Stadia wrote: : On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:35:59 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@realtime.net (Bruce Burden) : wrote: : : OK, I oversimplified on the standard envelope. I just checked at NZ : Post and I can send an item like that to the US for $8.09NZ ($6.10US) : by economy airmail including a small shipping container. : A package weighing less than 5 oz. can be sent to New Zealand via first class mail international for, it looks like, US $4.60. : : International shipping out of the US is so expensive, compared to : other countries, that that could be a hidden factor in the state of : the US economy. If it costs less to buy an equivalent item elsewhere : because of cheaper shipping, no-one will buy there. My own surmise and : no proof but I wonder how likely it is? : Well, you only provide the one example to examine, and I think I demonstrated that the USPS shipping is actually less than what NZ Post charges, so your basic premise seems wrong to start with. :-)
Now, the US economy is in the shape it is in due to a lot of poor decisions made by our pols and business "leaders" alike. But, I don't think the USPS is the reason for the US economic woes. I would agree they could be considered synomonous, given their loss rate. Of course, they are a government agency, so losing money is not too unexpected... : : Not dealing with them myself and I always thought that ignorance is no : defence? : Your original statement made it sound like you were proposing a zero tolerance policy. I have "counterfeit" items in my collection because I have some Academy armor. I may well have other pieces too, but I am not aware of it. : : It irritates me that counterfeiters make use of someone : else's R&D to produce cheap rip-offs. : Piracy is never to be condoned, granted. On the other hand, "piracy is the ONLY way you are going to be able to get a DVD of the orignal "Star Wars" film. You know, the one where Han shoots first? And, I have been told, the quality is excellent, because it originates from a laser disk of SW:IV
Now, who has created the problem here? Lucas, with his "no, DVD's aren't good enough for my films, but I can release 'special' edition after 'special' edition on VHS", or the "pirates"?
Perhaps had the studio been more forceful about kicking Lucas off his ever expanding backside, there would still be a pirate copy of "Star Wars IV" (doubtless there would!) but at least *I* could *legally* purchase a copy of the movie I remember from high school, and not simply wish I had a high quality copy of the film I remember from high school. : : Taken far enough, there will be : no new kits because the originators don't have enough income (or go : bust through lack of sales). : Yeah, I hear this with every PR "emission" from the MPAA, RIAA and SBA. I am sure you have your own "alphabet soup" of special interests "trying to protect the artists", too. Thing is, it didn't seem to stop Bach, Beethoven or even Stradivarius. Now, protecting the (rapidly dwindling) profits of recording companines? Tough shit. After all, they robbed the sheet music companies blind. But, that knowledge has nothing to do with their behavior today. No sir.
Point is, I think craftsman will always look at a challenge, and be motivated to conquer that challenge. And, there will be people looking to cash in on a fake, dodge, scam, etc. Thatt, I am fairly certain, hasn't changed, and is unlikely to.
Bruce