So apparently BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin have all been chatting and they’ve decided that they don’t like it when people pirate digital media online and they’re only getting super rich instead of super mega rich. What an absolute travesty.

When you think about it, digital piracy is just people sharing, which I think is a good thing. The torrent sites themselves are perfectly legal, it’s just the copyrighted stuff that people share online that the government have a problem. So is it illegal when I physically lend my DVD in it’s case to my mate who watches it? I sure hope not because people have been doing that for decades. Torrenting is just a more efficient way of people sharing fun stuff to watch.

So what are these massive corporations going to do in order to fix this massive injustice I hear you ask! Well, come 2015 if you’re still torrenting then they are going to send you a letter in the post asking you very politely to stop. Yup, that’s right they’re going all old skool to attack a very modern problem. These are the powers at be that have the potential to throttle download speeds or to cut people off entirely, but no they’re going to send out what is probably thousands and thousands of letters which I can almost guarantee will be put straight in the bin in every single household alongside all the other crap we get through the door from the exact same companies that I mentioned earlier. Oh and I’m pretty sure they have access to e-mail as well, but no, sending letters will definitely be more effective, sure.

And all of this despite one simple well known fact: People that pirate digital media are the ones who are more likely to pay for digital media. There we have it. Those people that torrent game of thrones online are the ones who are most willing to buy the box set when it comes out. This is effectively the industry alienating it’s consumers, I know it’s only a letter in the post currently but it will go on to be more eventually when the companies realise how much money they’ve wasted on paper, ink and stamps.

What the digital industry in general don’t seem to realise is that people like convenience, and they’re actually willing to pay for it as long as it’s not a total rip off. Why should the general consumer wait 6 months for a DVD to be released, pay over the odds on release day for that DVD, then sit through minutes of anti-piracy adverts before actually watching the film when they could download the film online for free as soon as a decent version becomes available without any adverts or annoyances, pure content.

It’s refreshing to see catch up services like BBC iPlayer and 4OD and streaming services like netflix and LoveFilm (or whatever amazon are calling it these days) realising this fact. Watching a TV series on netflix is an absolute pleasure, no adverts, no distractions, and the next episode automatically plays for you. Oh and it’s available on any platform you can think of. Take note Virgin, Sky and anyone else who is bothered by digital piracy.

Here’s an idea: Why don’t these big companies actually find the data on what people are torrenting, maybe even look to use that data to advertise more aggressively to those people who would be willing to pay a couple of quid to watch the latest Hobbit film in HD rather than from a camcorder in the back of a cinema. Why not advertise on the torrent websites! Make it as easy as possible for the consumer and I’m sure they’ll pay a small fee, multiply this by the number of times Game of Thrones gets torrented and you’ll have yourself a bucket load of money, it might even pay for your next batch of letters to people who pirate music.

Oh and stop it with the anti-piracy messages in cinemas and on DVDs. These people actually paid for this specific piece of media. Quit obsessing about how they might be torrenting behind your back because they probably are anyway and a little message isn’t going to make them rush home and uninstall utorrent. Let those that have paid for your product have the best experience possible. Isn’t that what businesses are meant to do anyway?

So I’m going to continue to pay monthly for Netflix and Spotify in order to promote the streaming industry and hopefully one day the government and all these massive companies will take note and jump on board instead of looking to spend copious amounts of money on stamps.