We can certainly thank piracy for bringing movies on to DVD much faster but not for the price. The real drop in DVD prices comes from DVD used sales on sites like Amazon and eBay. The fact is a DVD movie only has a few months of life before many former buyers then decide to sell on at a lower than new price rate. These used but like new sales affect the new sales and it is all competition that forces down the new DVD price. All the result of an open market and it is all about used DVD market saturation.
Now CD sales are a whole different case when CDs these days are nearly obsolete and people certainly have easier options if they want to load their MP3 player. You can certainly blame piracy for the move to digit music files but this was just market progression and may have happened anyway in a different form.
So there is indeed not much value in wanting to steal DVDs and CDs and the best opportunity for a thief is to go with newly released titles.
It would be my belief that even if the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act was repealed that this would help the overseas piracy problem none. People would still say that life plus 50 years was much too long and pirate on.
Some people would even not be happy until Copyright is completely abolished which is very unlikely to happen.
So this is not an answer to the Whitehouse's question. It may indeed move people away from piracy but that won't be many people.
Copyright does indeed have a vast array of problems and lack much public support but this does not directly address how to shut down overseas piracy sites.
The only time I have ever felt that piracy was at risk was when NetFlix was providing a successful good service. Once the vast majority of people are legal then piracy could be crushed like a tiny bug with few noticing or caring.
Then NetFlix did a large price increase then I remembered commercial services always aim for maximum profit. That leaves a large percentage who will always consider it too expensive and seek other options including piracy.
That is a stupid argument they would always lose. One aspect of copyright law is that you can sell on your used DVDs, books and computer game etc.
NetFlix would not even exist without that law when they buy up broadcast agreements from others.
You are quite right that the copyright side never learn and always think they can stop resales. One example were DVD suppliers in Europe importing and then selling R1 titles from North America which were popular due to less censorship and better extras. Copyright Protection organizations sued them in court only to suffer an amazing defeat when beyond resale law to impose a restriction would be against the EU's free movement of goods and services mantra.
You can be certain they will be back again only to crash and burn again under some other example.
I find it interesting that after reading every reply to this news article that not a single poster took up the Whitehouse's challenge to say how the overseas piracy problem can be resolved.
I can't say I blame them when file-sharing seems unstoppable. Even if they could take down every BT website this helps little when the BT file-sharing network is a separate entity. It is also possible to search the BT network itself for what you need without having announcement sites.
So attacking BT sites seems like a red herring. The best you can achieve there is to make BT sites lawful and then to regulate them under the law to keep their lawful status.
The only real solution is to promote lawful services when people prefer the lawful option if it provides a good enough service. In that regard I was happy to see NetFlix reach the UK at 6 GBP a month (for now).
I can say one thing for certain and that is no censorship plan in any form will help them. There will always be strong opposition and work arounds.
So I guess my answer is if you can't beat your enemy then maybe it is time to be friends with them instead.
Re: White House response to anti-PIPA/SOPA petitions
I am not impressed in the slightest.
Let us not forget that VP Joe Biden goes to bed with the MPAA & RIAA at night and he is solely responsible for ICE's domain seizure policy and much more. Worst so far is the US Government bullying Spain to implement their own SOPA-like law.
DNSSEC has of course been a big problem when in an honest and secure system you can't have liars. Now they have come to release this fact DNS blocking is on the way out.
Then "whoopee f'ing do" the Whitehouse tries to make out they disapprove of what is already being canned and they done this total BS by "listening to the people".
If the Whitehouse really want to impress us then ICE should not be using super secret extension orders as part of an open and accountable administration. Also they should only be seizing domains following trial and conviction which is what we call "due process".
I am not at all surprised that SOPA is being delayed when that was the plan since Xmas. The first thing they did when SOPA failed to pass before Xmas was to announce that they were pulling PIPA out of the Ice House.
The key point is that if PIPA fails to pass then SOPA has no hope at all. These bills do need to pass both houses. Only if PIPA passes will they run with SOPA.
We have yet to see them do their "magic trick" to make it appear like the public concerns have been addressed and all is now fine.
We should keep in mind that Protect IP (PIPA) is a rewrite of the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) which failed to pass in 2010.
So no matter what happens with PIPA and SOPA they will simply be back within 12 months with another rewrite. They will run with the ball now when a delay only makes things worse.
One day I would like to see a bill that would reform copyright but then we don't have the money to buy one.
I think if the Home Secretary extradites him this should be classed as an act of Treason.
Well based on this Court ruling today now every British citizen must obey United States Federal law no matter if they have been to the United States or not.
Then in the case of conflict of law systems then should a British citizen obey the law of the United Kingdom or that of the United States?
Is the law of the United States superior, equal to or lesser than the law of the United Kingdom?
Does this mean that UK citizen must also obey the laws of other extradition countries like Canada and Australia? If so then place these few dozen countries in order of the importance of their law systems and clarify how the vast degree of law system conflicts should be resolved.
The World has just become a strange and scary place.
Electronic Arts should keep in mind that this is 120,000 plus people who will boycott buying their games should they be careless and say the wrong words.
"Not many like piracy but everyone hates SOPA"
I was quite impressed with the words of this petition when it takes a high degree of insight to realise that it is the Indie productions and distribution channels who are the real target and not the pirates. Follow the money trial and it soon becomes clear where the profit is to be found. Also all about protecting their monopoly.
I stand by my statement when no Government would commercialize the public library system. Not even a dictatorship would go that far.
If you think about it then it is the poor people who most use the public library. So who are these poor?
1. School Children needing books for their homework or research projects. Even children's books to enjoy which helps kids from uncaring parents to improve their life.
2. College and University students needing books for their assignments. The same class of people who live far below the minimum wage and who have to scavenge food. I remember my pre-Internet college days when I had to physically switch libraries to find better quality books.
3. The disabled and the elderly. These are also usually low income people either looking to improve their education or simply to find a hot novel to get engrossed in.
Any politician who puts forwards a plan to commercialise the public library is only working on political suicide. They would be attacked by everyone for wanting to hurt school kids, children of poor family, college students, the whole education system, the disabled and the elderly.
This is why the copyright side attack the public library system directly and to not do this in politics. You can also see their love of money outranks all else.
To commercialise the public libraries is so not a plan that would work out. It seems they have forgotten the value of "free"
Due to limited storage space it is usually an honour to have your book available and in many cases they would go with award winners or well known powerful titles.
It is then logical that such books become part of the public culture which is much more financially rewarding. Being the one always requested and sought, large book store sales, or maybe even documentaries or film deals.
So these money addicts are morons. Governments would not allow it anyway.
Well if certain claimed infringers have turned over their domains to RightHaven then should not these domains now be auction off so that the owners have an opportunity to buy them back? I would go as far to say that they should be given the first chance to pony up some reasonable buy-back charge.
At minimum the receiver who auctioned off the righthaven.com domain should not ignore that RightHaven could have other domain names hiding away.
Keep it up, we all know the problems. You need to add in that all countries should have matching copyright terms. The Internet has no borders so it is crazy to have media under Copyright in one country but Public Domain in another. So Copyright registration should be Universal with a well published termination date.
I would add in that media already subject to Copyright start and end dates can't have that term extended by any future new laws.
The "terrorist manifesto" is nearing completion... as they would call it.
On the post: Even Thieves Are Ignoring DVDs And CDs As Worthless
Markets
We can certainly thank piracy for bringing movies on to DVD much faster but not for the price. The real drop in DVD prices comes from DVD used sales on sites like Amazon and eBay. The fact is a DVD movie only has a few months of life before many former buyers then decide to sell on at a lower than new price rate. These used but like new sales affect the new sales and it is all competition that forces down the new DVD price. All the result of an open market and it is all about used DVD market saturation.
Now CD sales are a whole different case when CDs these days are nearly obsolete and people certainly have easier options if they want to load their MP3 player. You can certainly blame piracy for the move to digit music files but this was just market progression and may have happened anyway in a different form.
So there is indeed not much value in wanting to steal DVDs and CDs and the best opportunity for a thief is to go with newly released titles.
On the post: White House Comes Out Against The Approach In SOPA/PIPA In Response To Online Petition
Re: Re: Re: Re: Requested Answer
Some people would even not be happy until Copyright is completely abolished which is very unlikely to happen.
So this is not an answer to the Whitehouse's question. It may indeed move people away from piracy but that won't be many people.
On the post: White House Comes Out Against The Approach In SOPA/PIPA In Response To Online Petition
Re: Re: Requested Answer
The only time I have ever felt that piracy was at risk was when NetFlix was providing a successful good service. Once the vast majority of people are legal then piracy could be crushed like a tiny bug with few noticing or caring.
Then NetFlix did a large price increase then I remembered commercial services always aim for maximum profit. That leaves a large percentage who will always consider it too expensive and seek other options including piracy.
On the post: Libraries Are The Best Counter To Piracy... So Of Course Publishers Are Trying To Limit Them
Re: Re: Re: Re: The value of free.
NetFlix would not even exist without that law when they buy up broadcast agreements from others.
You are quite right that the copyright side never learn and always think they can stop resales. One example were DVD suppliers in Europe importing and then selling R1 titles from North America which were popular due to less censorship and better extras. Copyright Protection organizations sued them in court only to suffer an amazing defeat when beyond resale law to impose a restriction would be against the EU's free movement of goods and services mantra.
You can be certain they will be back again only to crash and burn again under some other example.
On the post: Desperation Of SOPA/PIPA Supporters On Display At CES
Re: Re: Re: Bimbo - crush
On the post: White House Comes Out Against The Approach In SOPA/PIPA In Response To Online Petition
Requested Answer
I can't say I blame them when file-sharing seems unstoppable. Even if they could take down every BT website this helps little when the BT file-sharing network is a separate entity. It is also possible to search the BT network itself for what you need without having announcement sites.
So attacking BT sites seems like a red herring. The best you can achieve there is to make BT sites lawful and then to regulate them under the law to keep their lawful status.
The only real solution is to promote lawful services when people prefer the lawful option if it provides a good enough service. In that regard I was happy to see NetFlix reach the UK at 6 GBP a month (for now).
I can say one thing for certain and that is no censorship plan in any form will help them. There will always be strong opposition and work arounds.
So I guess my answer is if you can't beat your enemy then maybe it is time to be friends with them instead.
On the post: SOPA Delayed; Cantor Promises It Won't Be Brought To The Floor Until 'Issues Are Addressed'
Re: White House response to anti-PIPA/SOPA petitions
Let us not forget that VP Joe Biden goes to bed with the MPAA & RIAA at night and he is solely responsible for ICE's domain seizure policy and much more. Worst so far is the US Government bullying Spain to implement their own SOPA-like law.
DNSSEC has of course been a big problem when in an honest and secure system you can't have liars. Now they have come to release this fact DNS blocking is on the way out.
Then "whoopee f'ing do" the Whitehouse tries to make out they disapprove of what is already being canned and they done this total BS by "listening to the people".
If the Whitehouse really want to impress us then ICE should not be using super secret extension orders as part of an open and accountable administration. Also they should only be seizing domains following trial and conviction which is what we call "due process".
On the post: SOPA Delayed; Cantor Promises It Won't Be Brought To The Floor Until 'Issues Are Addressed'
Plans
The key point is that if PIPA fails to pass then SOPA has no hope at all. These bills do need to pass both houses. Only if PIPA passes will they run with SOPA.
We have yet to see them do their "magic trick" to make it appear like the public concerns have been addressed and all is now fine.
On the post: PIPA's Own Sponsors Backing Off Bill; Ask Senate To Hold Off On Voting [Updated!]
Rehash
So no matter what happens with PIPA and SOPA they will simply be back within 12 months with another rewrite. They will run with the ball now when a delay only makes things worse.
One day I would like to see a bill that would reform copyright but then we don't have the money to buy one.
On the post: Righthaven CEO, Plus Two Former Righthaven Lawyers, Being Investigated By Nevada State Bar
Let justice be served.
On the post: German Court: ISP Must Not Block Access To Foreign Sites, Even If They Are Illegal
Nice
On the post: US Can Extradite UK Student For Copyright Infringement, Despite Site Being Legal In The UK
United (Horror) Kingdom
Well based on this Court ruling today now every British citizen must obey United States Federal law no matter if they have been to the United States or not.
Then in the case of conflict of law systems then should a British citizen obey the law of the United Kingdom or that of the United States?
Is the law of the United States superior, equal to or lesser than the law of the United Kingdom?
Does this mean that UK citizen must also obey the laws of other extradition countries like Canada and Australia? If so then place these few dozen countries in order of the importance of their law systems and clarify how the vast degree of law system conflicts should be resolved.
The World has just become a strange and scary place.
On the post: Sega Gets It Right About SOPA: It's Time For A Hard Reset On Copyright Law & Congress
AI
Sorry for insulting any Robots more intelligent than a dish cloth.
On the post: Over 120,000 People Sign Petition Asking EA To Officially Come Out Against SOPA
Insight
"Not many like piracy but everyone hates SOPA"
I was quite impressed with the words of this petition when it takes a high degree of insight to realise that it is the Indie productions and distribution channels who are the real target and not the pirates. Follow the money trial and it soon becomes clear where the profit is to be found. Also all about protecting their monopoly.
On the post: Libraries Are The Best Counter To Piracy... So Of Course Publishers Are Trying To Limit Them
Re: Re: The value of free.
On the post: Libraries Are The Best Counter To Piracy... So Of Course Publishers Are Trying To Limit Them
Re: Re: The value of free.
If you think about it then it is the poor people who most use the public library. So who are these poor?
1. School Children needing books for their homework or research projects. Even children's books to enjoy which helps kids from uncaring parents to improve their life.
2. College and University students needing books for their assignments. The same class of people who live far below the minimum wage and who have to scavenge food. I remember my pre-Internet college days when I had to physically switch libraries to find better quality books.
3. The disabled and the elderly. These are also usually low income people either looking to improve their education or simply to find a hot novel to get engrossed in.
Any politician who puts forwards a plan to commercialise the public library is only working on political suicide. They would be attacked by everyone for wanting to hurt school kids, children of poor family, college students, the whole education system, the disabled and the elderly.
This is why the copyright side attack the public library system directly and to not do this in politics. You can also see their love of money outranks all else.
On the post: Libraries Are The Best Counter To Piracy... So Of Course Publishers Are Trying To Limit Them
The value of free.
Due to limited storage space it is usually an honour to have your book available and in many cases they would go with award winners or well known powerful titles.
It is then logical that such books become part of the public culture which is much more financially rewarding. Being the one always requested and sought, large book store sales, or maybe even documentaries or film deals.
So these money addicts are morons. Governments would not allow it anyway.
On the post: Righthaven Actually Shows Up In Court, Whines About 'Scorched Earth' Attacks Against It
Domains
At minimum the receiver who auctioned off the righthaven.com domain should not ignore that RightHaven could have other domain names hiding away.
On the post: Cheezburger Sites Join Reddit In January 18th Blackout
Re: Re: Lets Pass SOPA!!!
I would add in that media already subject to Copyright start and end dates can't have that term extended by any future new laws.
The "terrorist manifesto" is nearing completion... as they would call it.
On the post: Cheezburger Sites Join Reddit In January 18th Blackout
Internet Out
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