[paulsutter]

Most consumers put a huge value on convenience, and don't feel inclined to sneak around copying files. The studios cause the file sharing by making it inconvenient to buy, as you yourself describe.

Look at mobile apps. Easier to pirate than a movie, but piracy is not a problem because it's so easy to buy the apps. Look at the growth rate of app revenue.

Look at Starbucks and how much people are willing to spend on a coffee.

We'll see how it shakes out, of course. But the problem now is that the studios fail to make their product available, not that people don't want to pay for it.