Kids In The Hall Admit They 'Pirate' Their Own Shows, Because They Can't Get Them Legally

from the copyright-law-in-action dept

Mon, Aug 16th 2010 11:20am — Mike Masnick

In a TorrentFreak article about a Czech TV station hosting unauthorized copies of the TV show Fringe on their server (the show appears on a competing station, and an employee had missed some episodes so he downloaded -- and then hosted -- them), there's a mention of a recent interview by Keith Olbermann of the famed Canadian comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, where Dave Foley admits to having downloading "unauthorized" copies of his own shows via BitTorrent due to the difficulty of getting legal copies. He jokes:

"So I eventually just downloaded the whole series on BitTorrent. So I illegally downloaded. So come after me FBI!"

We hear this sort of thing all the time, and it sort of highlights the ridiculousness of some of what's going on today. When the easiest most efficient ways for content creators to get access to their own work is illegal downloading, perhaps it's time to realize that criminalizing this activity is a mistake, and the real problem is trying to force everyone into less efficient mechanisms?

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Filed Under: bittorrent, david foley, kids in the hall

20 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2010 @ 11:26am

Just wait for the shills to come in saying, "B-but iTunes store!!! They just want free stuff!"

Not all content is available for easy distribution.
Not all content is priced reasonably based on its (infinite) supply; not to mention price already paid for commercials and product placement.
Not all content is available regardless of region.
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Anonymous Coward (as David Attenborough), 16 Aug 2010 @ 11:38am

And here, we have yet another example of the famed and enlightened Michael from the Naples-a-Galette-flatbread family in the wild. Here he is sharing what appears to be an appropriate notion of that affects many stagnant companies nowadays- that interwebs remain a more efficacious and compelling method of circulating commodity components.

In such a climate, the question remains- what would an exiguous compotent that people would pay for?
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- Dark Helmet (profile), 16 Aug 2010 @ 11:41am
  
  Re:
  "In such a climate, the question remains- what would an exiguous compotent that people would pay for?"
  
  I have to admit I've no reread that sentence several times and I have no idea what you're asking....
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Hephaestus (profile), 16 Aug 2010 @ 1:21pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Definition : exiguous - scant
    What in the hell compotent means I have no idea.
    
    That sentence hurts my brain almost as badly as the music industry rights and royalties chart did.
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- Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2010 @ 11:46am
  
  Re:
  But does it will be? Can it yes of the doing!
  
  Never ever re-read or spell-check anything you post on TD. As you as you are done with your thought, mash that Submit button!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Dark Helmet (profile), 16 Aug 2010 @ 12:06pm
    
    Re: Re:
    "Never ever re-read or spell-check anything you post on TD. As you as you are done with your thought, mash that Submit button!"
    
    Why are recommending the connundrum? Captivating purple pies exert influence over the puppy tail, you know. Harvard doesn't exemplify the Nigerian sedan....
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    - van692, 16 Aug 2010 @ 12:36pm
      
      Re:
      These comments are like reading one of those Mad Libs book that a bunch of tech geeks filled out.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Free Capitalist (profile), 16 Aug 2010 @ 12:46pm
        
        Re: Re:
        These comments are like reading one of those Mad Libs book that a bunch of tech geeks filled out.
        
        No... I'm crushing your head.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Dark Helmet (profile), 16 Aug 2010 @ 12:54pm
        
        Re: Re: Re:
        "No... I'm crushing your head."
        
        Sausages, sausages, sausages....
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Mike42 (profile), 16 Aug 2010 @ 1:12pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        I'm pinching your face!
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Dark Helmet (profile), 16 Aug 2010 @ 1:28pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
        100 Helens agree: This comment isn't original enough.
        
        Helen #43 steps forward: "Come up with something original, douchebag!"
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Derek Kerton (profile), 1 Sep 2010 @ 10:33am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
        Were those Helens? I thought they were the Daves I know.
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Topperfalkon (profile), 16 Aug 2010 @ 11:53am

Pro-tip:

When doing David Attenborough impressions, l2grammar first.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2010 @ 11:56am

"what would an exiguous compotent..."

lmftfy

"what would be the exiguous component...."

except we were already taking the components (thats why they are exiguous), the web made it easier to take the commodities themselves.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2010 @ 12:04pm

"Never ever re-read or spell-check anything you post on TD. As you as you are done with your thought, mash that Submit button!"

Awww. You need a hug or something cute to look at?
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2010 @ 12:54pm

"These comments are like reading one of those Mad Libs book that a bunch of tech geeks filled out."

Whatcha talkin bout Willis?
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Danny, 16 Aug 2010 @ 1:29pm

Damn...
You see this is what happens when content owners are more concerned with making money than pleasing fans. There are several shows I would love to have on DVD ("Living Single", "Roc", and "South Central" for starters) that were never released because they weren't profitable.

So good going there. Thanks to their money grubbing greed they would rather their shows be locked away in vaults for all of eternity (or until they degrade beyond salvation) than for them to get something of a second life from DVD sales.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2010 @ 1:46pm

Maybe my hearing is starting to go, but I could swear the one who talked about dowloading the stuff said he did so because "they kept forgetting to send me the DVDs". Sounds to me like he had ready access to free legal copies of his shows, which access was "messed up" only because a worker-bee forgot to send them.
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- Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2010 @ 2:06pm
  
  Re:
  Internet is more practical than plastic disks. Isn't that the whole point?
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Satan, 17 Aug 2010 @ 9:15pm

HELLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
...Bobby
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