Administration of HMV: Encouraging Film Piracy?

One of the most popular entertainment shops in the UK, 'HMV',  have been threatened with administration since their failure of selling during Christmas 2012. The administration of the shop has been blamed on the internet, and how prices are always cheaper on the internet.

''Retailer has struggled in the face of growing demand for digital downloads

Company had a poor Christmas sales period despite 35% sales reduction

Almost 300 stores and 4,350 staff face uncertainty as negotiations unfold

Administrator announces gift cards will not be accepted in stores

CEO Trevor Moore - former head of Jessops - insists company will be saved'' - Daily Mail

Something that is causing trouble about the administration of HMV is that none of the shops are accepting gift vouchers, even though they were being sold during last Christmas and for another two weeks after. People are not allowed refunds on the gift vouchers, or any other product from the shop.

A lot of people still prefer to buy DVDs and CDs from HMV because they prefer having physical copies of the product, something that they can pass to other family members or friends, unlike what they can do with online files. 

My own opinion is that cases like this are encouraging the online illegal viewing of films.

The image below shows how HMVs prices are what contributed to their failure as a highstreet shop. Any example for why they failed to sell enough DVDs is that the price of The Amazing Spiderman is £14.99 in HMV, £9 from Amazon.com and £9.58 from independent sellers on Play.com. People would  prefer to stay at home and order the DVD than have to travel to a HMV shop to purchase it.  

Click here to see the Daily Mail article on the administration of HMV.