I'd argue that region based licensing is killing the industry, along with the reluctance for content producers to serve content through Netflix or something comparable.

Netflix just launched in Australia. If it had all the shows I wanted, I'd sign up in a heart beat. But it's still missing a good chunk because of the licensing deals that already exist over here.

I want to support the Netflix model and content producers that support them. I've considered signing up and not using it at all because my combination of usenet/sickbeard/kodi is far superior to anything else available. I pay about $150 a year for that setup, so I'm not adverse to paying.

Your $12.50 per month is not paying for all of the content you consume.

Correct. I'd be happy to pay more for a decent service that had all the content I wanted, or even for multiple services. But paying $100 a month for non-HD cable is about my only option at the moment, and that's not on demand. Again, region specific licensing to blame.

This question is for you and everyone else: why don't you simply not watch something if it's not legally available? It seems like almost all pro-piracy people act and talk as if there's some unwritten and unspoken right and need to consume all media.

Copyright law is there (in part) to encourage people to pay the legitimate copyright owner so that it can continue creating content.

If there is already no way to pay the legitimate copyright owner, the law is pointless. It's still illegal, but the reason for it being illegal is invalid. At that point it's not running a busy urban intersection, it's crossing at a 4-hour red light in the middle of nowhere at 2am with no cars around for miles.

There is more media produced than people CAN consume for one.

There is extreme pressure to consume for two.

For a ton of people, money is a problem, entertainment budgets are modest, and they lack options.

Those things said, yeah! I just don't consume much anymore. I could be coding, learning, talking (as I am right now), and doing any number of other things besides watching stories.

In fact, this is why I love audio. I can do lots of stuff and still be entertained, and for some drama type programs, will just listen to them rather than watch the video.

Truth is, the video content producers really don't want to start down this road, and are aggressive about it. For them, having this discussion is nothing but a loss as they then compete with people doing something else.

And nobody wants to talk about that very much, do they? Funny, how having rampant piracy keeps this stuff far more relevant than it would be other wise.

In that perfect, no piracy world, a whole lot more people would care a whole lot less about buying movies.

I made that commitment in the mid '00's. Just stopped. I rarely infringe, and the product of that and my entertainment budget means I really do consume a lot less, and I buy a lot less now.

It's hard to commit three hours to passive entertainment. So many other things to do.

Highly recommended BTW. But you won't see the content industry advocating that. They know better.

And that right there is a huge value proposition associated with piracy that is a really hard discussion.

Relevance and mindshare. They need both to maximize revenue. Being relevant is hard. Giving it away to improve relevance? Totally justified, and up thread I mentioned AMC and "Halt and catch fire" and how it's there for the taking.

I watched that one. They gave it to me, and I talked it up to a bunch of people, some who paid, some who pirated, some who watched on cable, etc...

If too many of us tune out, or really do consume according to their pricing, they are going to find out the pricing really isn't aligned with consumption and or ability / desire to consume.

Better to have massive consumption and focus on improving revenue, I suspect.

Why would I do that? They don't lose anything and I get to put pressure on the producers to get their heads out of the sand.