Unworthy Subscriptions Are Pushing People Back To Piracy: My Take On Rising Piracy

Piracy is rising: earlier, privacy used to be seen as a problem that every movie had to face. Then the streaming services came and solved the problem. Giving people access to a huge media library just for a cheap subscription fee. Cheap price, massive library, and instant access on the go made the illegal download feel unnecessary. But in late 2025, all the above-mentioned features slowly felt like they were drifting away. Prices started increasing, content is not on one single platform, there are tonnes of other services offering movies and series, ownership is unclear as even after paying a premium people started getting ads, and the platform demanded additional money for renting as well. This resulted in piracy no longer being framed as “stealing”. It just became a reaction to the bad service, restrictive platforms, and a system that sells access without ownership.

This change did not happen overnight. It is the result of years of small changes that slowly made legal consumption harder than illegal access. This is not actually a moral collapse but a service failure, in my opinion. Now, to give you a count and prove my point, I have a total of 22 subscriptions on my smartphone for movies, shows, music, and faster order deliveries. So even I have faced the issues, like now, how many more subscriptions will I need to access a new series? I will share my opinion more in this article, so without any further ado, let's head into the article.

How Entertainment Access Changed Over Time

Let’s head back in time and check how the entertainment actually revolutionised. Entertainment started with physical ownership. Cassettes, CDs, and DVDs offered permanence. That means if we paid for it, we own it. 

Then digital piracy came, where Napster changed everything. A P2P application for sharing MP3 music files directly between users' computers. Napster enabled mass MP3 sharing without any quality loss. Soon after Napster was shut down after lawsuits from record labels and artists like Metallica, LimeWire and BitTorrent platforms replaced it. Music, movies, games, and software became globally accessible to everyone on the internet.

Piracy grew because it was easier than buying, and also it was kind of free except for the internet cost.

Later, legal platforms such as Spotify, Netflix, and Apple Music reversed that trend.

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When Subscriptions Felt Like the Perfect Solution

Netflix proved that people are willing to pay for subscriptions if access is simple and affordable and worth it.

The model spread quickly for music, books, and tools as well:

- Spotify and Apple Music

- Hulu and HBO

- Kindle and Audible

- Adobe and SaaS tools

As the reports and trend suggest, piracy dropped as subscriptions felt fair, convenient and ethical. Users accepted renting instead of owning because access was smooth.

But that balance did not last long.

The Slow Decline of Subscription Platforms

Once platforms became dominant, priorities shifted.

- Content scattered across multiple services.

- Prices increased.

- Account sharing was restricted.

- Libraries rotated constantly.

- Exclusive licensing fractured viewing habits.

Watching IPL, ODI, and Test Matches scattered across multiple subscriptions. Some shows have multiple seasons scattered around platforms. Moreover, even some shows could disappear suddenly without warning.

With time it became a slow transformation from user-friendly services into frustrating ecosystems.

The Ownership Problem

Digital ownership is mostly an illusion.

- Streaming purchases are licences.

- Kindle books are licences.

- Audible audiobooks are licences.

These licences can be changed, revoked, or removed.

This became the reality, and soon a phrase gained popularity:

If buying isn’t owning, then pirating isn’t stealing.

It shows emotional logic, not just legal arguments. People feel disconnected from the things they paid for, as they don’t actually own them.

Gen Z and the Normalisation of Piracy

Research by Azizi Othman on ResearchGate stated that “Gen Z users prioritise convenience, accessibility, and relevance over traditional notions of intellectual property rights.”

Even the surveys show that a large majority of Gen Z and many millennials have pirated content, especially TV shows and books. The motivation is more based on practicality.

As piracy offers:

- Stable access

- Complete libraries

- No regional restrictions

- No sudden removals

For younger audiences, piracy feels less like rebellion and more like efficiency.

Is Piracy Always Harmful?

The idea that piracy only destroys value is not completely wrong.

Many artists and people have benefited from online sharing instead of collapsing because of it. Many of the pirates were never realistically paying customers in the first place.

So Gabe Newell, the founder of Steam, says the following remains relevant, which was said about 8 years ago:

Piracy is a service problem.

When service improves, piracy falls.

When service worsens, piracy returns.

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What Would Actually Reduce Piracy

To be honest, after this much, and clearly seeing myself reflected as a regular consumer and their needs, I can say that punishment is not going to solve the piracy issues. Better systems might, as we have already seen.

I personally can say that piracy would decline if platforms focused on:

- Fewer fragmented services

- Stable content libraries

- Fair and transparent pricing

- True ownership options

- Less restrictive usage rules

- Better user experience

People rarely choose piracy first if they see a worthwhile subscription. They go for it after legal options become exhausting.

Subscriptions vs Piracy

This comparison explains the shift more clearly than any moral debate.

Final Thoughts

Piracy is not returning because people suddenly stopped caring about creators or they don’t want to pay for the service. It is returning because subscription platforms stopped caring about users, and users started feeling that subscriptions are no longer worth it. In my opinion, the problem was never just piracy. The problem was how subscription platforms taught people to stop believing in what they were paying for and took control of everything.