I'm not sure how you can get a clearer picture by putting words into people's mouths.
I never ever stated that record companies should tell people to "copy all our stuff". I am saying that record companies should FOCUS on adding value to their content.
As to cannibalizing sales, well, all I can say is that iTunes somehow manages to compete very well with free music. And here we have an example of band landing at #2 on Billboard DESPITE their album being available on file-sharing networks since October.
Let's look at this from another perspective. Despite the lawsuits, despite DRM and copy protection, despite extending the length of copyright and despite attempts to criminalize civil matters, music continues to be shared on P2P networks. All those actions taken by the RIAA have had little impact on file-sharing. Rather than fight file-sharing they should embrace it as a form marketing.
The problem is that the bean counters at the record companies see every illegal download as lost revenue, when in reality, that illegal download represents, at most, a potential lost opportunity. The RIAA seems to believe that those illegal downloads can be converted into sales. Given that most people have a finite amount of cash, that is impossible without having a negative impact on some other sector of the economy.
By "adding value", I'm not referring simply to lyrics and pictures. It could be one-time codes used to download bonus material like unreleased material, behind-the-scene videos, discounts off merchandise, etc. It could be a multitude of things. Heck it could even be promoting the not-so-mainstream. Different strokes for different folks.
The record companies fear the internet because for them to succeed they have to loosen their control over their content. They view that loss of control as loss of revenue and loss of profit. That is so 'old-school' ;)
In fact, common sense (which there is an utter lack of these days) dictates that you shouldn't copy it.
You must not have kids. Ever seen what a kid or two can do to a CD or DVD? Nope, I need to have the ability to make a backup of any CD or DVD that will be used by kids. I'm not spending another 20 bucks on buying a replacement CD or DVD.
You will actually be treated better, because more likely than not, the material available via p2p will have the Don't Steal PSA, the copyright warning, the ridiculous FBI warning removed and all previews removed. Nothing better than having your kids watch through 10 or so minutes of Disney previews each and every time you play the DVD.
Between DVD Decrypter, DVDfab Decrypter, DVD Shrink, RipIt4me, VOBBlanker, and FixVTS, I am able to decrypt DVDs, copy the decrypted DVD to my hardrive, remove the material I don't need, reauthor, encrypt and burn a movie-only backup of the original DVD that will play in all my DVD players. I can put the original away, safe from little hands. What's the point of copy protection again?
it's just going to frustrate honest consumers who won't understand why their expensive DVD player won't play movies any more.
How about frustrating honest consumers who do not understand why their cheap DVD player will not play movies any more? My youngest kid received Little Mermaid for Christmas. My wife and I wondered why he would leave the room part way through the movie. Well, at the half way point, the DVD would pause and eventually stop. This happened in two of my DVD players. My PS2 reported a read error. Apparently, the newer Disney DVDs use a new copy protection that fills the DVD with errors.
Fortunately, I was able to find a few programs on the internet that would decode and rip the CD, strip the copy protection and re-author just the movie (no previews, no FBI warnings and no menus). The newly burned copy worked like a charm - no compression required to fit on a regular DVD.
Screw the MPAA and other media trade organizations. Copy protection reduces the value of your product. I was still able to make copy of your 'protected' DVD without the previews and copyright warnings. I'll be making a movie-only copy of every kids DVD I have. Stop treating paying customers as criminals.
On the post: Despite Being Leaked Three Months Earlier, Shins Album Sets Sales Record
Re: Re: Re: I'm not clear on this.
I never ever stated that record companies should tell people to "copy all our stuff". I am saying that record companies should FOCUS on adding value to their content.
As to cannibalizing sales, well, all I can say is that iTunes somehow manages to compete very well with free music. And here we have an example of band landing at #2 on Billboard DESPITE their album being available on file-sharing networks since October.
Let's look at this from another perspective. Despite the lawsuits, despite DRM and copy protection, despite extending the length of copyright and despite attempts to criminalize civil matters, music continues to be shared on P2P networks. All those actions taken by the RIAA have had little impact on file-sharing. Rather than fight file-sharing they should embrace it as a form marketing.
The problem is that the bean counters at the record companies see every illegal download as lost revenue, when in reality, that illegal download represents, at most, a potential lost opportunity. The RIAA seems to believe that those illegal downloads can be converted into sales. Given that most people have a finite amount of cash, that is impossible without having a negative impact on some other sector of the economy.
By "adding value", I'm not referring simply to lyrics and pictures. It could be one-time codes used to download bonus material like unreleased material, behind-the-scene videos, discounts off merchandise, etc. It could be a multitude of things. Heck it could even be promoting the not-so-mainstream. Different strokes for different folks.
The record companies fear the internet because for them to succeed they have to loosen their control over their content. They view that loss of control as loss of revenue and loss of profit. That is so 'old-school' ;)
On the post: Trademark Troll Claims Ownership Of Google; Google Claims Troll Is Racketeering
On the post: RIAA's Latest Trick: When Backed Into A Corner, Try To Associate File Sharing With Child Porn
Re:
You must not have kids. Ever seen what a kid or two can do to a CD or DVD? Nope, I need to have the ability to make a backup of any CD or DVD that will be used by kids. I'm not spending another 20 bucks on buying a replacement CD or DVD.
On the post: RIAA's Latest Trick: When Backed Into A Corner, Try To Associate File Sharing With Child Porn
Re:
Between DVD Decrypter, DVDfab Decrypter, DVD Shrink, RipIt4me, VOBBlanker, and FixVTS, I am able to decrypt DVDs, copy the decrypted DVD to my hardrive, remove the material I don't need, reauthor, encrypt and burn a movie-only backup of the original DVD that will play in all my DVD players. I can put the original away, safe from little hands. What's the point of copy protection again?
On the post: Newfangled DVD Copy Protection Apparently Cracked; Now The Real Fun Starts
Paying Customers are Criminals
How about frustrating honest consumers who do not understand why their cheap DVD player will not play movies any more? My youngest kid received Little Mermaid for Christmas. My wife and I wondered why he would leave the room part way through the movie. Well, at the half way point, the DVD would pause and eventually stop. This happened in two of my DVD players. My PS2 reported a read error. Apparently, the newer Disney DVDs use a new copy protection that fills the DVD with errors.
Fortunately, I was able to find a few programs on the internet that would decode and rip the CD, strip the copy protection and re-author just the movie (no previews, no FBI warnings and no menus). The newly burned copy worked like a charm - no compression required to fit on a regular DVD.
Screw the MPAA and other media trade organizations. Copy protection reduces the value of your product. I was still able to make copy of your 'protected' DVD without the previews and copyright warnings. I'll be making a movie-only copy of every kids DVD I have. Stop treating paying customers as criminals.
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