Thanks Ryan

While I was away last week I received a letter and check in the mail from a Mr. Ryan Windeler from Ontario Canada. Ryan wrote about how excited he is that P90X got him in the best shape of his life at the age 37. He also wrote that P90X is becoming as popular as hockey up in Canada.

The second half of the letter was an apology for pirating his copy of P90X off the Internet. He writes, "I can't in good conscience continue to push play knowing that I didn't come by my P90X discs honestly. Honor is a man's gift to himself and today I hope to restore a little of mine by enclosing a money order to you in the amount of USD $120.00." He concludes by saying, "I wanted you to know that P90X has the power to transform more than just a person's body."

I was floored by this letter and check. I know sometimes we might buy movies or workout DVDs that aren't originals (manufactured by the companies that worked hard to create, market and distribute them) and think, "What's the big deal?" The "big deal" is that purchasing these products can and have ruined the legitimate companies that make them. When you buy counterfeit and/or pirated copies of anything you're doing much more than chipping away at a company's profit margin.

First of all you're stealing. You're also hurting a company's ability to develop new products, spend money on media to advertise, preventing companies from hiring new people, and forcing companies to cut corners (that hurts you) to make up for the loses.

Ryan Windeler is a hero because he admitted doing wrong and apologized for it. Sending the check was just a bonus.

Thank You Ryan