The Thing about Media Piracy

It is something that we hear all too often in today's news. Everyday, we are being inundated by campaigns and messages begging us to stop supporting piracy. The type of piracy that is being talked about the most seems to be music, movies and software piracy, which, looking from a certain perspective, is basically the same thing. It is just people making copies of software and then distributing-no, sharing- with Internet users all over the world, some of whom then make pirated copies in the form of CDs and DVDs for the purposes of selling. The reason that piracy is so darn effective is because PIRATED GOODS ARE CHEAP and for the most part, pretty reliable (except for movies, that is).
Yet, every day, all this huge media conglomerates and corporate figures and celebrities and authorities keep telling us to stop buying pirated goods. Now, why is that? They keep telling us, normal, common citizens, who probably earn less in five years than they do in a month, to quit buying and downloading pirated material and go for the insanely-priced originals. As consumers, it is our duty and prerogative to search for the best deals, is it not? Why on earth should we listen to these 'authorities' who tell us to buy the more expensive stuff just so they can get richer? To me, the whole issue of media piracy is highly misdirected. The consumers should not be told not to buy what we think are the best deals in town. We should support the lower price, the better deal, and if piracy gives the poor person a chance to enjoy certain luxuries (such as good music, the latest technology) at lower prices, then, by all means, we should go for it. It is not our duty, nor our purpose, to stop piracy. The only people who should be doing anything are the corporate enitities and the celebrities themselves. THEY should learn how to protect their work better. We, in turn, should keep finding ways to make our lives easier with our low incomes. WE should not be made targets for 'STOP PIRACY' campaigns.
In any case, we should take a closer look at the reasons that the 'authorities' give us in order to encourage us to not support piracy. Afdlin Shauki (A person whom I used to think highly of) recently kept saying on the radio some nonsense about how our buying pirated movies is forcing him to eat his own Char Kuay Teow. The point he was trying to make was that artists were being robbed of their dues. Seriously, this guy should know better. He has been in the industry long enough. Without piracy, does he truly believe that the public will suddenly start rushing to buy the ridiculously priced originals? Does he honestly think artists will make more money when piracy is gone? Dear Mr. Shauki, for your information, the general public is not exactly as rich and glamorous as 'some' people to be able to go out every week and buy original material. Stopping piracy does not mean you will get richer, it just means, you will have a much smaller fan base. Get real, mate. We should take an example from the hundreds of underground music artists from America and Europe, who fully support piracy because it gives them something they would otherwise never have-recognition. These people need the power of internet downloads to allow them to reach a larger crowd. Most people would not want to spend too much money on artists they have never heard of, but if the stuff were to be free, then there is no burden attached. It is good for the artists because more people will know them, and if they so desperately wanted the money, all they need to do is play a gig, old-school style, which should be the proper way to earn a living, instead of making poor people pay huge wads of cash for a flat piece of plastic.
Mr. Shauki had a point, though, when he said piracy is robbing artists. That is, if we are dumb enough to look at it from the really convoluted and twisted perspective that tells us that if all of us just buy originals, then artists will make more money. Again, this is simply ridiculous. It only applies in this sense; the big names in the industry, due to piracy, do not earn as much as they might. Then again, these people are already bloody rich to begin with. WHY SHOULD WE GIVE OUR HARD-EARNED CASH JUST TO MAKE THEM RICHER? Please, support piracy. Let us NOT let our lives be controlled by these greedy corporations. GO FAKE.