No Stinking Pirates Here

Every now and then I run across something that makes a point better than I ever could. And for that reason I am going to post it here. This was a from a home video forum where downloading and "piracy" was being discussed:

I've found this situation amusing from the get go for OH, SO MANY REASONS.

Let me get this out of the way first: I'm not so naive as to believe that piracy has nothing to do with the decline of sales, but to put the blame on it entirely or even suggest it's the number one factor? Absurd.

First of all, let's go back to the 1980's/early to mid 90's. VHS is the current king of home viewing formats with DVD looming on the horizon. How many people do you figure were copying movies using RCA/coaxial cables and an extra VCR? I'm going to figure on A LOT, in fact, even more than people who can currently grasp the concept of finding something on the internet, if current online intelligence trends are any indication. It's not a hard process, especially since your local mom and pop video store kept a decent cache of rent-able porn handy.

So there's that factor. People engaging in piracy before the widespread advent of the internet. In 2001, it was estimated that the porn industry made $500 million to $1.8 BILLION from video sales ALONE. (Source)

Logically, if piracy were such a huge factor in the decline of sales, then how in the hell could the "industry" make that much money, given the easy and accessible nature of obtaining porn without paying for it? Or even obtaining a permanent copy at the cost of a one night rental? It seems to me that if obtaining a non-original copy of said product were truly detrimental, then how have all these companies managed to stay in business all these years?

My second point as to why this whole discussion is rib-tickling hilarious is the moral and ethical standpoints being taken by pornographers and porn "marks" and people who threaten to use legal means to keep their bottom lines from shrinking, and the whole "snitch" mentality that's been encouraged as of late.

The porn industry using legal tactics. The porn industry, which made itself by thumbing its nose at the law, now seeks to run to the very forces which would see it die horribly and smile while it happens, because they mistakenly feel they share a common bond with the mainstream and feel that they can benefit from the same fight.

I find it completely hilarious that in the face of financial doom and digital scapegoating, pornographers encourage such subjective social constructs like "morals" and "ethics" when it's been proven time and time again that the modern porn industry is completely devoid of either. People who made their living catering to a sexually dysfunctional demographic, screwed talent, set workers, and no telling how many other people over are now crying and whining about how their livelihoods are threatened and pull at people's heartstrings by employing their completely subjective point of view under the guise of "morals" and "ethics" about stealing "their work" or "their art," when in reality, they could give a shit about either. They want their $40 per DVD and they'll force feed you their tripe and tug at your own sense of morality and ethics to get it.

Again, using guilt tactics and subjective social constructs like "morality" and "ethics" to increase your bottom line? Hilarious.

Let's now talk about quality of product, which I feel is one of the true culprits in the decline of the porn industry. On my DVD rack, right now sit a few pornographic movies. To name a few as an example: The Devil In Miss Jones, This Ain't The Munsters XXX, and Zazel. These, in my opinion are good things to watch as far as pornography goes. I bought them, laying down hard earned cash to get them, because I wanted them. I can watch them completely through because they're entertaining.

What you WON'T find on my shelf are titles like "1 In The Pink 1 In The Stink 10," or "POV Pervert 11," or "Jizz Guzzling Meth Addicted Knuckleheads With Big Titties 88." Why is that? It's pornography isn't it?

Yes it is. Trouble is, it's shit.

Who is masochistic enough to fork over money for SHIT? I'm not. Call me a filthy non-enabler of the obviously amicable "artistic" goals of the modern porn industry if you like, but I can't for the life of me be even the LEAST bit entertained by generically hot, plastic, emotionally disconnected waifs getting plugged in every orifice by vacant himbo douchebags in someone's house for the sake of wank material. I especially won't pay $40 fucking dollars for it.

90% of modern porn is complete shit, and the consumer picks up on this.

AND THERE'S SO FUCKING MUCH OF IT. Around 12,000 titles a year. Possibly more.

Over-saturation. It's whats for dinner.

It's a proven fact in economics: When the market is over-saturated, sales will suffer. Factor in the current economy and consumer attitudes with that, and it seems that piracy is actually not the scary, final-boss level boogieman that the money grabbers would have you believe it is.

There's a ton of factors here, and to believe that digital piracy's elimination through invoking of social constructs and guilt-tripping will suddenly revive the industry and money will gush from the asses of all involved is naive, delusional, and quite frankly, the desperation of some no-talent, unimaginative shits looking for a scapegoat to blame for their bottom lines getting smaller than their penises.

I hope to FUCK this modern "industry" of pornography tanks. I'll laugh like a madman if and when it does. I hope to hear about most of these so-called "producers" working at McDonald's because their cookie cutter, demographic-catering porn factories shut down.

If it does, and this is wishful thinking on my part, maybe they'll get back to basics and rebuild. Maybe they'll put out better content, and less saturation of it, and get the consumer interested again to the point where they WILL want to own the product as if they were buying a mainstream release.

It used to be about making movies that not only made money, but were an expression of sexuality. Now it's catering to demographics with cheap, generic ideas of what's "hot."

And to see those poor, desperate, noble pornographers come to us, hat in hand, asking us to snitch on people or buy their shitty product in order to "support" a billion-dollar industry?

Hilarious.