You would think the studios would...I don't know...check to make sure the movie isn't already out on the pirate sites.
Which it is.
Avatar has been downloadable for weeks now. It's too late for DRM, since it's already out there.
What reason is their to ruin a legitimate user's movie watching experience after the damage has already been done?
Thats kind of the whole point of digital, you only need one copy to have infinite copies. They can DRM up the new disks all they want, those copies that are out their now won't be stopped by it.
It's like putting on body armour after you've been shot. It's a little late to do any good at this point.
Broadband providers are in a similar position to oil companies. Countless other businesses rely on their service. For many, business simply cannot be done without them.
Unfortunately (for them), broadband providers can't use vague excuses like 'trouble in the middle east' to arbitrarily raise prices.
"Hopefully Canada will address some of the deficiencies in its law that place it at odds with its obligations under international treaties."
No, it should not.
Canada should look at what Canadian citizens want, and refuse to enter into any international treaties that go against the wishes of it's people.
But I agree with you that fair dealing should be greatly expanded.
Also, crown copyright should be abolished, and replaced with the US style of releasing all gov't produced content directly into the public domain. If it was paid for by the public, it should belong to the public.
I'm getting sick of this copyright debate. Every year the media industry wants the government to change the laws, and every year, the government faces an uproar of angry citizens. But the government never learns, they keep on trying to pass the same unpopular laws each year, and keep on facing the same opposition.
Here is a crazy idea for a democratic country: look at the results of last summers consultations, then do what the majority of people want; then drop the issue and move on.
"The Wisdom of Crowds" talks about this kind of bias among experts.
Imagine the story is a big puzzle, and each individual only has a few pieces. Experts in a particular field all have the same handful of pieces, while the non-experts have a random assortment of pieces. They may not have as many as the experts do, and a few may have pieces from a different puzzle entirely, but if aggregated properly, errors will cancel each other out, and the large group of non-experts will end up with a more complete picture than the experts will.
I'm not saying tech experts at a tech convention is a bad thing, but only having tech experts could be. having a mix of tech reporters and regular reporters, and bloggers could result in better questions being asked overall.
The first 3 points all seem very 'not wrong' morally, while I am a little conflicted over the 4th point.
There is a big difference between lending a physical copy and lending a digital copy.
When you have my copy of a book, so long as you have it, I can't read it; when you have my DVDs, I can't watch them.
The obvious step in my mind would be to say, "well, you delete your copy after you send it to them, then when they are done with it, they delete their copy, and you can make a new copy"
But this is completely ridiculous when you think about it; going through completely unnecessary steps to stay within the bounds of some ancient law that is being applied to a new system where it makes absolutely no sense.
But thinking this way is a great way to frame the argument.
Talking about 'free culture', legal restrictions on creativity, DRMed media that goes dead shortly after purchase, the potential for censorship, etc. can be difficult, especially when people only want a quick sound-bite. By going at this layer-by-layer "backing up your own media-stuff you have payed for-is technically illegal, sharing movies with your friends is illegal!" while less important to the big picture, may be easier for the idiot-in-a-hurry to comprehend.
It's not a matter of liking or not liking one business or another. It's about what works, and what doesn't work.
sure, he could sell 10,000 copies of an album
(1st: good luck with that. 2nd: that likely won't even cover his advance)
Or, he could use this model, and make a ton of cash with only 300 people.
I would imagine that it's a lot easier to find 300 fans than 10,000
I take some issue with the second paragraph, however. It certainly is possible that sales could be increased by embracing free. However, this example could also be used to argue that leveraging 'free' and using an unlimited resource to advertise a scare good isn't always necessary to connect with fans and give a reason to buy.
'Free' is one tool for building an audience, one very good tool. But it's not the only tool, or the best tool in all cases. This guy's not using it, and he's doing quite well.
"...those who say they profess the Jewish fath make up only 4% of Americans, but 36% of corporate CEO, Forbes billionaires, Hollywood moguls, professors, accountants, lawyers, MDs, senators, congressman, etc.
Why are they so silent to our needs and desires?"
Malcolm Gladwell writes about a possible reason for this in Outliers.
In short, a person's cultural heritage plays a big roll in how they succeed in the world; possibly a bigger roll than determination or talent.
Hundreds of people can walk into an art gallery and enjoy my paintings for free. but very few people actually buy anything.
Would it be fair to call the collector, the one person who actually buys the work a 'dope' while the rest of the visitors are freeloaders? That's highly insulting to both sides. There is more to culture than money changing hands.
I prefer to think of it as a supportive community made up of both fans and patrons.
Do I want more of my fans to become patrons, and support me by buying something? Absolutely. I like paying rent and having food. But I'm not entitled to their money. I have to work for it. I have to create something that they feel is worth buying.
Music isn't much different. you have the fans who listen to and love the work, and you have the patrons, who buy the albums, pick up some merch, buy loooooots of t-shirts, and go to the shows.
They aren't a 'dope' when they buy it, they aren't a 'freeloader' if they don't. They are fans, supporters, and patrons, and even if they don't choose to buy anything this time, having them around is far better than being ignored.
"I'm not sure if it's going to be the "traditional" sort of revolution, or some new-age internet-based thingy."
In the past, during revolutions, Streets were stained red with the blood of the slain oppressive aristocracy.
Today, during a revolution, we ask our friends to "become a fan" of a facebook petition.
The truly bold among us may even write a polite letter to our member of parliament.
This must be done with caution.
There is a fine line between keeping excitement alive, and overexposure. you don't want to pull the curtain back too far.
Currently, I think nine inch nails does a good job of this. Lately, they have posted several photos of studio gear, each one titled "?". No explanation is given, nothing to provide context. It implies that studio work is being done, but it doesn't say what, and that sort of mystery gets a fan's mind racing. They are also beautiful photographs in their own right.
It's small, but its something. When a website goes months without being updated, I will stop checking it, and quickly forget about it.
it's ridiculous to compare them to slavery, religious persecution or the Apartheid. Who's being murdered? Got hyperbole?
while no one is being murdered, people are being financially destroyed by the outcome of copyright lawsuits.
It's hard to argue that people have an unfounded sense of entitlement when media companies are the ones having the laws adapted to fit their business model, rather than adapting their business to fit the market.
What the chart leaves out is that when you pirate movies, you don't even have to get up and find the DVD, then insert it into your DVD player.
It's already on the hard drive, you can just double click the icon, and it plays. No effort at all. It's wonderful.
How about a $20/month ad-free version for the minority of people who don't like clutter surrounding their stories and are willing to pay, and a free but ad-supported version for people who don't like to pay for stuff?
or paying subscribers get access to a story an hour before being published.
are they even trying to succeed?
If the papers all go under, I will no longer have wrapping paper delivered to my door each morning.
While digital is a more efficient way to distribute music, CDs are still a good 'thing' to buy/sell. I have purchased music online where I am given an instant download link, and a physical CD is shipped to me later. I don't think I've ever actually inserted that CD into a player, I'm fine with the FLACs they sent me, but it's nice to have a 'real thing' that I can hold in my hands, even if it is purely psychological.
Giving out free digital music, and selling liner notes without a CD to support the music just seems weird.
One thing that these studies all fail to recognize is that up until 2002 or 2003, Ontario high schools all had an optional 5th year.
This 5th year, called OAC, was significantly more difficult than grade 12. In terms of course-load and expectations, it resembled university more than high school. Students wanting to go to university would stay for OAC, and get an extra year of learning.
Then they got rid of it. Guess when this happened? Just when cell phones, instant messaging and social networking was starting to take off.
Of course students are performing at a lower level. They are entering University at 18, rather than 19. On top of the lost year, they had to sit through two separate teacher strikes, and had to go through the Mike Harris "schools can't use old textbooks, but get no money for new textbooks" stupidity.
The whole thing is a "global warming vs. decline of pirates" situation. There might be a correlation, but it is in no way causative.
the ironic part is, this kind of behaviour actually leads to more 'infringement'.
years ago, after tiring of dead links in my bookmark list, I started just copying and saving the entire article so that I would be sure it would still be there when i came back to it months later. Text takes up almost no space at all, so an archive of hundreds, or even thousands of articles takes up about as much space as a single image or song.
Think of how people used to respond to the news: an interesting article meant you would pull out the scissors, fold it up and put it in your pocket, so you would have it ready to pull out when the topic came up in conversation. And that was fine.
The digital analogue to that would be copying and pasting the article into a forum or message board to open up the discussion. But you can't do that now; that's infringement!
I thought news was supposed to be shared with others...
On the post: Avatar Blu-Ray Customers Not Enjoying Their DRM-Crippled Discs
but its already been pirated
Which it is.
Avatar has been downloadable for weeks now. It's too late for DRM, since it's already out there.
What reason is their to ruin a legitimate user's movie watching experience after the damage has already been done?
Thats kind of the whole point of digital, you only need one copy to have infinite copies. They can DRM up the new disks all they want, those copies that are out their now won't be stopped by it.
It's like putting on body armour after you've been shot. It's a little late to do any good at this point.
On the post: Now, Apparently It's Not Just Content Providers That Are Getting A Free Ride On Broadband Networks, But Consumers Too
Unfortunately (for them), broadband providers can't use vague excuses like 'trouble in the middle east' to arbitrarily raise prices.
On the post: Canadian Entertainment Industry Begins New Media Campaign For Draconian Copyright Laws
Re:
No, it should not.
Canada should look at what Canadian citizens want, and refuse to enter into any international treaties that go against the wishes of it's people.
But I agree with you that fair dealing should be greatly expanded.
Also, crown copyright should be abolished, and replaced with the US style of releasing all gov't produced content directly into the public domain. If it was paid for by the public, it should belong to the public.
I'm getting sick of this copyright debate. Every year the media industry wants the government to change the laws, and every year, the government faces an uproar of angry citizens. But the government never learns, they keep on trying to pass the same unpopular laws each year, and keep on facing the same opposition.
Here is a crazy idea for a democratic country: look at the results of last summers consultations, then do what the majority of people want; then drop the issue and move on.
On the post: Is There A Bias In Expertise? Or Is The Problem Just In Silencing Discussion?
Imagine the story is a big puzzle, and each individual only has a few pieces. Experts in a particular field all have the same handful of pieces, while the non-experts have a random assortment of pieces. They may not have as many as the experts do, and a few may have pieces from a different puzzle entirely, but if aggregated properly, errors will cancel each other out, and the large group of non-experts will end up with a more complete picture than the experts will.
I'm not saying tech experts at a tech convention is a bad thing, but only having tech experts could be. having a mix of tech reporters and regular reporters, and bloggers could result in better questions being asked overall.
On the post: Peeling The Layers Off 'Piracy'
hmm...
There is a big difference between lending a physical copy and lending a digital copy.
When you have my copy of a book, so long as you have it, I can't read it; when you have my DVDs, I can't watch them.
The obvious step in my mind would be to say, "well, you delete your copy after you send it to them, then when they are done with it, they delete their copy, and you can make a new copy"
But this is completely ridiculous when you think about it; going through completely unnecessary steps to stay within the bounds of some ancient law that is being applied to a new system where it makes absolutely no sense.
But thinking this way is a great way to frame the argument.
Talking about 'free culture', legal restrictions on creativity, DRMed media that goes dead shortly after purchase, the potential for censorship, etc. can be difficult, especially when people only want a quick sound-bite. By going at this layer-by-layer "backing up your own media-stuff you have payed for-is technically illegal, sharing movies with your friends is illegal!" while less important to the big picture, may be easier for the idiot-in-a-hurry to comprehend.
On the post: How Musician Ellis Paul Got 300 Fans To Give Him $100,000 For His Latest Album
Re:
sure, he could sell 10,000 copies of an album
(1st: good luck with that. 2nd: that likely won't even cover his advance)
Or, he could use this model, and make a ton of cash with only 300 people.
I would imagine that it's a lot easier to find 300 fans than 10,000
I take some issue with the second paragraph, however. It certainly is possible that sales could be increased by embracing free. However, this example could also be used to argue that leveraging 'free' and using an unlimited resource to advertise a scare good isn't always necessary to connect with fans and give a reason to buy.
'Free' is one tool for building an audience, one very good tool. But it's not the only tool, or the best tool in all cases. This guy's not using it, and he's doing quite well.
On the post: Jaron Lanier Says That Musicians Using Free To Succeed Are Lying
Re:
Why are they so silent to our needs and desires?"
Malcolm Gladwell writes about a possible reason for this in Outliers.
In short, a person's cultural heritage plays a big roll in how they succeed in the world; possibly a bigger roll than determination or talent.
On the post: When You Try To Figure Out Who Owns Imaginary 'Property,' Things Get Confusing Fast
On the post: Is The Fan Who Buys A Product He Wants A Big Dope?
change the perspective.
Would it be fair to call the collector, the one person who actually buys the work a 'dope' while the rest of the visitors are freeloaders? That's highly insulting to both sides. There is more to culture than money changing hands.
I prefer to think of it as a supportive community made up of both fans and patrons.
Do I want more of my fans to become patrons, and support me by buying something? Absolutely. I like paying rent and having food. But I'm not entitled to their money. I have to work for it. I have to create something that they feel is worth buying.
Music isn't much different. you have the fans who listen to and love the work, and you have the patrons, who buy the albums, pick up some merch, buy loooooots of t-shirts, and go to the shows.
They aren't a 'dope' when they buy it, they aren't a 'freeloader' if they don't. They are fans, supporters, and patrons, and even if they don't choose to buy anything this time, having them around is far better than being ignored.
On the post: IIPA's Section 301 Filing Shows It's Really Not At All Interested In Reducing Copyright Infringement
is that about right?
On the post: ACTA's Internet Chapter Leaks; And, Now We See How Sneaky The Negotiators Have Been
Re: Re:
In the past, during revolutions, Streets were stained red with the blood of the slain oppressive aristocracy.
Today, during a revolution, we ask our friends to "become a fan" of a facebook petition.
The truly bold among us may even write a polite letter to our member of parliament.
On the post: Connecting With Fans Is An Ongoing Process: Do Something Small Weekly, Big Monthly
There is a fine line between keeping excitement alive, and overexposure. you don't want to pull the curtain back too far.
Currently, I think nine inch nails does a good job of this. Lately, they have posted several photos of studio gear, each one titled "?". No explanation is given, nothing to provide context. It implies that studio work is being done, but it doesn't say what, and that sort of mystery gets a fan's mind racing. They are also beautiful photographs in their own right.
It's small, but its something. When a website goes months without being updated, I will stop checking it, and quickly forget about it.
On the post: Winning Essay In High School Ethics Writing Competition Argues That File Sharing Isn't Wrong
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
while no one is being murdered, people are being financially destroyed by the outcome of copyright lawsuits.
It's hard to argue that people have an unfounded sense of entitlement when media companies are the ones having the laws adapted to fit their business model, rather than adapting their business to fit the market.
On the post: Reminder: You Don't Compete With Piracy By Being Lame, The DVD Edition
It's already on the hard drive, you can just double click the icon, and it plays. No effort at all. It's wonderful.
On the post: NY Times Execs Think People Will Pay $20 To $30 Per Month For The iPad Edition Of The NY Times
or paying subscribers get access to a story an hour before being published.
are they even trying to succeed?
If the papers all go under, I will no longer have wrapping paper delivered to my door each morning.
On the post: Universal Music Gets A New CEO... Who Thinks CDs Are The Future
Re: Re: Maybe
Giving out free digital music, and selling liner notes without a CD to support the music just seems weird.
On the post: USPTO Rejects Submission Because It Was Faxed 'Upside Down'
Re: Re: Alternative Transmission
you have to make sure you differentiate it from tuna chicken and tuna pork.
Seriously though, if these people are unable to rotate a piece of paper, how can the be trusted to determine if an invention is patent worthy of not?
How long until:
Can you rotate paper 180 degrees
_ yes
_ no
becomes a standard part of job applications?
On the post: Technology Blamed For Bad Grammar Despite Total Lack Of Causal Evidence
This 5th year, called OAC, was significantly more difficult than grade 12. In terms of course-load and expectations, it resembled university more than high school. Students wanting to go to university would stay for OAC, and get an extra year of learning.
Then they got rid of it. Guess when this happened? Just when cell phones, instant messaging and social networking was starting to take off.
Of course students are performing at a lower level. They are entering University at 18, rather than 19. On top of the lost year, they had to sit through two separate teacher strikes, and had to go through the Mike Harris "schools can't use old textbooks, but get no money for new textbooks" stupidity.
The whole thing is a "global warming vs. decline of pirates" situation. There might be a correlation, but it is in no way causative.
On the post: Bad Web Experience: This Article Removed Because Of Copyright?
years ago, after tiring of dead links in my bookmark list, I started just copying and saving the entire article so that I would be sure it would still be there when i came back to it months later. Text takes up almost no space at all, so an archive of hundreds, or even thousands of articles takes up about as much space as a single image or song.
Think of how people used to respond to the news: an interesting article meant you would pull out the scissors, fold it up and put it in your pocket, so you would have it ready to pull out when the topic came up in conversation. And that was fine.
The digital analogue to that would be copying and pasting the article into a forum or message board to open up the discussion. But you can't do that now; that's infringement!
I thought news was supposed to be shared with others...
On the post: Vancouver Olympics 'Brand Protection Guidelines' Almost Entirely Arbitrary
I, for one, will not be watching any of the events, in person or televised.
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