I have to disagree. As creators, we should expect to see the behavior our designs encourage.
The fact is, if it's harder to buy something, would-be buyers choose another route.
Imagine something of trivial value that was very arduous to obtain. Say, the scores to last weekend's football game are only available via sending the NFL 2 cents taped onto a postcard then getting a user account and password back in the mail. Yes, you could apply for an account and who cares about the 2 cents? But most people wouldn't and who could blame them? There'd certainly be a market for pirated 'score data'.
But, if you just put ads on your site (the NFL does), voila! You make the same amount of money and people are happy to use your service. Netflix, Hulu, iTunes Store and Spotify all get this. If you make it a pain to do something, you can't feign surprise when everyone goes around you.
Is it legal to circumvent something just because it's arduous? No. Is it ethical? Not completely, but downloading pirated football scores wouldn't keep me from running for office.
Perhaps a method used exclusively by very large companies is that way for a reason? Of course purchasing by talking to someone on the phone is extremely difficult. The only reason people sell that way is to make sure they can hassle you as much as possible during the sale.
Apropos of nothing: customers often have an exaggerated notion on how important it is to e.g. an enterprise software company that that company land their account.
A conversation I've had a few times:
"We need it to do $THING_IT_WON'T_DO."
"In that case, it probably isn't a great fit for your needs."
"You don't understand. I won't buy it if it doesn't do that."
"I think I do understand. That's fine. You might consider trying $COMPETITOR, although you should know their minimum spend is $1,000 a month."
"That's outrageous. You have a $29 plan."
"Yes. So you should go with the competitor if that requirement is worth $971 a month to you."
"No, I want to spend $29, but I absolutely need that."
"I understand where you're coming from, but we do not offer that feature, and if we did, we would charge prices close to what our competitor does for it."
"You're not working with me here."
"I'm trying to find a resolution which works for you, but including that feature at $29 doesn't make business sense for me, so I won't do it."
"Put me on the phone with your boss."
"I'm afraid that isn't possible, as I sort of run things around here."
"What sort of businessman turns customers away."
"You're not a customer. If you were, you would be purchasing a product I sell for the amount I sell it for. That isn't happening. That's fine. Have a nice day."
That's fine. 'patio11 has lots of stories about that.
However, the lack of up-front pricing data isn't being used to justify "I won't do business with you." It's justifying "I'm going to take all your stuff anyway."
Even ignoring the difference between taking something for personal use and taking something for commercial use (as that is a distinction that does not affect the legality of the matter) "because other people do it" is not a valid defence.
The fact is, if it's harder to buy something, would-be buyers choose another route.
Imagine something of trivial value that was very arduous to obtain. Say, the scores to last weekend's football game are only available via sending the NFL 2 cents taped onto a postcard then getting a user account and password back in the mail. Yes, you could apply for an account and who cares about the 2 cents? But most people wouldn't and who could blame them? There'd certainly be a market for pirated 'score data'.
But, if you just put ads on your site (the NFL does), voila! You make the same amount of money and people are happy to use your service. Netflix, Hulu, iTunes Store and Spotify all get this. If you make it a pain to do something, you can't feign surprise when everyone goes around you.
Is it legal to circumvent something just because it's arduous? No. Is it ethical? Not completely, but downloading pirated football scores wouldn't keep me from running for office.