MegaUpload shut down. Hackers hit back.

[Roy Karrde]

The drug dealer analogy doesn't work, and personally I don't think you're stupid enough to really believe that it does. This is really no different to many other websites that make their money off content for which they do not have the copyrights nor have they sought the correct copyrights for (Youtube, ebaums, anime streaming websites etc.). Megaupload isn't even the worst offender, it is just the most high profile.

Yeah looking at what they are accused of its hard to say that they are the same as any of those websites. From money laundering to actually paying pirates to put up illegal materials they have gone way beyond Youtube and the rest.

It's a fact that one pirated download doesn't equal a lost sale, as much as the MPAA would like you to believe. Most people who pirate wouldn't buy the product if pirating wasn't an option. For every critic of the internet, you'll find as many supporters who enjoy the exposure that they gain through people sharing their work. It is noted that piracy can often lead to higher exposure and more sales of a product. To get to a point where people want to pirate your product, you must already be selling enough to gain that exposure. I'm not saying that it's right or ideal, but it's just being realistic. Just like a grocers who has to take into account the occasional smashed box of eggs or smashed bottle of milk, you have to take into account that if you decide to enter an industry where your product can be pirated and you should adapt your business model to reflect that. Realistically, nothing that is sensible or practical without enforcing a China-style internet blockade of everything but approved websites will stop pirating. Those that continue to bitch and whine about it while the rest of the pack does adjust their business models accordingly will be left in the dust.

I really couldn't care less about the MPAA and music, I am talking about the pirating of video games. In which even if a third of those pirated were to have bought the games, that could mean the difference between a designer receiving a bonus or not. Unlike the music and movie industry, those that make games are not filthy rich, and like it or not it is utterly ignorant to believe that everyone that pirates the game would not have gone out and bought it otherwise.