I've been downloading for years (iTunes) - the physical objects have never been anything but a hassle to me, particularly now that I live in a place under 300 square feet. Movies? Forget it, they cost 2-3x more than I can afford today.
That said, while I don't download illegally, I get why others do - there are a lot of reasons to oppose DRM as it is set up right now, and (most) people I know who download illegally do so in protest and a refusal to sign any DRM agreements! Since I like foreign music and am a dual citizen, I had issues with getting foreign music... Over time I've realized DRM (as it's set up today) is essentially like you don't actually own the music/movie stuff you buy - it's like a heavily arbitrary renting agreement. Like if I want to buy UK or Israeli music, I have to make an Israeli iTunes account! I can't use my same email/account as the US one. If I go to another country, the US account won't work over there of course, except for purchases from the US store in USD.
All the rules are a lot more prohibitive than they ever were with VHS. And they release new rules all the time that make it worse, and they don't work on universal materials with things like eBooks - so if a product exists, the things you bought might cease to exist if you have to get new tools! >_>
For a lot of people, it's way more complicated than people just wanting free stuff. I don't really think it matters though - they'll end up getting what they want until they piss off everyone rather than just the people with DRM issues.
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That said, while I don't download illegally, I get why others do - there are a lot of reasons to oppose DRM as it is set up right now, and (most) people I know who download illegally do so in protest and a refusal to sign any DRM agreements! Since I like foreign music and am a dual citizen, I had issues with getting foreign music... Over time I've realized DRM (as it's set up today) is essentially like you don't actually own the music/movie stuff you buy - it's like a heavily arbitrary renting agreement. Like if I want to buy UK or Israeli music, I have to make an Israeli iTunes account! I can't use my same email/account as the US one. If I go to another country, the US account won't work over there of course, except for purchases from the US store in USD.
All the rules are a lot more prohibitive than they ever were with VHS. And they release new rules all the time that make it worse, and they don't work on universal materials with things like eBooks - so if a product exists, the things you bought might cease to exist if you have to get new tools! >_>
For a lot of people, it's way more complicated than people just wanting free stuff. I don't really think it matters though - they'll end up getting what they want until they piss off everyone rather than just the people with DRM issues.