy:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/2009/04/piracy_240409...