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<blockquote data-quote="Zappo" data-source="post: 1534007" data-attributes="member: 633">I'd like to throw this into the pot:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/03/30/kazaa_and_co_not_cause/" target="_blank">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/03/30/kazaa_and_co_not_cause/</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;It seems that there is some evidence that file sharing isn't as harmful as record companies depict it.&nbsp;&nbsp;Now, how does this relate to RPG products? I don't think that file sharing has a big impact on sales of paper products. The problem is different for PDF items, though. In this case, the product you get through Kazaa or whatever is exactly the same as what you would have purchased. It's not a low-quality scan of something that you could be holding in your hands instead; it's the exact same thing. It certainly doesn't push people towards purchasing the product after having seen it.&nbsp;&nbsp;Another article I read (unfortunately, it was many months ago, and I can't find the link) noticed that sales in music did decrease from 2002 to 2003, but the number of new records had decreased by even more. This lends weight to the hypotesis that the companies are bringing the real damage on themselves by constantly recycling the same old stuff and the same known styles and singers.&nbsp;&nbsp;However, this doesn't apply to RPG products at all. The d20 segment itself is too small and too recent to make good statistics, but new stuff is coming out at a very good pace.&nbsp;&nbsp;Overall, I think that file sharing may be harming the PDF industry, but not the press industry really.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Zappo, post: 1534007, member: 633"] I'd like to throw this into the pot: [url]http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/03/30/kazaa_and_co_not_cause/[/url] It seems that there is some evidence that file sharing isn't as harmful as record companies depict it. Now, how does this relate to RPG products? I don't think that file sharing has a big impact on sales of paper products. The problem is different for PDF items, though. In this case, the product you get through Kazaa or whatever is [i]exactly the same[/i] as what you would have purchased. It's not a low-quality scan of something that you could be holding in your hands instead; it's the exact same thing. It certainly doesn't push people towards purchasing the product after having seen it. Another article I read (unfortunately, it was many months ago, and I can't find the link) noticed that sales in music did decrease from 2002 to 2003, but the [i]number of new records[/i] had decreased by even [i]more[/i]. This lends weight to the hypotesis that the companies are bringing the real damage on themselves by constantly recycling the same old stuff and the same known styles and singers. However, this doesn't apply to RPG products at all. The d20 segment itself is too small and too recent to make good statistics, but new stuff is coming out at a very good pace. Overall, I think that file sharing may be harming the PDF industry, but not the press industry really. [/QUOTE]

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