jecasc - 5:03 pm on Jan 12, 2011 (gmt 0)

I would bet that half of the users of pirated video etc, could well afford what they steal.

The problem however is that what those people want is not for sale. That's the key to the problem. The demand is not necessarily for free streaming or download but for immediate streaming or download. And what there is on offer in legal content online is simply laughable. When someone has two spare hours and wants to watch a movie he wants to watch it now. Being able to buy a DVD tomorrow won't satisfy his demand, because his demand is watching some movie now to kill some time. Not even necessarily a specific movie.

The movie industry is missing a big opportunity here. For example: I didn't play computer games for years. Totally had lost interest. Then my 5 year old nephew came for a visit and I bought a simple computer game on the online platform Steam so we could play. End result: Last year I spent close to 800 EUR on computer games. Simply because when I was bored I could buy a game with a click of my mouse button and start playing.