"Piracy" (people should stop using that word) isn't theft. Downloading TV programs is considered Piracy by the networks, and you must admit it is no different to the other mediums you list.

One of the main reasons I download TV shows is that there isn't adverts. The networks are taking liberties with the ammount of ads and high monthly charges as it is. The other reason is that they release them later in europe, sometimes not in order, and TV prices are so high anyway.

It is clearly not a bad thing, the fact that the game, movie, and music industries increased sales has nothing to do with them suing their customers or bringing down sites (not suprnova, users brought down suprnova).

One day I hope p2p will force them to provide better products. Cinemas without all the lame ads and high food and drink prices. DVD movies that are cheap enough that downloading them is less convenient, and no regional locks. Games that have support for atleast 5 years after release, with no anti-copying technology that harms the customer. No blatent price fixing of all those products by the greedy publishers, those evil bastards.
 

It's a game of whackamole that the various content industries can't win. When existing P2P sources are shut down, other sources will pop up. I hope the industries can learn to maybe work with their more resourceful 'opponents' to find an equitable solution because I don't think the status quo of entertainment providers and leechers can continue indefinitely.
 

I have an idea of how to make this work, but first a little background on how I buy games: I don't want to spend money on a game I'll hate, and I don't want to reward publishers and distributors for putting out unfinished products just to meet some deadline. Aside from games I know I'll love (either from a demo or because I know the developer/publisher is good), I usually try to find a downloadable version to try out. Often I end up deleting the game after a few minutes, or buying a copy to give my support. Sometimes I do neither, although I try to avoid that - I'm not a student anymore, and don't need to act like one.

So, this approach generally serves me well and has resulted in my spending more money than I would have otherwise, since I'm reluctant to buy a game sight-unseen. There has been one case, though, where I found an even better system:

I had heard that a paricular game (Slave Zero) was fun to play, and went seeking a download for it. A great many sources had a demo for it, but nobody seemed to have the "real thing" - those that claimed to only delivered the demo. It was widely advertised as being just a locked version of the full game, so I decided to try it out.

After a few enjoyable levels, my browser was launched to take me to a page to purchase the rest of the game for $9.99. It took a few minutes and I was done, and I felt that I had paid a good price for a game that was simple, fun and short. When it was over, I would have happily paid again for another chapter in the story.

I really think that this is the model that more publishers should examine. Bioware is doing something like it with their premium content. Basically, I want to download and install a game for free, and be able to play some kind of prelude to it. When that's done, I want to be able to pay (ideally, using micropayments or another form of pseudo-cash) for another chunk of the game. If I decide that I hate it, I've only paid for what I actually played - this would help a lot for those games that get ridiculously hard about halfway through, and leave me no choice but to either cheat or quit.

This also sets the stage for publishers to stop selling 'epic' games all at once and instead selling a series of chapters or stories in the same game world. I love epic games (TLJ, anyone? ;) ) but I hate waiting 4-5 years between them - I'm impatient!

My thoughts, anyway.

-Elentar
 

i'd rather wait 5 years and get the whole thing, instead of teasing myself, piece by piece