[jcrites]

I think the problem is the natural psychological reaction people have to price discrimination. For example, what if you could watch a movie online the day it's released, but it costs $50 per view? People would be upset about that, even though it's strictly in their interest by giving them an option they don't have today; it would also be enabling/creating competition in a "release-day download" market.

Amazon ran experiments like this in the past, offering products at different prices over short periods of time, according to the person or according to market factors (supply). There was a huge community backlash against the idea that price discrimination might be going on.

I don't know what the solution is, but I agree it would be vastly preferable to me if all content were available immediately and online at some price, even if it's a high price. It should never be arbitrarily unavailable.

[Natsu]

I take the view that many aspects of human 'irrationality' have their basis in people trying to avoid being manipulated by others, though they certainly don't always work.

I don't know how to prove whether or not that's true, but it tends to explain things like our response to the Ultimatum Game. And that's essentially what we're dealing with here: people who make deals that are too one-sided (huge price discrimination, etc.) may trigger a backlash, even if the offer is an improvement on the status quo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimatum_game