Yes, it started in January.

The prices in America are much more reasonable than the prices in Japan...it probably works out to 1/4 the cost of what it would to buy in japan. However, that is still not cheap.

Generally people that DL for free have justified the stealing in their head or are too ignorant to realize it is stealing. They say things like "I don't want to wait, I want to see what happens next now!" But they wouldn't need to wait if they didn't start stealing in the first place.

People have this fantasy that anime and manga grows on trees, and it doesn't . It takes work, which takes people, which takes money. No money means no more anime. It's not rocket science. Look at how many steal manga and anime off the internet and then look at the anime companies and manga publishers that have gone out of business.

I'm gonna have to disappoint you MMM, but for 7 bucks people get a chance to see their favourite episodes 1 day (if not even less) sooner then those who illegally download them, fansubbers work really fast. Maybe this 7 bucks a month membership on Crunchyroll will attract few impatient die-hard fans, but that's it, the situation won't really change that much as some people might believe.

Maybe what's killing the anime industry is the lack of decent anime? In the last 12 months there's been nothing worth downloading, never mind buying.

The last anime I bought was Ergo Proxy, made in 2006. I suppose 2007 had some good releases... Bokurano, Dennou Coil, Ghost Hound and Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei. Are they ever going to be released in the west? Doubt it.

I've illegally downloaded/pirated/stolen anime in the past. It was free, it was there and I wanted to know if it was good or not. If it was good, I went ahead and bought the real deal. If it wasn't, delete ahoy it's wasting space on my drive.

I don't feel bad about it to be honest. I'm not gonna know whether I like something or not unless I try it and I'm sure not going to fork out for something sight unseen. I wonder why it is these people are assuming that every download represents a lost sale? Just because people are getting it for free, it doesn't mean they'd pay for it.

Sorry if I offended anyone, that's really not my intention.

PS: New business model please.

Well, they have 10,000 subscribers already, so that's a start. The trick is to have the "official English translation" finished before the show is even broadcast in Japan, that way fans all over the world can get the official translation, which is going to be better than a fansub.

^ I'm one of those subscribers. Was getting my fix solely from [neveryoumind] until Crunchyroll stepped up. I actually prefer the subs from the free place still, but oh well.

Unfortunately you are in the minority. But you are still stealing and it is still illegal.

When did this sense of privilege to test-drive something before we buy come from? I'll buy a CD from an artist I like without knowing if it is good or not. I pay for a movie at the movie theater before I watch it, not after...and choose to pay whether I liked it or not. The entertainment industry doesn't work that way. You are seeing the results. "Fans" would rather steal than reward those entertaining them for what they received.

All anime that is for sale has promos, commercials, reviews, etc. available for free and legally. Next time go to the publisher's site and check those out instead of downloading, excuse me, stealing and deciding to pay for it, or not, later.

If you aren't going to pay for it, then you don't get it. That's how business works. When you have a system where some people are paying for it who can and others are stealing it for free as a result there will be nothing for anyone in the end.

I agree, if people didn't upload people wouldn't download. But if someone leaves the keys in their car, does that make it ok to steal it? I mean, it was easy, right. And I don't have any money, so I wasn't going to buy the car anyway, right?

What happens is that people clued up about anime, download a series before it's licensed and then decide whether to buy it or not when it comes out. They get to preview it.

Those who are a bit slower off the mark, download it when it's been licensed, and then decide whether to buy it or not. Those in the above category can't then call these people thieves having enjoyed the series for free themselves. So we have to ban the downloading of unlicensed anime?

I hope I am not blowing your mind when I say that the download of fansubs of unlicensed materials is illegal as well. This is covered in the Berne Convention, and almost every country in the world, including of West agreed. Basically it means that international copyrights are respected the same way as domestic copyrights. So no, they don't "get to" preview it. It is still illegal and is still stealing from someone who created something without paying for it. The only difference is the victim is in another country, so you are less likely to get caught.