by Anvils Hammer » Wed Feb 08, 2012 1:53 am
Happily,
In any industry, supply and demand, and the cost of producing somthing, dictates the price at which a product is sold.
A company will price its products to make as much money as it can, to cover its costs and make a profit, the free market mechanism is such that if a company charges to much, competitors will take their bussiness away, ensuring the price of any product tends toward the "market" level.
If a company sufferes stock loses from shop lifting, they have to absorb those losses by passing the costs on to their other customers, so in a supermarket a small % of the price I pay is to cover the cost of stuff which has been stolen.
In the video game industry, a large number of people choose to download and play pirate copies. The cost of developing the game is still the same as if there was no piracy, but revenues are lower, so the cost of each legitimate copy of the game must be higher.
In the wargames miniatures industry, people who purchase a knock off copy of a miniature rather than pay the price set by the legitimate manufacturer, are reducing that companies revenue. For any one person purchasing a knock off, the effect is virtually zero, but over the whole industry, the lost revenue from piracy/recasting is passed on to the consumer, the legitimate purchaser of the originals.
So my forgeworld Contemptor Dreadnaught is more expensive that it would be if there was no piracy.
If there was no piracy, a certain % of the people buying a knock off would choose to pay the Forgeworld price, that would increase their revenues and profits. The increased profit would allow them to hire more staff to create awesome new models. Over time, the market mechanism will tend to depress their prices to the normal level.
Its all pretty abstract, but Piracy DOES increase the cost of ANY product to the legitimate end users.
You can argue "why should I care that legitimate purchasers are losing out". I believe its morally wrong to benefit at someone elses expense, even if only in the abstract.
AH