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

[TheKentuckian]

136. A lot of that is people who saw the movie at the theatre

Sometimes more than once (at like $11 a pop now) and also go on to buy the DVD when it later becomes available.

In any event, there are almost zero people that actually would ever buy the DVD (and certainly not the Blueray) that get the copy you describe that do not go on to buy the real McCoy.

Some of us are big time repeat viewers of what we really like and simply can't do what we did twenty and thirty years ago and see something over and over again in the theatre.

Low quality bullshit should be seen as promotional and the greatest concern being dilution of the vision rather than a loss. No one desiring a refrerence copy of a movie accepts such stuff as a solution.

The logic of creating law to capture some theoretical trickle of a loss of potential revenue is dubious interpretation of the concept of a limited government. Hell, it can be argued that in spots the status quo is too restrictive or at times nonsensensical like when the artist ends up for various odd reasons restricted from performing their own work.

Until there is common sense applied and the bizzaro pitchforks and torches mob mentality in Congress, ACORN style stops, the only way to have anything resembling a decent outcome is to just flat out oppose all new legislation.
By common sense I mean applying two tests and having to at least get one to be considered "piracy", loss of actual not potential property/profit or the person doing the taking making a tangible profit without due compensation.

As is any such potential effort seems destined to actually damage the rights of more of us than it protects.

It is also silly and disconnected from reality in the present context of our national problems and no they can't walk and chew gum because they can't even walk. The response to such fucked up priorities from people it seems know less than the average six year old on the subjects being discussed should be donations to primary candidates, a PAC to fund one, or the opposition as appropriate. The stakes are to high for such ring in nose dumbassery, there is no way this gang of know nothings calling for "nerds" to come in and explain the whole thing ground up actually give a fuck about any of this enough to write any legislation or have any actual concerns and as such are suspect both in motivation and in the actual legislative content they push.