omoikaneFeb 2023Recommends
Related: "The 8 billion iPod" by Rob Reid - ▶ this video It's a funny TED talk on "copyright math".
in “Getty Images Is Suing Stable Diffusion for a Staggering $1.8T” · View on HN
The $8 billion iPod | Rob Reid
The $8 billion iPod | Rob Reid on HackerTube: recommended by 2 Hacker News commenters across 2 separate months, 2012–2026.
TED
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A five-minute TED talk by Rob Reid, who introduces Copyright Math, applying entertainment-industry piracy loss claims to produce absurd totals such as an $8 billion iPod.
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN links it in piracy and copyright-lawsuit threads as a funny short demonstration of how inflated industry damage figures are.
- people recommended it
- 2
- separate months
- 2
- strong recommendations
- 0
- discussed on HN
- 2012–2026
“Rob Reid did a funny 5min TED Talk on this”
What HN commenters said
6 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.
DavidNielsenMar 2018Recommends
Rob Reid did a funny 5min TED Talk on this called the 8 Billion dollar iPod: ▶ this video He used the same premise when he wrote the comedy sci-fi book Year Zero, the story of naive aliens accidentally pirating all of Earths music and the legal consequences thereof, i.e. owning the citizens of Earth literally all the money in the universe leading to the ruination of their delightfully hedonistic utopia. A quick and hilarious read.
in “Kim Dotcom wins battle in ongoing fight against U.S. extradition” · View on HN
ShroudedNightJan 2026Cites it
Also worth remembering that around 2010, the music and film industry associations of America were claiming entitlement to $50 billion dollars annually in piracy-related losses beyond what could be accounted for in direct lost revenue (which _might_ have been as much as 10 billion, or 1/6th of their claim): ▶ this video These guys pathologically have had a chip on their shoulder since Napster.
in “Lennart Poettering, Christian Brauner founded a new company” · View on HN
turquoisevarFeb 2024Cites it
Always reminds me of this TED talk[1] that goes into the fantasy accounting in cases such as this. 1: ▶ this video
in “Gary Bowser and gaming's most infamous piracy case” · View on HN
SelfcommitJun 2012Cites it
The affiliate program was for people pushing content, not specifically copyrighted content. Mega made money on site visits and account premiums This is no different then Apple making a fortune off the ipod. The original iPod did not have a great store attached to it, it was simply a device for playing MP3s. Wonder where all those MP3s came from? Holding Mega accountable for the users actions is like saying Apple should pay the record companies for songs that were pirated on the ipods they sold, and continue to sell. ▶ this video
in “Mega-victory: Kim Dotcom search warrants “invalid,” mansion raid “illegal”” · View on HN
LeonMJul 2016Joke
> “Vaulin is charged with running today’s most visited illegal file-sharing website, responsible for unlawfully distributing well over $1 billion of copyrighted materials,” Assistant Attorney General Caldwell said in the statement. I can't keep myself from giggling and thinking about this: ▶ this video
in “Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested” · View on HN
Topics & tags
Law, policing & justiceStand-up & sketch comedyTech industry & business modelscopyrightpiracyted talkhumorindustry lobbying