Where is the card, Billy?

Big business indulges piracy
“For a long time the merchant and the pirate were one and the same figure,” wrote Friedrich Nietzsche. “Even today, business ethics is nothing more than an improved ethic of filibuster.” Of course, companies will not agree with this statement. As a rule, piracy causes damage to the business. It undermines the sale of legitimate goods, deprives the company of its valuable intellectual property, as well as other cream, which could get the brand. Commercial piracy can take very different forms than those commonly depicted in adventure films. However, the abduction of the results of someone's research, artistic ideas, or even journalistic material is the same theft.

This principle is worth defending. One way or another, companies are forced to work in the real world, where, despite the best efforts of the recording, software and other industries, piracy overcomes any obstacles. Thus, resigned to the fact that a certain number of thefts could not be prevented, some companies decided to use it to their advantage.

For example, for each copy of a musical composition sold legally, there are 20 similar copies distributed through peer-to-peer networks. Statistics of file sharing networks can tell a lot. For example, it allows, even before the release of the music album, to determine in which countries the new composition is gaining the most popularity. Although at first it seemed that record companies were opposed to the use of such information, they are now studying it quite actively. Last month, the main analyzer of the music industry, BigChampagne, included pirated video tracking in its service. Knowing which TV programs are the most popular on the Internet, the owners of media channels are able to more adequately plan their broadcasts and build advertising policy.
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In other industries, piracy helps open up new markets. For example, software. 90% of computers in China work using Microsoft’s Windows operating system, but the majority of copies are purchased illegally from pirated manufacturers. Officially, the software giant has a whole anti-piracy department. However, informally, the company condones pirated copying of its products, because it helps it to capture the market and will bring additional income in the long term, because when users decide to legalize their programs, they will already have time to get hooked on Microsoft products. Too hard struggle with piracy can alienate users and force them to switch to free alternatives with open source. "Our software products are easier to compete with Linux when piracy exists than when it does not exist," Bill Gates, director of Microsoft, told Fortune magazine last year.

Another example, from the agricultural sector, demonstrates how piracy can, literally, sow a new market. Brazilian farmers wanted to use genetically engineered soybean seeds, which were developed by Monsanto as a herbicide resistant crop. The government, under the pressure of various “green” opponents of the technology of genetic change, announced a ban. Not being able to legally receive genetically modified seeds, farmers began to buy pirated versions, many of which were imported from Argentina. In the end, more than a third of Brazilian soybean fields were sown with genetically modified crops and in 2005, the government revised its decree and allowed the use of genetically modified seeds. And then Monsanto began to legally sell their products in Brazil.

Innovative Pirates

Piracy can also be a source of innovation if someone takes a product and successfully modifies it. In the music industry, informal remixes can stimulate sales of the original composition. Also, in the recently published book by Math Mason “The Pirate's Dilemma”, an example is given of the Japanese designer Nigo, who took the well-known Nike Air Force 1 sneaker model, removed the original logo, changed the design and released it under its own label, A $ 300 per a couple. But instead of suing Nigo, Nike realized that he noticed an empty market sector. The corporation bought part of the shares of his company and released an additional series of "remixes" of their sneakers. Mr. Mason argues that "the best way to profit from the activities of pirates is to copy their products."

Air Force 1

A bathing ape

However, one should not forget that these individual happy stories are just a few exceptions. In most cases, companies are forced to fight piracy against themselves by filing lawsuits. And, as a rule, this is the right decision. But before you act, you should carefully consider the question of whether it is possible to turn piracy to your advantage.

Translation from English:
Roman Ravve

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