MPAA: Censorship Is Good For Consumers
from the say-what-now? dept
Ah, the MPAA. Hardly a day goes by when someone there doesn't say something positively ridiculous. The latest is a reaction to the news that a court in the Netherlands has expanded the censorship of The Pirate Bay to a few more ISPs. The MPAA has decided to explain that this kind of censorship is good for consumers:The UK ruling and indeed other recent ones in Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Finland as well as this one are positive developments that support not only the creative community but also consumers.It's not entirely clear why they say "the UK ruling," since the post only refers to a ruling from The Netherlands, but it's a strange world when someone is claiming that censoring a website that consumers find useful is "good for consumers." So how do they defend such a ridiculous claim? Well, by getting the story backwards yet again:
The number of sites that offer legitimate creative content continues to increase dramatically. But to fully enable this growing sector to thrive and provide consumers with content when they want it, where they want it and how they want it, it is imperative that the content not be siphoned off and distributed illegally by those seeking to profit from the work and creativity of others.Hogwash. First of all, if the industry had its way, it would never have to innovate online at all, preferring greatly to live off of the old system of DVDs with crippling DRM. The only reason they were pushed to start innovating online was because of competition from the likes of The Pirate Bay, which finally caused them to agree to license platforms like Netflix, which has shown that it's actually quite easy to compete with The Pirate Bay if the MPAA and its studios would stop demanding ridiculous restrictions on content (and insanely high prices). Offer a good service at a good price, and The Pirate Bay simply can't compete.
The claim that for such services to thrive the content can't be "siphoned off and distributed illegally" is again totally bogus. Netflix competes quite nicely in the US with The Pirate Bay, and if the studios allowed more Netflixes to exist (rather than locking down every competitor with stupid rules like only having 24 hours to watch a movie) there would be plenty of innovation. Furthermore, even if they block The Pirate Bay, it doesn't stop the fact that the content still is and will be available. Claiming that legitimate sites can't compete if there is unauthorized content available means that legitimate sites can't compete at all. Yet we see them compete successfully with unauthorized content all the time.
So why does the MPAA lie?
As always, it's about control. They don't like being pressured by such innovation. They don't like having to adapt and to change. So they attack any new form of innovation and brand it as piracy -- just as they did with the VCR. Of course, amusingly, it's now that same home movie revenue which they fear losing. Yet if the MPAA had had its way 30 years ago, there would be no home movie market from which to lose revenue. Because, just a few short decades ago, the MPAA insisted that such a market would kill Hollywood.
Oh, and as for this point:
The court verdict found that The Pirate Bay is predominantly devoted to illegal activities with more than 90% of all content infringing on copyright.You know what else had more than 90% infringement in the early days? The VCR. But thankfully courts recognized that it also had substantial non-infringing uses -- as does The Pirate Bay. It's not difficult to see how the industry could have embraced sites like The Pirate Bay to their own advantage, but failing that and having them censored... and then insisting that somehow benefits the public? Sorry, the public isn't going to buy that kind of crap.
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Filed Under: censorship, drm, netherlands
Companies: mpaa, netflix, the pirate bay
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They need to realize that the internet is not their platform to dictate the terms of use for everybody. They don't own it and therefore don't control it. It belongs to everybody.
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Whoops, my mistake. I meant to say the MPAA. It's understandable that I'd get one mafia cartel confused with another since they act pretty much the same.
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I want to know how the court found that a site that doesn't host any content had 90% of its content devoted to infringing.
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Can someone tell the MPAA that censorship does not work nor is it what movie goers want? Can someone please tell them to get it through their skull that the more they fight the people, the harder the backlash and the more out of touch they become?
Can someone tell the MPAA that they are not the morality police, nor does anyone want them to be? Can someone tell the MPAA that we've noticed their problems in other countries and how this is only about control? Something that they will never have on the internet?
Can someone tell the MPAA that they have yet to invent anything but more ways to piss people off? Can someone tell the MPAA that they don't invent movies, merely leech off of them? Can someone tell the MPAA that their significance in the movie distribution process is going the way of the dodo and no one is going to tolerate it much longer?
Finally, can someone PLEASE tell the MPAA to F*** OFF!?
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And obviously most people don't care and happily bought their movie tickets. So much for boycotts.
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Re: Lets add
Lets add "despite being HEAVILY pirated over a week BEFORE the US release." to that.
It was the same with Avatar(ALL TIME highest grossing movie (so far)), Dark Knight (record opening weekend until Avengers) and Wolverine (which made something like $370 million worldwide)
Piracy
IS
NOT
THE
PROBLEM.
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My guess is it's the latter: they feel they don't need to listen to anyone who doesn't have an MBA or years of "experience" in the business because those types of people simply don't matter: SHUT UP AND CONSUME WHAT WE GIVE YOU.
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it is imperative that the content not be siphoned off and distributed illegally by those seeking to profit from the work and creativity of others.
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Re: it is imperative that the content not be siphoned off and distributed illegally by those seeking to profit from the work and creativity of others.
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Re: it is imperative that the content not be siphoned off and distributed illegally by those seeking to profit from the work and creativity of others.
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Re: Re: it is imperative that the content not be siphoned off and distributed illegally by those seeking to profit from the work and creativity of others.
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Re: Re: Re: it is imperative that the content not be siphoned off and distributed illegally by those seeking to profit from the work and creativity of others.
I just bought the Settler's of Cattan. The reason I bought it was because Wil Wheaton played with three friends on Geek & Sundry's Table Top, and shared the experience with everyone else. If they hadn't played that game and shared the experience with the world, I would never have plopped down $35 for a board game.
I also just bought a book that I never would have purchased had it not been for a friend of mine who showed it to me and allowed me to read a section of it.
I couldn't possibly care any less about any of the current movies out there now, but a friend of mine shared his experience watching the grey, and caught so much of my attention that I'm going to rent it to watch it myself.
RIAA/MPAA apparently aren't very good at marketing (which is surprising because they spend so much of their artists' money on it,) because they completely ignore word of mouth, which is by far one of the most important marketing efforts. It really is sad.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: it is imperative that the content not be siphoned off and distributed illegally by those seeking to profit from the work and creativity of others.
May I suggest the Cities and Knights expansion. Way more fun than the original IMO (and the original is great).
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: it is imperative that the content not be siphoned off and distributed illegally by those seeking to profit from the work and creativity of others.
I'll have to look into getting that one too. I'd like to see how well my friends receive playing the original one first. They love a good board game... especially one like Monopoly/Risk where we have to work with/against each other, so I figure it will work out well, but we'll see.
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Re: Re: it is imperative that the content not be siphoned off and distributed illegally by those seeking to profit from the work and creativity of others.
My mommy taught me "Sharing is Caring!" ;-)
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Re: Re: Re: it is imperative that the content not be siphoned off and distributed illegally by those seeking to profit from the work and creativity of others.
My mommy made me stand in a corner for 15 minutes when I wouldn't share my toys with my brothers and sisters.
Maybe we should just put RIAA/MPAA in the corner for a couple minutes until they learn how to be big boys and girls instead of babies.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: it is imperative that the content not be siphoned off and distributed illegally by those seeking to profit from the work and creativity of others.
It MIGHT take awhile.
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Adult entertainment: even more ridiculous
So I twitted to @FSCArmy:
Your position is somewhat awkward. On one side you are "Free Speech Coalition", i.e. you must decry any censorship, and you do.
At the same time you believe that your industry is badly hurt by illegal filesharig and you want something to be done about it.
The problem is that the "something" being done now IS censorship. You can't have it both ways.
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Re: Adult entertainment: even more ridiculous
Sex isn't a spectator sport. For adult entertainment to really work it needs story.
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Re: Re: Adult entertainment: even more ridiculous
One more thought that is still brewing and that I never discussed. Staying on top of copyright trolling cases, I can't avoid noticing that the majority of targeted filesharers is students. And they can be divided to 2 categories:
- those who live with parents and cannot legally access paid content because they don't have money and because they fear parents's anger even if they have money.
- those who live far away from parents yet still have no money for this kind of entertainment.
None of these two groups damages porn industry because they wouldn't buy their stuff in the first place. So instead of disingenuous whining about nonexistent "lost sales", the adult business geniuses should think how to monetize the specifics of younger crowd now, either by offering heavy discounts paired with other incentives attractive to them, or invest in the future, when now-poor students' buying power increases dramatically, by managing loyalty.
This is applicable not only to salacious entertainment, but to any other, including music and games. Recently I talked to a liberal arts college student: on the campus the sharing culture flourishes, it is considered absolutely normal to ask someone to copy his entire music collection, yet kids still spend a lot (basically all the remaining money) on entertainment, including iTunes. And they don't see any contradiction in these two trends! And that's absolutely natural IMO.
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This made me laugh.
As far as I've seen, they're barely trying to appeal to the consumer. Netflix could carry more of their movies too if they would stop charging exorbitant prices for "renting" the media.
Then again, they enjoy the position of middlemen, they don;t want middlemen who actually provide a decent service to the consumers because they lose control.
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Movies can now be shot entirely digitally, do we think they rolled the old costs for film and developing into cutting the final price?
They need to keep the prices near what they once were, ignoring their costs have gone down.
They want to convince people that if you see or hear something you haven't paid for you just stole money from the artists pocket directly.
The issue is something digital can be copied with a few keystrokes, and they fear people asking why it costs so much still when making another copy to sell is that cheap. So they want to turn it into a giant moral question of your with us or your a freaking thief.
Its worked so well to get congresscritters to vote for horrible things, your with us or your a freaking terrorist lover.
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Depends on if the terrorist looks a lot like the women who cosplay being Lara Croft. If she does then I'm a an unapologetic terrorist lover!
What we don't realize is that the MPAA is just doing this for our own good. Kinda like what we do for our children when we tell them they can't have another chocolate brownie. They're thinking of the children! In this case us!
Techdirt freetards need all the hand holding we can get you know. ;-)
In some sense of seriousness the *AA's have tried just about anything else so now they've tried their shot at censorship. It works for Iran doesn't it?
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I'm sorry Mike, but as our local shills/trolls have said repeatedly, "YOU CAN'T COMPETE WITH FREE!!!"
Just kidding. I highly agree with that quote above about The Pirate Bay being unable to compete and, in point of fact, independent studies have proven this point. Offer legitimate services that are easy to use and reasonably priced and not restricted and people will flock to them in droves and you'll see the amount of people going to alternative/illegal sites/services drop.
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A $1 billion dollar earning (so far) Avengers movie says they are wrong.
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-Slavery is good for the slaves.
-Hitler's policy of throwing persecuted minority groups into concentration camps was good for those persecuted minority groups.
-The Supreme Court's ruling that it was perfectly legal for the US government to throw all Japanese Americans in jail during WW2 on the suspicion that they're all likely spies for Japan was good for Japanese Americans, even the many who lost their house and all their property during their years of imprisonment.
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It does appear that MPAA is reading TechDirt. They are at least paying lip service to this mantra. This is a new development, right?
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Also, is it me or they got way worse after Dodd came in? If u think about it it's better to have Dodd in MPAA than in Congress...
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I think you're on to something, to fail at failing means you're succeeding. Gotta love double negatives!!!
/sarcasm
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/quantum
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And what does that make a triple negative? In the world of Hollywood or discussions about Hollywood we always reach the edges of reality. :-)
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My head hurts
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Sweetness
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why defend them?
Who is 'whining' now?
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Re: why defend them?
You're cheering on punishing people for their speech instead of their acts? Classy!
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No, you want to punish them for speech. What they have been doing, being a search engine and not hosting any files, is perfectly legal.
You say I am cheering it on account of their actions over the course of many years, and I ask you, what actions?
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Re: why defend them?
It is a weak and unprincipled mind who refuses to stand up for what's right because it "looks bad." I stand up for my principles.
You don't. No wonder you're anonymous.
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Re: Re: why defend them?
You have no clue what I do or do not stand up for. That's baseless, bro. If you're going to attack anonymous commenters on your own site FOR being anonymous, maybe it would be easier to just change the policy. Put it out to the community. I'm genuinely curious as to what users would say. Could be interesting.
"I stand up for my principles. You don't. No wonder you're anonymous."
In other words, people who employ anonymity online (I can think of a particular organization) are less likely to stand up for principles, or are unprincipled?
If you believe anonymous commenting is unprincipled, I think I have the number of the guy who runs this site. Maybe he can do something about that. But with no ACs, who would people gang up on or off-handedly whine about? Something special about this site would be lost (and hits, lots and lots of hits). The ACs are a defining characteristic as of now. But for as much talk there is of "solutions" around these parts, sometimes I think this site is based more on giving people a space to complain and gang up on a common villain. Do you really want legislative solutions? And if so, what are they?
Honest question. Even if you went so far as to advocate for eliminating digital copyright altogether, that would require legislation. So, what do you say? Be specific. Make a post out of it. Don't be afraid of "looking bad."
Oh -- I almost forgot. What about that 90% number, hm? Where did you happen to get that?
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Re: If you're going to attack anonymous commenters on your own site FOR being anonymous, maybe it would be easier to just change the policy.
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Re: Re: If you're going to attack anonymous commenters on your own site FOR being anonymous, maybe it would be easier to just change the policy.
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Re: Re: Re: why defend them?
STOP. He didn't say that, you did. Stop being disingenuous.
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Re: why defend them?
the pirate bay has become an accepted shortct term for wholesale piracy.
fine.
wrong, but fine.
suddenly, the whole discussion has been reframed by 'pirate apologists'.
why not take the worst your opponents can do, and turn it into a major political force?
the copyright maximalists cannot conceive of anything worse to be associated with.
the majority of real people couldn't care less!!
the constant refrain of 'piracy' removes all supposed stigma
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Re: why defend them?
The same place where the 90 percent number for the Pirate Bay is coming from.
Remember, the VCR is to the movie industry what the Boston Strangler is to a woman all alone at night.
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You said it, I said it..my question again..
EXPLAIN PIRATING...
Where is the money they are SUPPOSED TO BE EARNING, coming from?
Small adverts?
SHOW that they are earning money from the adverts Equal to ANYTHING The MPAA and others are trying to charge.
These lawyers are only working for the MONEY they get from the law suits.
The MUSIC industry is STUPID..
OTHERS saw what the internet was doing and They USED IT..
Every time you turn around..itunes and Hulu and others are FIGHTING (as much is possible) with contracts that the Corps keep changing, to restrict the ONLINE CONTENT..
EVEN youtube, is about to get PISSY and quit.(did you know they have free movies?(front page top= movies, right side 1/2 way down)
BUT, do you consider ALL the cable/sat channels you are FORCED to pay for? REALLY. ESPN is the most expensive. And you cant TAKE IT OFF.(not in this area, anyway)
200 channels, and you only watch 20(about)..
Iv shown people..Take off allt he channels you dont WANT/Watch.
For myself..
no-religious, sports, news, hbo, showtime, special channels..no- mexican, no music..
I would rather pay $1 per channel for 20 channels, then $50 for 180 channels I DONT WATCH. AND with ESPN, if you consider that 40% of the people DONT WANT sports..they still PAY $5 every month for ESPN they dont watch.
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Pirate Bay is still there
Sharing is the New Way!
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"Hogwash"?! WTF?!?!
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Watch Out!
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Re: Watch Out!
oh, wait, wrong group.
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Dear MPAA
Dear MPAA,
I am trying to buy some films I remember fondly from the '80's. They all appear to be out of print on DVD and unavailable to buy as a download. They also appear to be unavailable for streaming on all the streaming services I'm aware of and besides the quality on those suck on my very large television. I want a good quality copy that I can buy, keep, play on any and every device I currently own (many) for the rest of my natural (or unnatural life). With your "growing sector providing consumers with content when they want it, where they want it and how they want it", perhaps you can help me out with that? As an added incentive, if you can provide me with these films I am looking for at a sensible price (since you made your money on them in the 80's) I promise your chances of getting me to buy still more will go up by an order of magnitude.
No? Thought not.
Yours sincerely
A consumer who's money you do not want.
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Re: Dear MPAA
If by this, they mean in general, outside of the label/studio systems, then yes. If they mean tv and movies controlled by their cartel(s), then this is a bald-faced lie. Its exactly the *opposite* of what is happening in this sphere of things. They are like the nazi's with their propoganda (hello godwins law!) where they tell a huge lie that is in fact opposite of what they are claiming, and keep parroting it in the hopes that eventually everyone else will just accept it even when there isnt a shred of truth in it whatsoever.
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Re: Dear MPAA
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The General Rule
You want a wikipedia article ? You pay to connect to the network, you pay for any information that is related to a company, you pay for the data size transferred, and any additional 'usage' fees and taxes. EVERYBODY gets their nickel because EVERYTHING is monitored and approved - per use.
Just look at the articles here for evidence that this is the desired rule.
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Not "customer", but consumer.
IMHO, a customer is someone you get feedback from, listen to said feedback, and adjust your business to suit their needs. (i.e. keep them happy to garner and keep their business.)
A consumer is like the proverbial 'hog at the trough': you slop them, and they feed on whatever you give them, with no say whatsoever in the matter.
Like I said, telling, their choice of words.
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Lies
Because they are a professional lobbying organization.
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I dont want to sign up for "several" sites, and pay "several" money's
I want ONE site, with ONE "reasonable" price, with all the media, technology can provide
I thought that was an integeral part , to what a site like pirate bay offers, or am i wrong?
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Sad.
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Finnish Pirate Bay block
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