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Piracy, the better choice (tm)
theinquirer.net — The HD disk format wars are over! Charlie from The Inq lays it down quite hard that everyone at every level of the pc market is trying to screw you when it comes to enjoy content. In the end there will be a victor: Piracy
DevilsRejection- 1277 diggs
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- Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+86True.
DRM, in the sense "copy protection", has the fatal flaw that it makes you PAY for merchandise of lower quality than you could get FOR FREE.
Also, all DRM schemes which are based on making it hard for the customer to access the merchandize (e.g. disk checks, on-line validation, encryption, "region coding"...) only achieves two things: they piss off legitimate users, and have even non-pirates heading for sites like http://www.gamecopyworld.com to find software to remove the restrictions.
That the companies response to the fact that users don't LIKE to have to pay for inferior goods has been to make the DRM even more intrusive and annoying, speaks volumes about how dumb companies like Sony really are.
The only DRM I've seen and liked, are based on streaming content on demand, so that the user simply never has all the data. The best examples are MMORPGs and Valves content delivery system Steam. They're as close to uncrackable as anything will ever get, and they can ADD value for the user, by updates, upgrades, and continuous bonus content.- williamdyer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+36The content publishers don't deserve to have their broken business model protected.
Did we protect whalers when electric light became popular? Buggy-whip makers when the car became popular?
Copyright protection was invented to protect AUTHORS not publishers of mass produced recorded performances. So, when it stops working for the RIAA/MPAA, what do we do? Pervert our freedom so the content publishers can give our computers the anal probe, or tell them "It was a nice ride while it lasted, but you might have to snort less coke next year." - scheper, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10"Hollywoods problem isn't lack of cash, it's lack of vision. "
It's not lack of vision, it's fear.
Comic book films are safe and predictable investments, as are remakes. Very few film makers dare create something new, lest they lose a few million dollars of their large heaps. - WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8@junkyarddawg
"That the companies response to the fact that users don't LIKE to have to pay for inferior goods has been to make the DRM even more intrusive and annoying, speaks volumes about how dumb companies like Sony really are."
Maybe they are not so much 'dumb', but are just really sleazy. Could it be that they are banking on the formation of a fully dictatorial form of government -- which would support their hard line policies of attacking citizens/customers?
Certainly, their actions seem absurd from the viewpoint of a person who has become accustomed to the freedoms and protections formerly guaranteed to all the people by the US Constitution.
But from the viewpoint of the rapidly emerging corporat-ocracy, under the shameful rule of Bush & Cheney & Co., their continued raping of consumers makes perfect sense.
...Unfortunately, for the people who don't own mega corporations. :-( - thirdtenor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11@waterdragon
While I don't disagree with you, and certainly Bush & friends represent some of the worst perversion of the constitution to date, we should not forget most if not all politicians are in the pocket of big moneyed interests. - RRJackson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@scheper
It's market-driven, though. Comic book movies have taken in huge amounts of money at the box-office. The Spider-Man series has broken quite a few records, especially in the area of sequels. When business was down in the late 60's and movies like 'The Wild Bunch', 'Easy Rider', 'The Graduate' and 'Bonnie and Clyde' did huge business it led to a decade of quirky, interesting films made by "New Hollywood' filmmakers who made very personal films. Then eventually those filmmakers started making bloated, self-indulgent films finally culminating in 'Heaven's Gate' in 1980, which is kind of regarded as the end of that era. I actually like the film, but I can see why it tanked as big as it did. That was right at the start of the Reagan era and big braindead blockbusters kind of became the new paradigm. I keep wondering if we're ever going to recover from it, but it will take some indie films with a brain making a lot of money and that doesn't seem all that likely. - Cerberus047, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I love steam actually. I dont notice that its drm. I love the fact that my cd key is binded with my username.. so i dont have to have a cd in at all times.. no looking for no cd cracks... and its almost impossible to pirate hl2 so vavle must be raking in the money!!
- wincewega, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is one of the best-written articles on modern day digital restrictions and costs I have come across. Will write one of those emails with subject line starting with Fwd: after years. Hopefully my n00b friends will finally begin to understand what I keep ranting on.
- williamdyer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+36The content publishers don't deserve to have their broken business model protected.
- amosjones, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21It looks like the system is still broken. If there were a good way to legitimately own all the media I want, I would do it........
- IMustBeEmo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8FTA:
"I would say the same for AMD, but to this day, I am not sure what Live does, if it really exists."
Does anybody really know? I have an AMD Live! X2 4200+ in my desktop computer and I really want to know if my privacy is being invaded.- edzieba, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I've never even heard of this 'live!' thing. It certainly hasn't stopped me from getting HD movies from usenet for the past few years (i.e. the years in which there hasn't been any other way to get it in the UK).
- pegisys, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4AMD has always jumped on the name game
when windows XP came out they had the XP CPUs
when Nvidia FX GPUs were supposed to be the next best thing(lol) they came out with the FX CPUs
now xbox, and windows, live is starting to get popular they take that name and stick it on their products
but seriously the only thing I have seen about AMD live CPUs is that there are programs that are "optimized" for the AMD live platform - bdbr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3AMD Live! and Intel VIIV are just system specifications, similar to Intel Centrino. They're not about DRM, and if the Inquirer "reporter" had done his job and reviewed the specs rather than just linking to an article that he'd written long before the specs were ever released, he'd have found this out rather quickly.
Certainly DRM is one of the problems with online video today, but its not the only problem. Another is that people don't use video the same way as they do music - its not unusual to listen to a song more than once a day, and perhaps a dozen times in a week, but no one would watch a movie or TV show that much - video doesn't have the replay value of music. Much of the TV content can be watched for free anyway, and the free download just becomes a convenience factor. The other problem with video is that there currently isn't a very convenient way to get it onto the device that most people use to watch video - their TV. - MacSuxWindozSux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah what would be nice is a DVD player that connects to the home network and grabs all the video and plays it. No questions asked.
No sarcasm- But just a thought. I think the a Modded XBox does this.
Hahah also heard that after the 360 was released they wheeled a modded XBox into Gates office and showed him all the better/simpler features a modded XBox had over the 360.
But Modded Xboxes com from the same place as piracy... consumers fighting against these DRM's and anti-fair use mechanisms of the world.
- ImTheDarkcyde, on 10/12/2007, -42/+5I can't wait until piracy is so rampant that hollywood begins to lose money, then we get even ***** movies, thanks guys
- ArthurSucks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+40*****? Is this possible?
- mrmcbastard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+31Who cares if Hollywood makes ***** movies? There are plenty of other people out there making awesome movies. Start buying their superior content instead of Hollywood's inferior tripe.
- prh99, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12They're already on the path to ***** and ***** (and remakes don't forget the craptastic remakes) movies even without piracy. It's a rarity to see a genuinely good movie (one who's attraction is deeper than the millions of dollar spent on special effects). Hollywood maybe the worlds biggest producer of movies, but they are by no means the best.
Screw em! - Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Hollywoods problem isn't lack of cash, it's lack of vision.
What is Hollywood churning out right now? Comic book adaptations and remakes of "classics" like King Kong and Miami Vice.
In computerdom that kind of stuff is called "shovelware". - ImTheDarkcyde, on 10/12/2007, -14/+4to say a movie is superior just because it's indie is just false, thats like saying "anime is superior because it's japanese"
- Chilllllion, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12I hope the Hollywood film farm dries up forever. I'll watch YouTube videos of crazy dudes high on PCP for the rest of my life. Sorry.
- Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -10/+9Yes, we all want to watch intimate character studies of acting school students and their angsty relationships. The shakier the camera and the dimmer the lighting, the more the dramatic veracity pops out at you! Who needs CGI?
- prh99, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7"to say a movie is superior just because it's indie is just false, thats like saying "anime is superior because it's japanese""
Who said that?
"Yes, we all want to watch intimate character studies of acting school students and their angsty relationships. The shakier the camera and the dimmer the lighting, the more the dramatic veracity pops out at you! Who needs CGI?"
I don't know that they need to do away with CGI, but good CGI is all a movie it has going for it, it might be time to consider spending some of the films budget in other areas. - Stonekeeper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Try checking out the idie scene and Film Four. Some great stuff there.
- MacSuxWindozSux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"I can't wait until piracy is so rampant that hollywood begins to lose money, then we get even ***** movies, thanks guys"
Heh, their pursuit of profit will do 2 things.
1) Shy away more and more from any sort of risk...(no new ideas)
2) Strip quality for quantity (cheaper movies that cost more)
Degredation by way of profit motivation. ... vanilla sky. - combatchuck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The Longest Yard remake. The Wicker Man. The Stupids. Barber Shop 2. Beerfest. The Blair Witch Project. The Blair Witch Project 2. Titanic. Punch Drunk Love. Bruce Almighty. One Hour Photo. The Beastmaster 3.
The way I see it, those ***** owe me anyway.
- jmaynardg, on 10/12/2007, -12/+241300 words of nothing said beyond self-promotion and angry hyperbole, all of which could be summed up as "DRM sucks." Yeah, that was consensus opinion on slashdot five years ago. A little more facty, and a lot less truthi, please.
- ddxChrist, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17That may have been the consensus on Slashdot 5 years ago, but considering DRM is still rampant today and is still causing anger, then complaints are still warranted. Granted, I agree that this was pretty much angsty self-promotion.
- vuke69, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1735 lines, 1310 words, 7288 characters, there by my count, sheesh... learn to count already ;)
- jmaynardg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9ddxchrist:
so, what has five years of angry ranting on slashdot accomplished? Nothing. What will angry ranting on the Inquirer accomplish? Nothing, but increased ad revenue. It is almost consensus opinion on tech sites (even the good ones like AVSForum) that DRM will only hobble consumers and do nothing to prevent commercial pirates. But one thing we know for sure, loud complaining won't change industry rollout plans.
An interesting question to ask: Why is the content industry more concerned with consumer copying than commercial piracy? Answering that question would take research and hard work, though. Much easier to pull 1300 words of nothing out your ass. Feh. - ddxChrist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4True enough, jmaynardg: it's likely just an opinion grabbing for ads. But at the same time, loud complaining isn't all that's happening. Complaints are getting louder, true, but all of the stories on digg point to a decrease in legal methods of obtaining these media. The complaints are reigning down and people are starting to take action as well. I don't think we should consider complaints as simply inaction.
- williamdyer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@jmaynardg
Complaining has brought some results. DRM technology providers keep their business locations secret because they are so unpopular they would probably get a brick through the window or their cars keyed. These people are pariahs now. If the pressure is kept up they could become complete outcasts, making it even less likely that they could attract quality employees.
The RIAA/MPAA bought laws we all hate. We have to work outside the law to restore balance. Direct pressure on the people making DRM is one example of that. It is an asymmetrical struggle. You can be sure the RIAA/MPAA don't seek to play by the same rules as everyone else. They deserve a response that they find unable to directly address.
- ddxChrist, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9There isn't much else to it, as far as I'm concerned. I never have had, nor will I ever have, the intention of buying a product that is inferior and cost prohibitive. Decrease the price to reflect the actual costs involved and remove the unwanted annoyances and privacy invasions or be prepared to face the masses who will increasingly stop buying your products. They'll either deal without or pirate a better version (the one they likely wanted in the first place!).
- alchemista, on 10/12/2007, -17/+6I wrote about my nasty experience with AOL Premium Video DRM. I have a feeling a lot of other people are running into the same problems.
http://blog.dealraider.com- 42nnn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+32sorry, you still use AOL?
- Mudbeast, on 10/12/2007, -13/+8If you use AOL or even visit their website then you must be new to a) computers b) the internet c) Digg. And I'm frankly amazed that you are even posting here.
- Mudbeast, on 10/12/2007, -16/+3YEEEHAW DIGG ME DOWN FOR THE TRUTH ASSHOLES AOL IS THE ***** ***** EVER SO SORRY I OFFENDED YOUR AOL MASTERS GO DIE.
- LycoLoco, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Actually, I have to agree with him. The AOL Hi-Q system has some great things going for it, as well as some serious flaws. The content is free (as in no cost), they have a decent selection of content, and the download system is pretty fast. However the fact that you have to have the content downloaded to the drive where Windows is is a big problem for me, as is having to view it in their player.
- timdickinson, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2DRM might be supported by M$, Intel etc, but as long as consumers hate it - I don't think it will control the media. There are other distribution methods that could work both letting people share DRM free files and the content industries making money.
http://digg.com/music/Music_Subscription_Model_Ideal_Implementation- IMustBeEmo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You would think that, but you'd be wrong.
- msgyrd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I pirated music and software for a long long time, but eventually I got tired of keeping up with the "scene" and as I grow older, the risk vs. reward diminishes. While it takes a little longer to find decent music since it's not reviewed and talked about as much, there are many sources of completely free music, and you're guarenteed to find something you like. I also use free software almost exclusively. I got a free copy of WinXP from my college to play games...kinda on the borderline of free, since I'm sure I more than payed for it. I run linux as my standard desktop, and I use open source applications.
Its a difficult transition to make, but it does feel good to know everything you have is legit.
- KlayBorg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5The media companies need to embrace technology such as BitTorrent and the potential of the internet to spread their media. For example, tv networks could allow their shows to be downloaded a day after they are premiered on the tv, and simply putting ads into the video file. If they wanted to be insidious, they could make you use their own media player so you could not forward through the ads. If they did provide their own media player though they could implement a bittorrent download system and allow the users to easily access and download the files.
- KlayBorg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I forgot to mention that they would allow their shows to be downloaded for free.
- esteban, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4My guess any proprietary media player would be bypassed/hacked pretty quickly and once again the consumer would have a homebrew product that does more than the commercially available one.
In the old days companies would give their right arm to deliver the customer something that does more than the competition's product. These days they seem to be in competition to make their products do less but appear to do more.
If Amazon actually rolls out a DRM-free music store then I think they will have the whole download market sewn up, iTunes and the others will either fold or follow. Seems obvious to me, why can't the money hungry fat cats see this? Their is a demand, where is the supply? As far as digital media is concerned it does not appear obey basic economics. - yoda133113, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Um, I think the requirement for a proprietary media player is exactly the kind of thing that they are talking about. With piracy you can get your show within hours of it coming on (not days), and it just works, it works in just about any media player you put it in, and I don't have to sit through commercials.
- ivorysky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If I'm paying for content I would only use a bit torrent-based system if the price reflected the fact that they're using my bandwidth to distribute it. If they think consumers would pay close to DVD prices when the supplier is saving on manufacturing costs *and* pay for the distribution they're sorely mistaken.
- babyphatman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@KlayBorg
This is already happening on some of the major networks. NBC and ABC offer free streaming episodes of shows such as The Office and Lost after they air. What you have to remember is that these are giant conglomerate corporations that are very slow to adapt and react to changing market conditions. What I think they should do is allow free downloading of content with targeted ads based on what you download. The statistics generated by file sharers are enormous and would provide invaluable marketing data.
- Archeologist, on 10/12/2007, -17/+4Piracy winning the HD format wars is like saying sledding won the nex-gen console wars...
- Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Only if you can play console games on that sled.
Piracy means you can play those HD format movies without having those HD format players, you know.
- Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Only if you can play console games on that sled.
- Kmarie1980, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5Quote from the article: "I haven't bothered to get one, so I can't comment on the quality, but it sure looks like availability is there. "
Dugg down. The author is making sweeping assumptions without him/herself verifying that they are correct.- Chilllllion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7It sounds like he doesn't want the MPAA bothering him. This is the similar to the whole OJ, "if I could have" stuff.
- Durrok, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6right, but he is correct. There are copies out there for you to download and the quality has been excellent. Need a little beefier PC then what you have been playing divx on though.
- paker, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1"I can't wait until piracy is so rampant that Hollywood begins to lose money"
And when will that be? When that can't afford a Rolls Royce and have to drive a lowly Porsche? - wtf00, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4real reason most us of pirate because we want thing for free or dirty cheap.. I won't deny it I fit both cheap/free.. but does cross my mind about little guy hold the microphone or pick up after dirty actor or the does the painting etc... I really don't give flying fck about overpaid actors and directors they could go bankrupt all I care. so I do have conscience about the little dude work for Hollywood. but I'm protecting my wallet from greedy corp too.
- cday, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12@wtf00, don't worry about the "little guy", he belongs to a Union and gets paid when his job is finished, long before you could possibly download any movie he worked on. The general crews don't make royalties and will get paid whether the movie flops or wins an Oscar.
Not really commenting on whether (so called) pirating is good or bad, just didn't want you to shed any crocodile tears for "the little guy". - Mudbeast, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@cday
I live in Louisiana. I don't know if it gets much coverage outside of the state but the movie industry has been doing a lot of filming here, not just in New Orleans and Baton Rouge but in smaller cities like Shreveport (the upcoming movie Factory Girl was filmed there). What they DON'T tell you is that Louisiana is a Right to Work state which means, that's right, NO UNIONS! In practice they do have some unions but only in certain industries media production not being one of them. I work in media production as a video editor/audio technician. Yup it's my day job. You have to fight tooth and nail for more pay and I'm sure the sound guys and camera jockeys that get hired to do these films here get >$7/hr from these multibillion dollar companies. Why am I sure of this? I know some of the guys who worked on some of these films. They didn't do it for the money; they did it to be credited in a big production like a hollywood film. And the assholes who came here to film know that so they know they can get away with paying peanuts for good work. It takes a LOT more skill and attention to correctly place mics, grab camera shots and keep multiple sources of audio balanced than it does to sell some jerk a soda or pick up trash but our state won't let us band together to bargain for a decent wage. I'm not on the side of anti-piracy, however, I'm against Right to Work laws! - molecool, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2@ waynechng: Yup, is commonly known that Lousiana has been and remains the most corrupt state of the union. Not surprised to hear that labor rights are being trampled on as well. Good luck down there, mate...
- cday, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Mudbeast, I also live in a right to work (for peanuts) State (AZ). Your experiences are very interesting, thanks for explaining the situation. It makes me even more angry at the huge amounts of money these big media corporations have spent (wasted!) developing DRM, and for marketing DRM-crippled products. Yet they must pinch pennies when it comes to paying the very people that help create their products.
- cday, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12@wtf00, don't worry about the "little guy", he belongs to a Union and gets paid when his job is finished, long before you could possibly download any movie he worked on. The general crews don't make royalties and will get paid whether the movie flops or wins an Oscar.
- j0keR, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I've been telling my friends this since the HD wars were announced. Bandwidth is still a problem, yes, but we may end up forcing ISPs to upgrade their services if we keep "clogging their pipes." If companies keep designing products and doing PR with their shareholders as their top priority and the customer as their last priority, they will lose. No matter what. You can't bite the hand that feeds and get away with it.
- molecool, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5It's not bittorrents that are 'clogging their pipes' - it's all that ***** spam we are all getting. What - it's up to 90% of all email now? Typical example of the 'boiling frog effect' - would you have gotten yourself an email address a few years back if someone would have told you that you'll get 200 penis pump messages a day? Case in point - we all do stupid things and get used to a status quo until we cross a certain pain threshold, after which usually the proverbial fit hits the shan. Personally, I'll enjoy watching both BlueRay and HD-DVD self destruct in the coming years. Instead of paying much buckos for a DRM (and sometimes virus ware infested) technology, I rather pay for more bandwidth. Relakks.com and Anonymizer is your friend - even at 10kbit/sec all day I can suck at least one movie down the pipe. So many opportunities these cats have wasted - not our problem right? After all, we have repeatedly told them what we want - if they don't fulfil they'll just disappear like other industries before them.
- AngryBoy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Awkwardly written and difficult to most understand lay down: Summary
- yoyodim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4this article is completely right.
Its sad really, the media companys should just sell cheap drm free content. If they would sell the same amount as the illegal markets are transfering each day, they would be filthy rich.
The content will end up on the illegal sites anyway, there is no use for drm, since it will not delay the releases on torrent networks.I have no idea why the media companys even bother.
IF YOU ARE READING THIS, SELL LEGAL DRM FREE CONTENT CHEAPLY AND MAKE TONS OF MONEY NOW!!!
I hope some record company reads this, because there is huge demand for good drm free content. I would gladly pay money for good high quality drm free music.- WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2"If they would sell the same amount as the illegal markets are transfering each day, they would be filthy rich."
This will NEVER happen.
The whole issue, understood well by many in the so-called 'illegal markets', is to question "Why should those people be made filthy rich?"
It is not a good strategy to pay off those real criminals, just so that they won't rape you.
They are not to be trusted.
Another, more creative way to deal with them appropriately, must be found.
Better, safer piracy tools and anonymity tools go a long way towards that, while we are in this transitional period and trying to preserve the basic freedoms that our forefathers fought so hard for. - Outdoor83, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@WaterDragon
They wouldn't *be* criminals if they put out cheap DRM-free music and stopped suing us all. If allofmp3 was in the United States and sponsored by record companies, I'd still use it. If they improved on the technology to bring me more artists that I'd probably like, I'd use it more.
Like it or not, record companies do provide a small service to artists: they front them the cash / production / studio time if the company thinks they have a chance of making it big. The artists lose out if they make it big. The record companies lose out if they don't. It's kind of like insurance, and people pay money to reduce their risk. They deserve *some* money for this.
I'm into forgiveness for past transgressions. If the RIAA wrote an open letter tomorrow saying that they were launching an American allofmp3.us or something like it and said that they were just going to try it out, see how it goes, see if it's a viable business model... I would sign up. I think many others would, too.
- WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2"If they would sell the same amount as the illegal markets are transfering each day, they would be filthy rich."
- sunimoto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Does anyone remember DIVX from Circuit City?
- waynechng, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah, that enforced DRM format was just crap and the industry should go back and study what happened with that. Circuit Sh*tty lost millions on that.
DIVX sucked, DivX rocks! - madhaha, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Penny Arcade does.
- waynechng, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah, that enforced DRM format was just crap and the industry should go back and study what happened with that. Circuit Sh*tty lost millions on that.
- waynechng, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11The movie and music industry needs to understand that all they do is entertain. Their industry does not save lives, feed the hungry, take care of those who need care. Hence, they don't deserve to live in $50 million dollar mansions and drive $500,000 cars. They also don't deserve TV shows that show off those mansions or cars. Jim Carrey doesn't deserve $20 million a movie and neither does any rapper deserve diamonds in his mouth. Neither do the film makers deserve a lot of the ***** that they get.
If all DVDs are priced at $5 retail, piracy would stop. But they can't price it that way cause some stupid actor has to bathe in Evian or something dumb like that. So they charge $25, which means that piracy will continue and prevail.
As pointed out by another Digg'r, buggy whip makers never got protection for their industry and neither has a myriad of industries and companies that have died out in the past 200 years. To think that the entertainment industry deserves protection is foolish because how can we get better output if the weaker producers don't die out? ;p- molecool, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Actually, if they sold DVDs at $5.- I would buy one. You know how many I've purchased in the last 10 years? Maybe 10 - one a year, and most of them are special music DVDs and foreign classics I badly wanted in physical media. Guess where most of my entertainment comes from these days? Exactly! And if they would sell that for a decent price online I'd be willing to pay. But I simply feel stupid when I'm forced to plunk down $25.- for some shiny disk I know took 20 cents to produce. They are insulting my intelligence by trying to price gauge me like that - and I'm not going to be the one paying for their kid's ***** Porsche.
- lysdexia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Even easier than five bucks for a DVD - I'm sick and tired of the massed space consumers of vinyl, cds and now dvds around my home - a standard fee to access whatever media we want and need. Make it cheap - say 20 a month and the studios, actors, musicians and the rest will still make a pile of cash and no consumers get their arses burst.
And how ecologically sound would that be when no more cash was thrown at making a billion CD/DVD or more over the course of a year? - jmaynardg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5A good question to ask: Why is music so much more expensive than DVDs? Isn't there a significantly larger per-project dollar investment in film-making than music? So why does the RIAA (music industry) think music is worth $18.99/cd while filmmakers often sell new DVDs at the same or lower price point?
- Outdoor83, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@waynechng
I understand your opinion about healing the sick, etc... but we, as people, are the ones forking over the cash. Do they "deserve" high salaries for entertainment? Apparently so. We're the one paying them. Someone once said that as humans, the source of all of our problems is our complete inability to be content sitting alone in an empty room. Entertainment is the all-encompassing fix to that. That's a pretty big need that they fill.
Also, the buggy-whip thing is actually false. There were protections. Back in the 1880's, it was said that someone (I'm butchering numbers, but the facts are correct) driving a car needed to be limited to like 4MPH and have two people walking in front of him/her waving a flag so people could get out of the way.
This legislation was pushed, very heavily, by whatever association was responsible for most of the carriages produced during the day. It lasted for like 20 years.
Lastly, things are priced the way they are because cost at the store isn't really linked to production cost. People are willing to plop down $10ish for a piece of entertainment (movie, CD, etc). Back to Microeconomics 101: you can charge whatever you want up until people stop paying. They found people stop buying CDs at like $18 or so. So that's what they cost. It may cost much less to make... but you're willing to pay more.
- Stonekeeper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I've said it before and I'll say it again: "Content" is way more hassle than it's worth.
- meso, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Restricting culture doesn't help anyone except people who have money.
- Philipio, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This article is amazing. Nice find.
- Talez, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2This article actually begs a bigger question: Why the hell are we treating anything Charlie Demerjian says seriously? I'm no kidding. The man is ***** loco.
- sloncek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Excellent article. I am happy to see larger media companies being on the 'pirate' side :).
- zdiggler, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1People who know how to get their ***** from pirate channel will get there *****. there are millions of people out there don't know or care about these pirate technologies that they can make money off from. No matter how much money they spend there alway be piracy! Crack Jacks out there are waiting for next big thing to hack and they will find a way as they are always 20 steps ahead of any corporation teams of programmers.
- DarkSnake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Very true, piracy for the win.
- lowerlogic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Buying music/movies online should be as easy as giving a credit card to some company, and then logging into their FTP site or Web site and downloading whatever non DRM'ed song or movie you want. The company would supply the bandwidth and monitor your account, and charge you for each unique download to your computer. If you downloaded the same thing more than once, they would not charge you a second time. Ideally they would also have a variety of formats and compression amounts.
Yeah, I'll keep dreaming. - dataphyle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Not that the author will ever see this but. . . It was difficult to force myself to read the entire article. Not that it wasn't potentially interesting. It even made some valid points if you could separate them from the crap. Every point worth mentioning could have been made in an article half as long. If it's just an amateur guy writing an occasional article - OK the rough edges are understandable. . . But If your BUSINESS is writing, perhaps you should consider learning the difference between a well written and persuasive article and what this is: A blind rant. If "Funny" was what you were after - you failed.
- hdortez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I enjoyed both this articles cynical tone and brooding anger. Laws are made by lawyers. Lawyers are hired by companies. Companies sell things to people. People always pay the price. In a fair market economy the price should be set by the people not by the company. People make companies rich. And people should decide what technology they want, and how they want to use it. They decide through their money. Companies always forget who has the ultimate power. Microsoft forgot. Sony forgot. I hope they are reminded by conscience ( aka the bottom line).
- 2tec, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1In my personal opinion, I strongly feel the real shame is that everyone seems to be overlooking the fact that these corporations are corrupting and perverting the legal and political systems, as well as the market. This issue is not just about economics, it is in fact mostly about human rights and personal freedoms. If you don't fight for what is right, you will lose it.
As for myself, I foresee dark days ahead. - tmcdigg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think this opinion piece is DEAD ON! There were some winners in 2006... HARD DRIVE MAKERS PUSHED OUT SOME MASSIVE VOLUME HARD DRIVES, the last quarter of 2006! Need I mention 2007 will be gangbusters for hard drive makers in the near future pushing 1tb per drive. Disposable online content will be widely available as the internet and bittorrent is becoming the content behemoth that put RAID configurations to SHAME!
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