Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

I never actually did this (honestly!) but it was a thing when I was young to sneak into movie theatres. One person would buy a ticket and then open the emergency exit for others. Or you'd sneak under the ticket window (this was before the days of the multiplex). Today's dodge is to see one movie, and then as many others in the 9-plex as you can. Technically it's illegal, I suppose, but nobody is harmed, and I never heard of anyone doing hard time.

This is what illegal downloading is like. It's like sneaking into the movies, not like stealing a car. And yeah, it's not something that you do as a socially acceptable adult. But if you're young and bored and can't afford the cost of a movie, well, yeah, I can see people doing it. If you really think it's a problem in the age of Netflix then the answer isn't to make absurd comparisons, it is to give people an alternative (like, maybe, not delaying the availability of programs for years). "Make it good, make it more attractive than the alternative... Ultimately, people steal content because they can't get it otherwise."

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2024 02:58 a.m.

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