Image: You Will Never Kill Piracy, and Piracy Will Never Kill You - Forbes.
Of course, we already have a variety of “Movie Steam”-style servies — iTunes Store, Netflix, Hulu, etc. — but the problem at the moment is that none of them quite compare to the ease-of-use of piracy. Or are, yanno. Available where I live.
Oh, and true story: I have not pirated a single game since I actually started using Steam. I used to be a huge pirater of games, mostly due to the outrageous cost of physical boxes here (~$80-110). If I wasn’t 100% sure of a game, or knew I’d only be playing it for a little while, I’d pirate it. I didn’t take very many risks in what I actually bought.
Enter Steam, and now I purchase everything. Sometimes on sale, but frequently not. I never have to worry about CD keys or losing physical media or reinstallations when I change PCs, either. Steam just works, in a way that’s easier than both physical box copies and piracy.
Sure, Steam’s not perfect, but it’s Good Enough. (Not to mention the risk of malware is significantly less, despite what Avast! likes to tell me.)
Would I use a service similar to Steam to watch movies and TV series? Damn right I would. I’d install that shit on every computer, mobile device, and TV (which, to be fair, are also computers with bigger screens and XBMC installed) in my house.