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Exec: Apple must address piracy before NBC returns to iTunes

arstechnica.com — NBC is still open to bringing its large list of TV shows back to the iTunes Store, but still wants more control over its content. One way to do that, according to an NBC exec, is more antipiracy measures for the iPod and iTunes.

Who dugg this? Made popular Apr 18, 2008

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  • rossgram, on 04/18/2008, -1/+182C'mon. I think that more piracy will come about if they're content is NOT on iTunes. If folks go to where they used to be able to find shows (BSG for example) and can't find it there, they'll go elsewhere and pirate them to get the content. Sure Hulu.com offers a variety of their program for free ... The pirated videos on the internet are NOT from iTunes. NBC is being dumb.
  • BrendanSheehan, on 04/18/2008, -0/+84I'd be open to it too if I found out that people just started pirating my stuff like crazy once I removed my content off iTunes. Piracy is what happens when you are not on iTunes, not when you're on it. Take a good band or song writer, if their stuff is on iTunes I'll gladly pay for it, the problem arises when you can't find the content easily, legitimately.
  • daGUY, on 04/18/2008, -0/+73So NBC's idea to thwart piracy is to bring their shows back to iTunes, but NOT allow you to copy them onto an iPod. What universe do the people who make these decisions live in? The more restrictions you put on what people can do with their content, the MORE likely it is that they will pirate it in order to get around those very restrictions! Isn't this just common sense??
  • MurphyMac, on 04/18/2008, -1/+59 It's hard to imagine the meetings where this was decided. "Pull our content from the media player with the largest market share. Done."
  • boymotion, on 04/18/2008, -1/+54This just in: NBC Exec admits "I am high as a kite."
  • smaier, on 04/18/2008, -5/+54NBC = Neanderthal Broadcasting Chimpanzees

    These guys have lost touch with reality. Unbelievable.
  • protogenxl, on 04/18/2008, -3/+44NBC, When we buy something off Itunes we are not paying for Content we are paying for Convenience.
  • cambrown99, on 04/18/2008, -0/+39Hey NBC, I torrented 30 Rock and Battlestar Galactica last week. This time last year I was buying them on iTunes. That's $4 bucks you didn't get because you were afraid I might steal it.

    That's some ***** up logic, you know?
  • binaryloop, on 04/18/2008, -1/+36Dear NBC:

    Get it through your thick ***** skull: DRM DOES NOT WORK!

    If you encumber something with DRM I won't buy it.

    1. Stop treating me like a criminal before you even sell me something.
    2. When you sell me something it's MINE. I can do what I want with it.

    If I want to watch it on my TV, or my computer, or my iPod, or my laptop.... that's my business.... not yours. You sold it to me. Now back the ***** off and let me enjoy it!

    If you guys would spend your time and money figuring out ways to bring more content to users in ways that they want to see it and focused less on litigation and DRM you'd be making a fortune. You're squabbling over $1 and you're losing $10,000 because people just choose to go elsewhere. Do you want to be like the music business? Those guys are doomed. They're re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic right now. Keep it up and you'll be doing the same thing in another 10 years.

    Signed,

    A Media Buyer
  • joe950, on 04/18/2008, -2/+32Its a good thing us iTunes/AppleTV consumers have other network/content options to choose from...
    NBC can suck it!
  • CMiYC, on 04/18/2008, -1/+30Dear Apple,
    You may tell NBC, on my behalf, to go ***** Themselves.
    - Your Loyal Customer
  • gweedoz, on 04/18/2008, -1/+29They like to quote the music industry, but they sure haven't learned anything from them.
    1) "If you don't lock this content down with so much DRM it's unusable, we won't let you have it". 2) People get it anyway through other channels. 3) Time passes, revenue declines. 4) Industry relents. 5) Real DRM free solutions arrive. 6) Industry pats self on back
  • Avian00, on 04/18/2008, -1/+28If these are the terms of NBC returning their content to iTunes, I'd just say let them keep it. These guys need a freaking clue! There are plenty of other ways to get this content on an iPod or whatever device you want it on (with or without their blessing). Oh, and about the price, $2 is already too much for a show you won't likely watch more than once. If you want to sell me your content, you need to LOWER the price, not raise it!
  • MurphyMac, on 04/18/2008, -1/+27Two bucks is the max for a tv show, no way I'd pay a nickel more. Voted all these comments up, but they don't begin to describe how clueless NBC is.
  • Cybrwolf, on 04/18/2008, -2/+28***** NBC! I would have happily bought the season pass for BSG, if they had stayed on iTunes. Now BitTorrent gets my business!
    *grin*
  • youtellme8, on 04/18/2008, -1/+25Ultimately, piracy will always happen and NBC needs to learn to work with that instead of trying to prevent the inevitable.
  • WiseWeasel, on 04/18/2008, -2/+23Who cares? iTunes Store already sucks for video, because they only sell DRM'd content. Until these studios pull their heads out of their collective ass, and sell me their content DRM-free, it's DVDs (and eventually BluRay) ripped to standard formats for this digger. No way I'm allowing myself to get trapped with a content library in any proprietary formats. Right now, I could easily take all my files and switch my OS to Linux, Windows, OS X, or whatever, and all my content will continue to work, as it's in standard formats. I wouldn't give up that freedom for anything.
  • corripio, on 04/18/2008, -2/+22Wow, they really don't get it, do they?
  • superkendall, on 04/18/2008, -0/+17No kidding, if I want NBC shows to play on an iPod the ONLY way is to pirate it?

    If that's what you demand NBC, then so be it. I guess they didn't lose enough money on the writers strike.

  • PathDaemon, on 04/18/2008, -1/+17I don't even understand what the ***** this exec is complaining about. His quote:
    "If you look at studies about MP3 players, especially leading MP3 players and what portion of that content is pirated, and think about how that content gets onto that device, it has to go through a gatekeeping piece of software, which would be a convenient place to put some antipiracy measures."

    May I say, "no *****?" iTunes has always been the gatekeeper for getting DRM'd content onto iPods, and I haven't heard of iTS' video DRM being broken. Nobody's going to pirate an NBC show off an iPod, it just doesn't work.

    I honestly don't understand what Kliavkoff's complaint is. Unless he's asking Apple to only allow DRM'd content onto iPods, which is totally and completely silly.
  • kymike, on 04/18/2008, -0/+16I didn't read the article, but I interpret the above quote to mean the following: People use software (the "gatekeeper"), like iTunes, to get media - including pirated content - onto their players. Ergo, iTunes should (in NBC's view) look for pirated content and not allow it to be transferred to devices.

    Just to be clear: I don't agree with that, of course.
  • innocentsinner, on 04/18/2008, -1/+17For your typical 25-ish episode series, you're looking at $50, which is usually a bit more than DVD prices for the show. So yea, anything more than $2 is ridiculous.
  • WiseWeasel, on 04/18/2008, -0/+15Not quite. What they seem to want is for Apple to prevent you from playing any content without DRM on an iPod, iPhone, AppleTV, iTunes, etc., which is not going to happen, of course, as it would be the death of iPod sales.
  • JDex, on 04/18/2008, -1/+16Dear NBC,

    Successful content providers around the world have realized two things over the past 5 years.

    A.) If a person wants your content, they'll take it.
    B.) If a person buys your content, and you try to restrict it, they'll circumvent it.

    Wake up man... DRM only damages your relationship with the people that want to "give" you money, yes I said "give", because what they're "buying" is free. It doesn't hinder pirates, teenagers or anyone else with an internet connection or DVR/VCR for more than 30 seconds. Give people a reason to want to give you money... and no, I'm afraid your efforts are not having the desired effect.
  • dcolley, on 04/18/2008, -3/+17When NBC returns to iTunes, I will consider watching their shows again.
  • nogami, on 04/18/2008, -0/+13nobody ever accused network executives of being bright... I'll make this simple - maybe they'll get the hint:

    Dear NBC Execs:

    Pirating your stuff is already dead simple, and with a tiny bit of work, it can be completely automated. And you'll make no money at all from those pirated downloads. If you put your stuff back on iTunes, you might get SOME revenue. Failing to do so guarantees NO revenue.

    Those are your two choices. Choose.
  • jcwuerfl, on 04/18/2008, -2/+14You know NBC is thinking:

    1) Require DRM
    2)...
    3) PROFIT!

    Whatever, we dont need you NBC
  • hexydes, on 04/18/2008, -0/+12It's simply a matter of NBC (and for that matter all networks') executives being used to having absolute power. For almost 70 years, the networks have basically been able to dictate to anyone they were working with the terms for how that arrangement would be made.

    They see piracy. The can't perceive it in any other way than "something we don't control and/or make money from". Therefore, it is something to be eliminated. They don't for one second think that it is or could be beneficial to them (i.e. getting people to watch new shows, early market testing for new shows, etc). Because of this, they will try to use this leverage that they believe they still have to force companies like Apple (who are the new media) to not only bend to their will in contracts, but also as a tool to help eliminate the "problem" of piracy.

    This is why TV as we know it has a clock ticking around its neck. I'm not sure how long the timer is set for, but I'm pretty sure it is "sooner" rather than "later".
  • Teej, on 04/18/2008, -0/+12...bit torrent? I mean, they're asking for it.
  • APer3Caper, on 04/18/2008, -0/+11Dear Apple,
    John Mayer's friend here. Tell NBC to go ***** themselves.
    -Your Loyal Customer and Friend of John Mayer
  • Emack420, on 04/18/2008, -1/+12NBC your ***** is gonna be pirated. The least you can do is make it available legally and make as much as you can off the people that dont pirate.
  • MillionsLivio, on 04/18/2008, -0/+11I'm not paying $2 a show.
  • digitalpencil, on 04/18/2008, -3/+13WTF is wrong with these people? They're trying to battle with bitttorrent (50% traffic of which is TV) by DRMing the ***** out of their media?!? You would think by now these retards would have realized that whatever practices they implement to further tie down their media just aggravates us into circumventing these measures!
  • Teej, on 04/18/2008, -0/+10Neither do they.
  • supermanred, on 04/18/2008, -1/+11Yeah, there is probably a high idiot to sane person ratio in the NBC boardroom, either that or the idiots have more power and the sane people have become yes men.
  • DigDugDigger, on 04/18/2008, -0/+10I'll admit, when I purchase material from iTunes its because I'm lazy and/or intoxicated and want the material NOW. So I'll pay a price for it, so be it. When I can't find the stuff I want on iTunes, it's time to fire up Azureus.

    By the way, the DRM on DVD's is so easily circumvented it's almost like they are selling it DRM free... then they come to Apple of all people with piracy concerns? Has anyone ever even seen a "iTunes Rip" of a movie/show on any torrent tracker? If they are worried about piracy, they can start by stopping the selling of DVD's.
  • WiseWeasel, on 04/18/2008, -2/+11Because most people don't like to watch TV on their computers... That's what the big screen in the living room is for. In the case of iTunes, people with AppleTVs or iPods/computers hooked up to their TVs could watch on their TVs, though I personally wouldn't pay a dime for DRM'd content...
  • imacmike, on 04/18/2008, -0/+9NBC, My wallet is wide open, and I'm trying to give you money! But since you don't seem to want it, I'll continue to get my shows free from BitTorrent.
  • RadiatedAnt, on 04/18/2008, -0/+9NBC wants to install shutter screens onto the ipod if the fingerprints don't match.
  • carbonbasedunit, on 04/18/2008, -0/+8I used to not care about the DRM on the videos at the iTunes store, but recently I bought an xbox 360, and while I can stream music from my Mac using Connect360, I can't play any of the videos that I BOUGHT and OWN because of the stupid DRM. It is for this reason that I am not going to buy anymore shows from iTunes until I can use the content I purchase any way I want to. It doesn't make any sense for them to punish their paying customers just because other people download it for free.
  • kendrew, on 04/18/2008, -1/+9NBC is encouraging piracy by doing this, no?
  • dmcbride6, on 04/18/2008, -0/+8What exactly is nbc thinking? Apple doesn't give a ***** about them...I predict NBC will soon be begging apple to put them back in the itunes store.
    Really...I tried getting the office season subscription. Wasnt there. Off to TPB I went.
  • HolyChimp, on 04/18/2008, -0/+8If it's on iTunes+ I'll buy it. If not I go to the bay.
    iTunes+ was the greatest thing iTunes did.
  • jjustice, on 04/18/2008, -0/+7I agree. I personally don't pirate (and I'm not just saying that just for the record! ;-) but I have friends who do, but say that they'll pay for the convenience of iTunes.
  • Rndm_Tngnt, on 04/18/2008, -1/+8How can they be Neanderthals and chimps.

    That just doesn't make any sense.
  • MScrip, on 04/18/2008, -0/+7Dear NBC,

    1. Were your programs being pirated before you were on iTunes?
    2. Were your programs being pirated after you left iTunes?
    3. Were you making money while your programs were on iTunes?

    Answer: If people are willing to pay you for your programs on iTunes... let them! It has nothing to do with piracy, and everything to do with people wanting your shows. Do the right thing.
  • keithmcbride, on 04/18/2008, -0/+7no, he was right. they want both of those.
  • Nitrodist88, on 04/18/2008, -1/+8DRM? lol.
  • carbonbasedunit, on 04/18/2008, -0/+6Agreed. I personally would love to pay to download more episodes of Battlestar Galactica, but this isn't an available option. Also, the more restrictive the DRM the LESS likely I am to buy, not the other way around.
  • jordanmac, on 04/18/2008, -0/+6i'm sure it would...
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