eBook Pirates Are Relatively Old and Wealthy, Study Finds - Sensationalist Headlines

[IMG]https://torrentfreak.com/images/ebook1.png[/IMG][IMG]https://torrentfreak.com/images/ebook2.png[/IMG] [QUOTE][I]A new study has found that people who illegally download eBooks are older and wealthier than most people's perception of the average pirate. Commissioned by anti-piracy company Digimarc, the study suggests that people aged between 30 and 44 years old with a household income of between $60k and $99k are most likely to grab a book without paying for it.[/I] A new study, commissioned by anti-piracy company Digimarc and conducted by Nielsen, aims to shine light on eBook piracy. It was presented yesterday at The London Book Fair and aims to better understand how eBook piracy affects revenue and how publishers can prevent it. In previous studies, it has been younger downloaders that have grabbed much of the attention, and this one is no different. Digimarc reveals that 41% of all adult pirates are aged between 18 and 29 but perhaps surprisingly, 47% fall into the 30 to 44-year-old bracket. At this point, things tail off very quickly, as the remaining ~13% are aged 45 or up. There are also some surprises when it comes to pirates’ income. Cost is often cited as a factor when justifying downloading for free, and this study has similar findings. In this case, however, richer persons are generally more likely they are to download. Around 13% of pirates have an annual household income of under $30k, with those earning between $30k and $59k making up 19% of the total. At this point there is a sizeable leap, with 36% of pirates claiming to earn between $60k and $99k per annum. Around 29% make more than $100k a year. Overall, the majority of illegal downloaders are relatively well-educated, with more than 70% having either graduated from college or in possession of a post graduate degree. Taken together, this means that e-book pirates are often older wealthy people with a good education, which is probably close to the profile of the average ebook reader. The full study can be downloaded [URL="http://www.digimarc.com/resources/ebook-piracy-study"]here[/URL] or here ([URL="https://torrentfreak.com/images/341946110-Inside-the-Mind-of-a-Book-Pirate.pdf"]pdf[/URL])[/QUOTE] [url]https://torrentfreak.com/wealthy-older-people-more-likely-to-pirate-ebooks-study-finds-170316/[/url]

Interesting. I though that the pirates usually the poor ones,but i was wrong.

[QUOTE=Zufeng;51999366]Interesting. I though that the pirates usually the poor ones,but i was wrong.[/QUOTE] could maybe link it to wealth driving a sense of entitlement

It's probably because people in that age/income range read a lot more while also being knowledgeable about technology. Remember that this is just about ebooks, not all pirating.

[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;51999375]could maybe link it to wealth driving a sense of entitlement[/QUOTE] only 17% seem to think that they shouldn't have to pay for books though the majority of them do it because of how easy and convenient it is

[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;51999375]could maybe link it to wealth driving a sense of entitlement[/QUOTE] That, and e-book piracy is incredibly easy. I think most people don't feel like paying for things when there's no difficulty involved in pirating them. Once when I was looking up a book for college the first result on google was a .pdf of the book. I stared at it for a good 30 seconds going, "what?".

I have become a bit of an ebook textbook kleptomaniac. I really should stop, but it's so easy to get the books and I find them so useful. Plus some of these texts are really quite expensive and/or obscure and hard to find

rich people tend to be the ones who believe themselves entitled to the most free shit, so it's not surprising to me.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;51999385]only 17% seem to think that they shouldn't have to pay for books though the majority of them do it because of how easy and convenient it is[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Super Muffin;51999388]That, and e-book piracy is incredibly easy. I think most people don't feel like paying for things when there's no difficulty involved in pirating them. Once when I was looking up a book for college the first result on google was a .pdf of the book. I stared at it for a good 30 seconds going, "what?".[/QUOTE] i fully agree that ebook piracy is probably the easiest kind of piracy and in many cases the easiest way to get ebooks, i just feel there is a potential undercurrent of "why should I pay for it if it is so easy to get?". know what I mean? i wasn't meaning the malicious "HAHAHA YES I DESERVE THIS EBOOK FOR FREE!", i meant something more innocent. [editline]23rd March 2017[/editline] i think a sort of virtual library would be neat, like a netflix but for ebooks. i would pay a monthly subscription to get access to a lot of ebooks if i read a lot of books

I think there's also the trend of book sharing being a well established thing. People used to share hard copies all the time. That's what you did when you finished a book. I personally know quite a few people who think of pirating books as sharing on a bigger scale.

[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;51999417]i fully agree that ebook piracy is probably the easiest kind of piracy and in many cases the easiest way to get ebooks, i just feel there is a potential undercurrent of "why should I pay for it if it is so easy to get?". know what I mean? i wasn't meaning the malicious "HAHAHA YES I DESERVE THIS EBOOK FOR FREE!", i meant something more innocent.[/QUOTE] It's kind of understandable in the case of college books where they literally come out with a new book every year and basically just change the order of the text, so that it's harder for students to buy used books and have to pay outrageous sums every time half the class fees these days are literally just on the text, it's fucking ridiculous

[QUOTE=Funion;51999429]It's kind of understandable in the case of college books where they literally come out with a new book every year and basically just change the order of the text, so that it's harder for students to buy used books and have to pay outrageous sums every time half the class fees these days are literally just on the text, it's fucking ridiculous[/QUOTE] My EE college had a common dropbox account, shared by hundreds of students, with every class PDF (many with the teacher's edition). It existed for ~3 years before the admin found out and went after the owner.

[QUOTE=Funion;51999429]It's kind of understandable in the case of college books where they literally come out with a new book every year and basically just change the order of the text, so that it's harder for students to buy used books and have to pay outrageous sums every time half the class fees these days are literally just on the text, it's fucking ridiculous[/QUOTE] i'm not even levying any moral judgement, hell i think pirating a textbook ebook is morally okay to do since a lot of how textbook companies operate stinks of a scam

[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;51999417]i wasn't meaning the malicious "HAHAHA YES I DESERVE THIS EBOOK FOR FREE!", i meant something more innocent.[/quote] I get you. It seems like most of us are thinking on the same frequency here. [QUOTE=Funion;51999429]It's kind of understandable in the case of college books where they literally come out with a new book every year and basically just change the order of the text[/QUOTE] Same goes for things like most tabletop rpg handbooks. That stuff can get so expensive. But like always, the two biggest factors in piracy are availability and price.

[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;51999375]could maybe link it to wealth driving a sense of entitlement[/QUOTE] Since college and post college graduates tend to both read and earn more, it makes sense that the ones pirating the most more also happen to earn more. So i'm not sure if entitlement is the right conclusion, for the most part. I'd wager it's about convenience. Well and people like free stuff regardless of wealth

I would think young adults in college would be the bigger ebook pirates considering the cost of tuition today and the need to make cuts. I know plenty of people who circumvent the cost of books for a semester through pirated ebooks.

I don't know why you're getting hung on entitlement. It's about convenience! It says so in the article and I absolutely understand it. It takes literally 30 seconds to go on TPB, type the name of the book you want and have it downloaded. The entire process. Unfortunately, unlike movies, music and games, there's hardly a way to make getting ebooks more convenient than this. Maybe some sort of e-library where you subscribe monthly and have access to [I]all[/I] the books, instead of the (sometimes) ridiculous prices online.

books are the sort of media I consider that ought to be freely available to read - probably because we already have loads of public libraries being a thing

Convenience plays a huge role in pirating, coming from someone (and knowing many) who pirate almost everything. If pirating something yields the same result as legit purchase, if not quicker thanks to skipping the transaction page (plus no fee!), the temptation to pirate is high since there is no downside. Ethic is somewhere down the line. Seriously, once you realize pirating doesn't visibly hurt anyone (as if the creative person comes along and tell you that they lost their job thanks you filthy pirate), you just... do it, without remorse. There are exceptions, of course. According to the study, over 30% said they would buy the book if piracy is unavailable. Again, people just want the book quick and cheap. Now my suspicion on why the "Relatively Old and Wealthy" are pirates, probably because they got more time to read and the know-how to pirate, instead of busy trying to earn a living or indulge in other hobbies more befitting their social class. Ey, just a guess.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;51999385]only 17% seem to think that they shouldn't have to pay for books though the majority of them do it because of how easy and convenient it is[/QUOTE] Honestly I think the "because it's free" group should also fall within that. If you know it's something you should be paying for, yet you decide to pirate it anyway, then you obviously feel like you shouldn't have to pay for it.

Another thing that probably is a factor but a little one is the different formats. Amazon's azwwhatever, epub, and mobi. That limits where you can purchase books from.

[QUOTE=Zero-Point;51999669]Honestly I think the "because it's free" group should also fall within that. If you know it's something you should be paying for, yet you decide to pirate it anyway, then you obviously feel like you shouldn't have to pay for it.[/QUOTE] Possibly just different line of thoughts. "I don't think I should pay for content" might originate from different ideas, such as: 1. "I think contents of digital books should be free to everyone." 2. "Corporate publishers do not deserve a single dime from me." 3. "Their revenue should only come from digital prints where it has costs." etc. Most pirates know pirating is wrong, but there isn't much consequence to do this wrong when it is beneficial (to the pirates). Some will probably agree to pay, some will just go "eh forget it" if piracy isn't an option, but they are still within the mindset of "these things actually cost money and I should pay for it but I can get it for free so why the hell not" which does not equate to "I shouldn't pay for these things they should be free"

[QUOTE=1239the;51999416]rich people tend to be the ones who believe themselves entitled to the most free shit, so it's not surprising to me.[/QUOTE] I think that might be just your resentment of those that are wealthy. Rich people do not feel themselves entitled to free stuff.

[QUOTE=1239the;51999416]rich people tend to be the ones who believe themselves entitled to the most free shit, so it's not surprising to me.[/QUOTE] They're rich because they pirate [QUOTE=TheJoker;51999699]Another thing that probably is a factor but a little one is the different formats. Amazon's azwwhatever, epub, and mobi. That limits where you can purchase books from.[/QUOTE] Ebook DRM is such a shitfest too.

[QUOTE=Tetsmega;51999491]I would think young adults in college would be the bigger ebook pirates considering the cost of tuition today and the need to make cuts. I know plenty of people who circumvent the cost of books for a semester through pirated ebooks.[/QUOTE] A lot of books have online portions teachers use for homework now. The access card cannot be used twice, and they price it at about the same as buying the book bundled with it. So you're pretty much forced to buy it quite often now. like for my stats class the code alone was like $70, and to rent the digital book along with getting the code was $80. I hear it gets much worse when it's not an entry level class lol. Though teachers could get around this by choosing open-source books, I'm so goddamn thankful when one does.

[QUOTE=rndgenerator;51999903]They're rich because they pirate Ebook DRM is such a shitfest too.[/QUOTE] didn't amazon delete 1984 from kindles remotely in a very orwellian move

When it comes to educational books I have a strong belief they should be free and available to everyone full stop, not everyone has the money, access or ability to attend a college or university, or the money to spend on them. I self taught myself electrical engineering, programming and many other skills which would not really have been possible without the access to a wide range of books, in many ways I owe the majority of my education to piracy. As for older and more wealthy people pirating ebooks more that isn't really surprising, they've probably been at it for many years and I'm willing to bet many of them are better educated than your average person hence the higher income.

[QUOTE=Chryseus;52000255]When it comes to educational books I have a strong belief they should be free and available to everyone full stop, not everyone has the money, access or ability to attend a college or university, or the money to spend on them. I self taught myself electrical engineering, programming and many other skills which would not really have been possible without the access to a wide range of books, in many ways I owe the majority of my education to piracy. As for older and more wealthy people pirating ebooks more that isn't really surprising, they've probably been at it for many years and I'm willing to bet many of them are better educated than your average person hence the higher income.[/QUOTE] But who will pay the authors? Writing books is hard, doing it for free is not something most people can do. You gained your education thanks to years of hard work of writing that material. I hope you at least repaid the authors after you used the knowledge you gained from them to earn money.

[QUOTE=rndgenerator;52000278]But who will pay the authors? Writing books is hard, doing it for free is not something most people can do. You gained your education thanks to years of hard work of writing that material. I hope you at least repaid the authors after you used the knowledge you gained from them to earn money.[/QUOTE] Certainly they should be paid, but there are many ways to go about doing this, such as government / non-profit funding, physical copies, donations, ensuring they get a fair cut from publishers, etc. And yes I've repaid a number of authors by buying physical copies.

[QUOTE=rndgenerator;52000278]But who will pay the authors? Writing books is hard, doing it for free is not something most people can do. You gained your education thanks to years of hard work of writing that material. I hope you at least repaid the authors after you used the knowledge you gained from them to earn money.[/QUOTE] depends, if there's books in the library I actually wonder if there's much a problem from pirating it you "steal" from the author whenever you go to the library