Jacob wrote...
Because Bosshi's XXX Mix is something we worked on directly with Bosshi (and not via a Japanese publisher), we are free to decide with him how we want to handle piracy. For this work we are going to embrace it and see if we can convince some of the people who would normally choose to pirate it to instead make a purchase and support the artist. I've been talking with the owner of E-Hentai about it and we both think it's a good idea, but we'll see how it goes.
For those interested in Bosshi's XXX Mix that haven't already purchased it, you can find pirated versions online. If you like it, please consider supporting Bosshi and picking up
the official digital edition. This also gives those of you who were hesitant to purchase it a chance to see what's inside.
This is a very interesting decision you guys have made and I'm curious to learn of the results. Piracy is basically a fact of nature at this point and trying to fight it is a waste of time. In fact doing so is usually shooting yourself in the foot. It's nice to see when someone simply takes their hands off and decides to let the people do as they please. But this is going one step further. You've put your product out there by your own choosing and you're essentially enabling pirates.
I can definitely see some positive effects here. First of all you're ensuring that everyone is seeing your product the way it was supposed to be seen. It's exactly as you made it. In my experience with these things I've noticed that some uploaders deliberately strip credits pages from your works as if they're trying to exact revenge. You've also ensured (I think) that your pirated version is first on the list of options. If you're trying to encourage readers to support Bosshi then they will see that message. Furthermore people who are browsing through these alternative avenues were probably not inclined to make a purchase in the first place. It's safe to assume that the vast majority of them weren't even interested in offering their support. By calling that a population you can say that these are not potential customers. But by reaching out and getting your message across, some subset of that population might become potential customers. And if we're thinking like that then this is a complete victory for you.
Yet I still have some reservations. Today when we talk about piracy, we're also talking about service, thanks to lord Gaben and Valve. Essentially if your service is better than the pirates' service, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. But this scenario is sort of amusing in that you're offering an arguably better service to the pirates than you're providing for the customers. At least from the pirates' perspective, that's what it seems like. They definitely don't want to pay, and they probably don't want to use your site, so they're getting just about everything they wanted with little to be desired (if at all). And the reality is that piracy has become so
easy, to the point where it's readily available on their favorite site.
Anyway it's definitely very interesting and I hope this means the best for everyone.