Search For Free Downloads Of 'The Interview' Shows How Pointless The MPAA's Anti-Google Strategy Really Is
from the google-is-not-going-to-block-yahoo-and-linkedin dept
A few weeks ago, we wrote about how bizarre it was that the MPAA was so focused on attacking Google and forcing it to take entire sites out of its index when it didn't seem to understand these issues in the slightest. As a part of that, we highlighted how pointless the plan was, because if you looked for a domain after it was removed (which we mocked up by using the "-" modifier), you just ended up getting other people telling you how to get the same kind of content anyway. And yet, the MPAA keeps pushing for Google to further push down or delete entire sites. And, of course, Google continues to give in anyway, giving the industry what it wants. A few months ago it ratcheted up the demotion-for-DMCA-notices aspect of its algorithm, and a bunch of sites have effectively disappeared.But does it really make a difference? As we discussed, one immediate result of this was that people who were searching for free downloads often came across more sketchy sites (which, perhaps, the MPAA doesn't much care about). But, it's also having a secondary effect -- which is that it's showing how perfectly legitimate websites are also being used to tell people how to access content for free (usually in unauthorized ways).
Take, for example, a Google search for someone who wanted to watch The Interview for free. While many, many people paid to see the film through official channels, lots of others went for the unauthorized versions. But if you do a search on Google, where most sketchy sites have been downvoted, you start to see some interesting things:
This isn't, of course, to point out how to access that movie for free, but to highlight, yet again, just how completely pointless the MPAA's preferred course of action is. It's as if no one at the MPAA has ever played chess and realized that thinking more than one move ahead might help. Each time the MPAA demands something silly and pointless, it doesn't help because what Google is doing is not "leading people to piracy." It's leading people to what they're looking for. And if what the people are looking for happens to be free copies of movies, then that's what they're going to find eventually. The way to solve that is not to stupidly go after Google and demand it downrank certain sites (which just means others will replace them), but to better offer people what they want from authorized sources so that when people go looking, the content creators and/or copyright holders are the ones who get the benefit.
In other words, just as we've been saying for over a decade, the proper response is to innovate, rather than to sit around and blame everyone else for not protecting your obsolete business model.
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Filed Under: copyright, innovation, movies, piracy, search, the interview
Companies: google, mpaa
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Google is the best solid proof that they don't care whether the service is useful and used mostly for legal stuff. In their eyes Google is the villain because a fraction of the searches are intentionally done to get 'infringing' content. Seriously the MAFIAA is a cancer that is killing innovation and our culture.
but to better offer people what they want from authorized sources so that when people go looking
That. But even when they try to do the right thing they fail hard. Instead of making the content available via multiple platforms to inspire competition and better services they chose to block the content from people who are doing it right (like Netflix) and selfishly start dozens of different services of questionable quality that people will have to shell extra money, something that is CLEAR most of us don't want to do.
Also there's the clear fact that you can use copyright for censorship. The Governments noticed it and are already using it in full swing. So between greed and power hungry morons there's little hope this will change without some solid opposition and ugly battles.
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That is an excellent point.
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I'm skeptical that the MAFIAA has ever tried to do the right thing. Most of the time they're being dragged kicking and screaming into the modern era by other companies that are actually interested in developing new technology, and/or fulfilling the market demands that said new technology creates. The MAFIAAs only role is being greedy enough to license their content to the more visionary companies.
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I think that's being way too generous. It appears to me that their only role is to whine, kick, scream and flail while they're beaten off with a cluebat until they're forced to realize that the innovation is making money for them hand over fist. Then, they stalk away having learned nothing, shouting "Let that be a lesson to you, and we'll be watching you! Filthy pirates."
How Sony manages to not see vast amounts of cash wanting to come their way from streaming after The Interview debacle is a mystery. I have to conclude they're idiot savants, and their primary skill is plugging their ears, closing their eyes, and shouting "Lalalalala!"
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No. In their eyes Google is making more money than they are and needs to be funneling it to them. They don't care who the "villain" is, they just care who has the biggest bank account.
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Re: very useful for legal purposes
I believe you're wrong--they DO care that the service is useful and used mostly for legal stuff. THAT'S WHAT THEY HATE MOST OF ALL.
Just imagine. Someone, somewhere, is using Google to find really neat information/entertainment on the Internet Archive, sharing it with all their friends on Facebook.
And here the big studios are, with their ginormous promotional/marketing/advertising budgets dedicated to making sure that NONE OF THOSE PEOPLE EVER ACCIDENTALLY SEE/HEAR/LEARN/ENJOY/SHARE ANYTHING WITHOUT CONTRIBUTING TO THEY LIFESTYLE OF THE RICHLY INFAMOUS.
The crime of illegal content is what they TALK about, sure. But the real problem is the far-more-insidious activity of COMPETING content--unfortunately, not yet a criminal activity despite all their attempts to change the laws.
Cat movies and osprey selfies. Big-name-university lecturers and enthusiastic hobbiests. Indie bands and non-professional musicians. Sinkholes and meteorites. Video game playthroughs and Commcast customer service recordings. Events of all kinds all over the world, recorded on a billion cellphones. In a word, Human Culture.
And every second of the time capturing, sharing, and absorbing that content is a second that COULD have been spent working, earning enough money to purchase the kind of toxic waste that the entertainment industry produces and promotes so well.
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It comes down to a fear that the new tech will cannibalize the existing revenue stream because it provides an alternate. Which is true, it would, in the short term. Even if it would generate massively more revenue in the long run, that doesn't do anything to pad this quarter's earnings statement. I'm pretty sure NetFlix wasn't profitable on day 1. So to satisfy the need to always grow profits in the short term, they will only look at things that immediately add more money to their pockets without shrinking revenue any where else (similar short term thinking was demonstrated by the Verizon FiOS buildout and stall circa 2008).
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I'm sorry you believe that's acceptable. I wanted to pay to see that, but I can certainly find something else to entertain myself. Goodbye.
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While "Goliath" is being attacked, Bing delivers the results I want.
Win-win. >:]
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Duckduckgo is okay but not as good as Google.
I want to leave Google behind as a search option but without a search engine that helps me find what I'm looking for without getting all frustrated after trying under multiple terms with or without quotes before finally giving up and going back to Google yet again...
Sorry, I lack the patience to put up with inferior search engines.
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In a few months, or whenever the next thing with copyright big enough to get mass media coverage happens, Google will be able to say "we did everything you wanted, there has been no drop in piracy, so it's not our fault, your business model is just broken."
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I think they are taking the long road to a monopoly being handed to them by the very industry that needs their services the most.
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I think they are taking the long road to a monopoly being handed to them by the very industry that needs their services the most.
Very interesting idea, though I think Amazon and Kindle is a better analogy than iTunes.
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Legitimate. Not necessarily interesting.
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Has the MPAA considered getting government sanctions against Google?
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Re: Has the MPAA considered getting government sanctions against Google?
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LOL
How could the Interview have been "better offered"? It was on friggin YouTube.
You understand how ridiculous this statement looks, right?
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But if I want to stream a movie, I have to figure out what service is offering it, which may or may not be the service I'm paying a monthly fee for.
So yes, there are ways to better offer the movie, which is is make it available everywhere and for all time.
(Not to mention that even on Youtube it was probably region locked so most of the world couldn't see it.)
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For example, it could be purchased from iTunes in the US, while it could not in Australia. YouTube blocked the content to Australia, but it played in use US. The only way to get the movie in Australia to date is to pirate it! This is exactly the problem - enforcing stupid regional release restrictions in the modern internet based environment doesn't work.
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Response to: Anonymous Coward on Jan 6th, 2015 @ 10:48am
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Mike is taking more about the Motion Picture industry's ongoing track record.
And, in fact, the one movie that you are talking about kind of proves many points Techdirt has made over the years. By offering easier legit access, more people will buy. There will still be piracy, but there will also be more legit online sales.
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Not that obvious.
How does it get to my TV in a way consistent with everything else that I already watch on my TV? This includes things like picture and sound quality and not glitching anytime the Internet hiccups.
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Are you suggesting one service should have a monopoly on all content that is streamable?
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In addition to that, maybe I don't want to use a "service" like Netflix. I want to just download the movie file, transcode it to work on my devices and enjoy it however I want, whenever I want. Today I can accomplish this only by obtaining an illegitimate copy.
You cannot compete with freedom (to use media wherever/whenever/on whatever) with walled gardens and streaming.
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Pirates have the better model as you can usually find what it is you are looking for first time. It will have no region restrictions, no release windows depending on where you live, and no previews to clutter it up. Fast forward will not be disabled.
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However, while information is no longer worth as much as it was a century ago, it's still reasonable to make a profit disseminating it. Steam, for example, provides a safe, reliable, convenient, and ethical way to obtain digital content. The draw there is not the video games (which could be pirated at no cost), but that you can get the games quickly and easily, that you can be certain of getting a genuine/virus-free copy of the game, that you only need to pay once to be able to play the game on all of your compatible devices, and that you are supporting the game's developers.
Imagine if similar reliability and convenience were available for movies and music. Sadly, that's not likely to happen.
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Not for me, at all. The features listed by AC would be worth a premium price to me:
"no region restrictions, no release windows depending on where you live, and no previews to clutter it up. Fast forward will not be disabled."
I stopped buying DVDs because most of those features are contrary to what a DVD offers. If Hollywood DVDs had those ease-of-use features, I'd still be buying DVDs at $15 each.
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I guess the film studios and TV networks don't actually want my money or they'd actually compete.
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In all fairness, your Usenet subscription could be free.
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Most of my friends don't pirate; they just can't be arsed to go through the rigmarole of subscription services only to be told what they want to see isn't available in our region.
There's no price to doing without.
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Why Doesn't Google Just Pwn These Suckers?
Obviously this would be monopolistic (but no different from the current situation I guess). Google are not perfect, but I'd prefer them over the MAFIAAA any day...
It wold be worth it just to see the expressions on the faces of the execs/lawyers when Google announces they're going to purchase Universal, Disney, WB, Sony etc...I'd probably pay to watch that announcement live. :-)
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still not available on my region
The Interview cannot be watched in South America.
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