Is online piracy a really serious problem? My opinion: nope.

[Occulus]

100. Actually, if you want to take it that far,

there are in fact several ISPs that are initiating data caps due to services like Netflix. Under such plans, free software is demonstrably no longer free; the download quota for your internet connection can easily be reached through daily use of Netflix combined with online gaming and YouTube (particularly if one does not have cable television), and every download, be it open source or paid digital product, counts against that limit. Commonly, once a monthly download quota has been reached (and it is very easy to do, even with a 20GB/mo limit), you pay extra... even for free software.

Download caps are very bad for another reason. As a Steam user, I can create copies of any Steam game for installation in case of a connection outage, travel, etc. I don't, because I happen to be lucky enough to have an ISP that has no download caps; I can grab both Rage and Skyrim (dozens of gigabytes) in a single day and my ISP doesn't bat an eye. However, Steam users who do have those download caps have to consider how badly they want the product they have paid for, lest they pay their ISP extra for the privilege of accessing content to which they have a right.

Speaking of content to which one has a right, there's a another serious problem on the software side: DRM. When the game "Bioshock" was released, a user could only install the game three times, ever, on the same PC. That's lifetime installs, by the way- it was an anti-piracy measure. The outrage, fully justified, ran thick and fast on online forums, the game's own discussion boards, and even in editorial reviews from top magazines. The limit was initially raised to five before being done away with altogether, but even so, some users had trouble activating their game and the DRM interfered so much with others' PCs that they were unable to play the game at all. "Pirates". on the other hand, had none of these issues; they were able to play the game with no issues from the day of release. In that case, the only people that were harmed or stopped from playing "Bioshock" were legitimate, paying customers. The only way to be guaranteed you had a working copy was to "pirate" it.

Last fall, I found myself in a similar situation when I tried to install my digital copy of EA's "Mirror's Edge". I had to actually call the publisher and ask them nicely to allow me to play the game I had paid for because none of their install-count resets and deauthorization tools were working. Thankfully, they complied without question, but what if they had not? I would be left out $60 because I was a good customer who actually paid for the content, but which the publisher would not allow me to access. What happens when EA folds? Do I suddenly no longer have access to what I've paid for? Do I "trust" that they'll release some tool that allows me to circumvent their own anti-piracy measures? Or do I "pirate" the game, even though I have a perfectly legitimate copy, knowing that I may one day need that "pirate" copy?

Situations like the ones I describe above are real-world cases, cases that demonstrate perfectly the absolute need to reassess current copyright and IP law. They demonstrate that, far from being the evil bane so many see it as, software "piracy" can at times be the only way to access material that has in fact been bought and paid for.