In a perfect world, pirated content with watermark would be free promotion, enticing a certain percentage of viewers you'd never have otherwise have been brought to the attention of to sign up.

But I'm not convinced that's the case. What I think is happening, instead, is that people are being further conditioned to seek out stuff for free and avoid paying at all costs, thanks to the amazing ease with which they can acquire everything for free.

Your site doesn't become a destination on their web browser. Instead, the site featuring your pirated videos becomes the destination on their web browser and the only place they will ever go to get your videos.

When it's so easy to get everything for free, they have zero incentive to buy - regardless of how great you make your site, how great you make your videos, or anything else.

Once they're conditioned to get it all for free, they're lost.

So that's why I feel it's important to hassle these sites. Get them shut down. Get videos removed from the networks. Make it difficult to get them. Have individuals distributing pirated content, as well as individuals seeking out pirated content, to get conditioned to the fact that it's an unreliable means of acquiring it, it can be difficult and inconvenient, they can't expect good quality or resolution, they have to go through hoops and up ladders to get it, and constantly have to seek out new ways to find it.

There will always be piracy, but it's key that it can't become so easy to the mainstream masses that there's no longer an incentive to pay.

And, quite frankly, I'm not content to let huge numbers of people get all the stuff for free in the hopes a small but decent enough percentage will come out of those masses willing to buy.