To be fair, I think we have to blame Captain Jack Sparrow. After all, he made piracy cool in Pirates of the Caribbean – a handsome, shrewd, eccentic and loveable rogue, whose only ambition is to sail the seven seas uninhibited by the constraints of civilised society.
In reality, of course, Depp’s character has a much darker side than we may wish to acknowledge. Deceiptful, calculating, and always looking for the next quick buck, Sparrow is not the sort of person any of us would wish to be reliant upon for help. Nevertheless, this romantic version of piracy is one that permeates our culture, and maybe helps explain why people feel so comfortable about the piracy of intellectual property that affects companies like STAXUS.
In short, the unauthorised use or reproduction of our work is theft – and is not the victimless crime some imagine. Like Captain Sparrow, it seems harmless from a distance. In reality, however, it steals from the future – starving the artistic industy of the funding that it needs to maintain its security, and threatening the lives of models, producers, editors, writers and everyone else who contributes to creating the porn you love.
Piracy – and the organised proliferation of tube sites that feed off it – really is killing studios at an alarming rate; and the fact that laws governing copyright are at least twenty years behind society doesn’t help. Contrary to popular myth, porn studios are not awash with money; and the cliff-edge of financial viability is now in clear view. By the early 2020s, there’s a very good chance that ongoing production will literally cease to exist.
For you, of course, that would mean no new fresh-faced twinks being splattered in spunk, or fucked to within an inch of their lives for your pleasure. If that’s something you can live with, fine. If not, always report our files to Porn Guardian whenever you see them online other than on www.staxus.com.
