An Open Letter To Content Creators: One 'Pirate' Explains Why He Infringes & How To Get His Money

from the the-power-has-shifted dept

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We launched our Step 2 discussion platform last fall, just before the whole SOPA/PIPA fight heated up. It was just the first part of a much bigger planned program to better engage the wider community around here, with more parts rolling out as we move forward. The timing was interesting, and while we had intended to feature more content from Step2 on Techdirt early on, the SOPA/PIPA debate took precedence. However, even without us constantly tending to Step2 -- or even mentioning it -- over at Techdirt, a group of you took to it and have built up some interesting discussions. I wanted to highlight a few of the discussions there you might have missed over the past few months, starting off with one of the most popular ones on the site: An Open Letter To Content Creators from user Bobbi Smith, explaining "why he pirates." It's a long open letter, but if you want to understand the mindset, it's an important read for content creators.I'm sure some will -- quite incorrectly -- try to summarize the point as one of entitlement, but if you read the details, it's actually quite the opposite. It's the story of someone who's sick of the sense of entitlement from big entertainment providers -- those who want you to pay top prices for mediocre content -- and then expect you to come back for more. If there's one key theme running through the discussion it's that. The big gatekeepers used to have full control of the market, but now there's been a massive market shift: to the consumers. Smith isn't arguing that he "just wants everything for free" or that he feels entitled to things for free. Actually, he makes it clear that he willingly pays for things all the time -- when the content makes him "happy," when the offering doesn't try to limit him and when the price is reasonable.If you read the full thing, you'll realize that the article is. It's an argument for how content creators can-- something that we've been seeing more and more content creators figure out . Content creators who understand this letter will recognize that it's not aboutso much as about how to

Filed Under: convenience, piracy