Hollywood Still Hasn't Figured Out That You Can't Win At The Takedown Whack-A-Mole Game

from the you-would-think-they'd-understand-this dept

Wed, Apr 4th 2007 3:51pm — Mike Masnick

Brian Deagon writes in to point us to an article he's written up for Investor's Business Daily about Hollywood's latest attempts to deal with movies being available for unauthorized download at various online sites. Basically, the gist of the article is that movie studios are now starting to face what the recording industry faced a few years back. What's amazing though, is that they don't seem to have learned a single lesson from what happened back then. Specifically, they haven't realized that every time you smack down one site that's sharing videos, you've pretty much guaranteed that five others will pop up -- and many of them will be harder to track and harder to shut down than the original sites. If anything, that's the lesson that came out of the recording industry's attack on Napster -- but apparently the movie industry is going to have to discover that on its own as well. The article quotes various consultants and industry analysts suggesting that Hollywood needs to learn to embrace these trends, but so far, it seems like all they're doing is focusing so much on anti-piracy efforts that it makes it impossible to actually deliver a good product to customers.

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15 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 4 Apr 2007 @ 4:21pm

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet Pirates Rule!

Arggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg!
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Tarky7, 4 Apr 2007 @ 4:43pm

Avast !
Shiver Me Timbers !

Aaauuurrrgghh !

It's time fer some PAyBAck, ME HEarties !
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PopeRatzo, 4 Apr 2007 @ 5:11pm

Why would anyone read anything in that stupid Right-Wing fanatic rag, Investors Business Daily? They are among the craziest of the crazy. Just because they send out a press release doesn't mean TechDirt has to push their ugly agenda.

Seriously, if you're going to start linking to Investors Biz Daily, what's next? stormfront.org? how about the American Nazi Party?

Please guys, don't get played this way.
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pudro, 4 Apr 2007 @ 5:20pm

The Pirate Bay
Our government threatened Sweden with trade sanctions if they didn't do something about The Pirate Bay, who has broken no Swedish law. Swedish police raided The Pirate Bay, and their site was down for two days (along with many others who were basically punished for using the same hosting as TPB, whose servers were also confiscated despite them all being clearly labeled). When it came back, it did so with a redundant set up so that the only way to take them down now is by raiding at least five places in several different countries. There is an example where they made the problem much harder to track without the content even moving to another site.

Never mind the fact that Swedish law was likely broken in this case by the government. (In Sweden, the government can only instruct law enforcement on general policy, not specific cases - as they likely did here.)
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kosmonaut, 4 Apr 2007 @ 5:27pm

horrible article
That was a terrible article, most of it patched together from press releases from the RIAA, MPAA, and Big Champagne, in other words, all organizations with much to gain by pimping big piracy numbers. Lame.
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PopeRatzo, 4 Apr 2007 @ 6:13pm

Of course it was a terrible article. IBD is the pimp for globalism, for the worst of the "free market" radicals. They would have a world where 90 percent of the population is indentured laborers. Instead of an economy that serves the population, they endorse a population that serves the economy.

To the sick twists at Investor's Business Daily, WE are the consumables. Don't buy into their cover as a slightly more conservative Wall Street Journal. They are the enemy of those that love liberty.

I wish I was exaggerating.
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Eric the Grey, 4 Apr 2007 @ 6:38pm

Next Step...
The MPAA will start suing their customers...

EtG
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Billy Dawg, 4 Apr 2007 @ 7:59pm

Has the RIAA sued a lawmaker?
Out of curiosity, has anyone seen a member of Congress, or any political position, a family member of said person in power sued by the RIAA? My experience is that these people in power usually have kids that don't typically follow all the rules.

Maybe partly conspiracy theroy, or just plain statistics, but I am beginning to wonder if the RIAA is engaging in the practice of selective enforcement...
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Matty Lawson, 4 Apr 2007 @ 8:03pm

@Kosmonaut
LOL! I love that new name for the entertainment industry!

Big Champagne, in other words, all organizations with much to gain by pimping big piracy numbers.

Big Champagne Foreva, foo!

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Anonymous Poster (profile), 4 Apr 2007 @ 8:27pm

...if you're surprised by this news, raise your hand.
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Sherman T. Potter, 5 Apr 2007 @ 5:12am

The only way this meatball should be served is with a ping pong paddle!!!
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Wizard Prang, 5 Apr 2007 @ 7:01am

And there was me thinking...
...that Big Champagne was a rapper. :)
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Wizard Prang, 5 Apr 2007 @ 7:01am

Deja Vu + Amnesia
I think I've forgotten this before...
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Unanimous Coward, 5 Apr 2007 @ 8:07am

Re: horrible article
Wait... the article says "piracy is illegal" and "lots of people are doing it."

That's a right-wing agenda?
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Brian Deagon, 5 Apr 2007 @ 10:39am

Criticism of Investor's Business Daily
To: PopeRatzo's comments:

I understand why some people would have a skewed view of Investor's Business Daily.
The editorial page is intense and I don't agree with it.

IBD is first and foremost an investor oriented newspaper. I regret that the editorial page has become a focal point for some, but I understand why that is. I have no control over that, though I have at times expressed my disagreement.

That aside, IBD's tech reporting is not influenced by the "politics" of the editorial board.
I have been a tech journalist for about 23 years and love it. My political views are liberal.
The point of my article is that rampant piracy on the Web is now smacking Hollywood entertainment firms in a big way. Just truth. No politics.
Also, IBD did not send Techdirt a press release. I sent them the story, on my own, because I felt the topic fits in with the types of stories one reads on Techdirt - a site I read every day and consider to be one of the best in its class.

Regards,
Brian
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