I can load any MP3 or AAC audio file into iTunes on my computer and sync it to my iPhone. I can load any .mp4 video file into iTunes and sync it to my iPhone. I'm not aware of any system on Apple, Android, or Windows mobile devices that attempts to police these sorts of user-driven file activities.
Is it more difficult to do things that way, than simply buying a song or movie from an app store? Yes. But shouldn't that be a good thing? For years one of the arguments against anti-piracy enforcement was that the only reason people pirated was because it was easier to get content that way. Companies were told that the right way to fight piracy was not through Congres and the courts, but by making the experience of legally paying for content easier than pirating content.
Now, that is actually coming true. But apparently it is now also a wrong way to fight piracy.
You used the word "iTunes" twice in your first two sentences. You've also mentioned 2 audio formats and 1 video format, and that already exhausted your examples because that ecosystem supports nothing else.
One application, supporting two operating systems and three formats. Whooptidoo.
For something that is technically as easy as copying any format file to any device. Congrats. Great f-ing progress.
Not to mention the fact that most of what I would like to consume in media isn't legally available in my country in those or any other format. And anything but music is still DRM-crippled.
It's not just easier to get pirated content, it's still largely the only way.
Is it more difficult to do things that way, than simply buying a song or movie from an app store? Yes. But shouldn't that be a good thing? For years one of the arguments against anti-piracy enforcement was that the only reason people pirated was because it was easier to get content that way. Companies were told that the right way to fight piracy was not through Congres and the courts, but by making the experience of legally paying for content easier than pirating content.
Now, that is actually coming true. But apparently it is now also a wrong way to fight piracy.