It's time to talk about bootlegged copies of
our programs as well as unathorized MP3 files.

I listened to a public radio program yesterday
on digital piracy and heard several callers
"flip up their eye patch" and proclaim to be
pirates. I read some of your posts with
dismay. I can't believe that people are proud
to declare themselves thieves. What's this
world coming to?

I believe digital piracy is unfair, unethical,
and certainly illegal.

* Our society is based on fair exchanges. You
give value to receive value. People who
download MP3 files are not giving value. They
are sucking value. That is not fair to
everyone else in society. It is certainly not
fair to the people who own the rights to the
product or fair to other people who paid good
money for the product.

* Some people say, "I cannot afford to buy the
recording, so I take it free." Well, if you
cannot afford to buy a car, can you expect to
get a car for free? I'm sorry, but if you
cannot afford something, you cannot get it.
We've helped to make our programs accessible
by offering the PhotoReading book for $16.95
and individual Paraliminal Tapes for $15-35 as
well as a variety of payment plans. But the
fact is, some people will not be able to
afford the programs.

* Others say, "I get downloads to sample the
product, and then I buy the product." In most
cases that is simply not true. Nonetheless,
we offer a perfect way to sample the product
with our liberal Satisfaction Guarantees. If
your are not completely satisfied, return it
for a refund.

* Others say that the issue is corporate
greed. That companies make too much money. I
walk through our office and look at our two
dozen employees who handle customer service,
coaching, accounting, development, and
marketing. I visit our call centers and see
over 75 people answering the phones. I go to
our fulfillment center and see six people
shipping product. We all earn a decent wages
and have many personal obligations, but no one
is over paid. When you take MP3 files, you are
stealing from all of these people that created
the product in the first place and service our
customers on an ongoing basis. We spend
millions of dollars each year on salaries. We
spend millions on advertising and marketing.
Our margins are very thin. We are constantly
trying to shave 1/4 of a penny of the cost of
each mailing that goes out, because direct
response marketing is expensive and every
expense adds up. Truly, every sale counts.
That's why we offered the forum: as a way to
give more benefit to our customers so that we
can earn more sales.

I take solace in knowing the karmic realities
of the world will eventually bite digital
pirates in the butt.

To the digital pirates: rise up and do the
right thing, As Chunyi Lin says, "People's
energy can change." If not, please be clear,
you are not welcome here.

To everyone else, thank you for your support.
We'll continue to do the best work we can to
innovate new and exciting ways for you to
experience and maximize your potential.
Coming up in February is a very cool course
called "Resiliency" that helps you rally a
power to bounce back to turn any misfortune
into good fortune.

If you haven't opted in to receive email from
us, do so today. Enter the contest to win
$250, and you will be opted in. We have a
series of email set to go out in the next
couple of weeks to introduce a new twist to
what we do. Paul Scheele and I are very
excited about this.

Be well, and keep the conversations going. I
enjoy dipping in and seeing what is on your
minds.