Can you spare $5?

Louis CK was advised not to release his show online, Live at the Beacon Theatre, without DRM, in HD quality for only $5 on the Internet. Going against this advice he ended up earning a– in lack of better words –shit-loads of money. Showing all the naysayers that people will still buy your product, as long it is at a good price and offer them what they want. In return you will earn a profit.

Unfortunately there will always be a few rotten eggs that will crack and stink up the place.

I was shocked to learn that a few lot decided to make the $5 Louis CK show available for free. Honestly, how poor are you if you can’t afford to pay $5 for the real deal? While being apparently able to afford a computer and an Internet connection.

Let’s not get into this “it’s stealing” vs. “it’s not stealing” discussion. Let’s just look at this isolated incident. Where a guy does all the work to create something on his own and put it out there, available for everyone and anyone with a computer, an Internet connection and with $5 to spare.

I would really enjoy hearing why someone can’t afford to spend $5 on an original product. Where those $5 goes directly to the artist. Not anywhere near some distribution company. The middle-man has been removed.

Isn’t that what the majority of pirates want? That the artist gets paid directly by their audience?

But looking at some of the major torrent sites it’s obvious the Western World suffers from poverty, because there is a lot of people who can’t afford spending $5 which goes directly to Louis CK. Yet being able to afford a computer and in Internet connection.

Louis CK put his product out there for a very cheap price, DRM free. Yet his product still became pirated. Even if he did apparently everything right.

This will in turn give the entertainment industry yet another reason to not catch up with technology. They will focus on using DRM if they have to but probably still prefer CDs and DVDs with DRM. Because what better argument can you have than: “Hey, Louis CK released his show for $5. You can barely get a new DVD on sale for that. Yet people decided to download it for free instead. And this is why we must continue to use DRM with out digital products.”

Bravo!

I applaud you! Those of you who couldn’t dig up a sweaty old $5 bill from your wallet. Thank you so much for proving the entertainment industry right. Making their FUD and lies become true. All because you couldn’t bloody spend $5.

Was Louis CK unreasonable to ask $5 for his show?