[chongli]

>This sounds nice, but the problem is that the author creates value, the downloaders receive value, but no exchange is made.

That's where you're wrong. An audience is value in and of itself. The trouble most authors have is with leveraging that value. Traditionally they'd handed the keys over to a big publisher and hoped for the best -- a sucker bet if I'd ever seen one. Now that the exclusive power of distribution has been stripped away from traditional publishers there's actually more opportunity than ever for an author to find and derive value from an audience; it just takes more savvy (and less luck).

[cobrausn]

> An audience is value in and of itself.

An audience that does not pay for things is of limited value to someone who needs money to keep making things.

[marknutter]

That's a pretty naive view of the situation. An audience who perhaps doesn't pay for art but does help spread the word about that art is indeed valuable. Perhaps even more valuable than someone who pays for art but tells nobody else about it.

[cobrausn]

Sorry, but the naive one here is you - a bunch of pirates telling a bunch of other pirates about this awesome new thing they should pirate doesn't really help you, the creator. But by all means, rationalize away.

Also, why does the one who purchases it have to not spread the word and pirates do? Is that how this whole argument works? A paying customer is probably just as likely to inform other paying customers about this purchase he just made. More likely, in my experience.

Look, there is likely a critical mass of piracy that is concurrent to a rise in purchases as something grows in popularity and becomes part of the cultural zeitgeist. I remain unconvinced that the piracy causes it, and isn't just a sign that whatever is being pirated is good and would is gaining awareness and marketshare, but sure, I'll just go ahead and give up on that argument. But if you don't reach that critical mass, which by and large, most don't, then you are just gaining an audience that isn't helping you at all.

Also, just to be clear - I don't view all piracy equal. When I talk about it, I'm primarily talking about game piracy.