×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
NEWS: 7 Major Webtoon Firms Demand Maximum Penalty for 'OKToon' Pirate Site Operator




Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Firefly251



Joined: 14 Jul 2018
Posts: 392
PostPosted: Sun Mar 16, 2025 1:19 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Illegal webtoon site caused US$37 million in losses according to companies


yes, piracy is bad for business, but they really need to stop the "millions in losses" as just because someone can't pirate something doesnt mean they will buy it.... most people who cant pirate something wont buy it either and just go somewhere else.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
XSp



Joined: 23 May 2014
Posts: 287
PostPosted: Sun Mar 16, 2025 11:18 am Reply with quote
Firefly251 wrote:
Quote:
Illegal webtoon site caused US$37 million in losses according to companies


yes, piracy is bad for business, but they really need to stop the "millions in losses" as just because someone can't pirate something doesnt mean they will buy it.... most people who cant pirate something wont buy it either and just go somewhere else.


Exactly this.

More than anything, I think this points out to two major things in cases like this: maliciousness from the side of the accuser legal arguments, and just an offensive reliance on ignorance of the judge, courts, legal system in general and public.

This stupidity has got to stop at some point, and it's such clear and blatant attempt to villainize the criminal further that I dunno how this sort of argument has survived for this long.
If I was a judge receiving these sorts of arguments I'd take it as a personal offense.

The argument for maximum penalty to stop the practice also does not work, has never worked, and will never work in the future. It is the textbook definition of deterrence fallacy.

As for the argument about sum of money lost in sales, there are too many fallacies inside this argument to even list. Argument from ignorance, argument from repetition, questionable cause, inductive fallacy, false dilemma, magical thinking, appeal to consequences, non sequitur, and so on.

It is absurd to it's face to assume that just because a pirate portal has gotten number x of downloads or similar, that if it didn't exist the exact same people would have bought the original product, when the value proposition is completely different. It never follows, and this argument should fall flat on it's face by default.

No one is losing xx millions in sale because of piracy. And while this argument is overblown and completely fictional on the negative side, it also never mentions the effect piracy had to popularize, spread out, and give access to people who wanted not only the specific object, but also to be part of a community - but did not have the means to, or simply didn't have an official channel to go for, and so on.

I mean, really - does anyone seriously believe that manga, webtoons, anime, or even more broadly, movies, music, games, and all other industries that piracy plays a major role, would have gotten as big as they did globally without piracy? Really?

Mind you, I'm not defending the crime itself. But to me, it's very worrying that these sorts of fallacious arguments are still around. It's not only about intentionally malicious legalese relying on ignorance of judges, plus propaganda, but at this point it seems like just a fabricated point of contention so that courts can be manipulated to give harsher sentences based on weak manipulated arguments.
This sort of thing is one of the reasons why, even when you have neutral courts of justice, you end up with people who cannot afford good lawyers getting crushed by expensive law firms hired by industry groups.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group