There's a sliding value scale that you need to understand, or refuse to understand.
On the top end, where for me you find movies like The Avengers (paid to see twice, 3D and 2D, and will buy the DVD/Blu-Ray), the Christopher Nolan Batman movies (paid to see in regular and IMAX, bought 2 DVDs), The Road (paid once, bought DVD), Inception (paid once, given DVD), and The Prestige (paid once, bought DVD), the value of the movie is sufficient to warrant a theater viewing and/or DVD purchase. I will watch a good movie in theaters, and I'll buy it on DVD when it comes out. Once I buy it, I'll rip and format-shift the DVD to my heart's content, but I like having that physical media.
Good movies = I spend more money
Mid-range movies may earn a theater viewing or a rental, even both, but aren't good enough to justify the DVD purchase, at least not at full price.
Okay movies = I spend some money
Then we come to the bottom of the scale. Low-value movies don't warrant any up-front money. If I never downloaded movies, then I'd never see these. However, since downloading is free and, for those who know how to protect themselves, consequence-free, I figure it's worthwhile to take up a gig of HDD space to see if there's anything redeeming about the movie.
Bad movies = my curiosity, or the absence of apathy, but no money
I download them because I can, not because I can't live without them. If things change to the point that I can't download, then I won't. I just won't watch them at all. Before torrents, I just didn't watch as many movies.
Net loss to Hollywood - Zero, with the possibility of a small gain if I actually like something enough to grab a bargain DVD.
BTW, I won't even download Battleship, just as I didn't download the last Transformers movie. Some things aren't even worth the easily cleared HDD space.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Scientific Proof of the success of paywalls!
You're missing the part where the products need to be of equal quality and appeal. I'm waiting for one content producer to have the stones to pilot a program where you can watch online for a nominal price, and download for a slightly higher price.
Louis CK had what appeared to be a pretty rousing success doing this, but again the matter of equal quality and appeal is subject to debate.
I'll be reasonable, even if HBO suddenly offered their original offerings in this manner, people would still pirate them. However, I don't doubt that they would see a revenue bump as those lost customers would suddenly have an avenue to make the purchase. Bottom line, I don't see how it could hurt them to attract more paying customers from a group that is already showing that they like and follow the show. As it stands, their attitude shows an unwillingness to change that galls me.
Once upon a time, HBO was an innovator. They need to find their way back to that.
I, for one, am not trying to justify. I am trying to explain. Call it Free-Market Disobedience, if you will.
Here are a couple facts for you:
Shows like GoT are freely and readily available in HD quality within hours of airing.
Torrenting and streaming are easy, convenient, and, if you take some care, nigh on impossible to stop or police.
There are certain among the torrent/streaming crowd who would pay for these shows if there were a convenient and reasonably priced service through which to do so.
There is no convenient and reasonably priced service through which to download/stream these shows.
When you consider the above facts, this sleazy pirate (read: lost customer) will choose to circumvent the established distribution channels until such time as HBO's business model becomes more agreeable.
Disclaimer: Not all sleazy pirates are lost customers, but I feel safe in saying that I'm not the only one.
Re: Re: Re: Scientific Proof of the success of paywalls!
Talking science, eh? Well, let's proceed down that path a bit.
You have here an anecdote, a single instance, proving nothing apart from "this is how it happened this time". If you want something approaching proof, you're going to need a bit more rigor in your method. Here's what I propose:
Create 3 unique products of equal quality and general appeal (this is the tricky bit). For the first, put it behind a paywall with no possible way to obtain it apart from going through said paywall. The second, behind a paywall with options to circumvent the paywall. The third, open and free to all.
Release these products into the wild and see what happens, then report your findings back to us. I'll make no predictions, and I'll encourage you to refrain from speaking in absolutes until you've tested your hypothesis.
Anecdotally, I pirate the hell out of the current season of GoT because, with cable and HBO package upgrades, it would cost me about $50/month to watch it "legally". I pay for my basic cable and watch a fair amount of programs there, so the aggregate value is solid, but there is no reasonable pricing plan for current GoT content. I bought the first season on DVD (then ripped/converted it for portability and ease of use), and, again, WOULD PAY for the current season, but there's no way to buy only that, so HBO can pound sand until Season 2 comes out on DVD.
Following on the heels of "Secret Service Prostitution Scandal", we now have "FBI asks internet for backdoor action".
Next up, a request for a joint operation between the NSA, CIA, and FCC utilizing high-temperature superconductors to create piracy-stopping supercomputers - "Government agencies get together for hot three-way".
We didn't do anything to the hardware. Pinky-promise. We just, umm, thought that the server looked a little dirty and wanted to give it a good dusting.
Separate issue, how exactly do they get into the server room on two separate occasions without anyone being notified? Someone had to see a Gorram warrant the first time, at least? Or did Agent Coulson there work his magic on the janitor to get the keys?
In the past week, I've seen an explosion of these social reader/viewer apps. Viddy, Dailymotion, Yahoo, etc, etc. The real fun comes when someone approves use of the dailymotion social app and then fails to log off before viewing some sketchy vids.
"Bill Swenson watched '7 sexual positions for less-endowed men', as well as 8 other videos on Dailymotion."
Because Apple, through their agency model, was dictating the end-market price of their suppliers' goods sold through any outlet. They were fixing the retail price of any ebook they offered, not only in their store, but in any other store as well.
Imagine if Walmart, through agreements with Pepsi and Coke, forced the price of soda to rise at Target/Costco/wherever.
Low-overhead stores suddenly aren't allowed to 'pass the savings on to you' because their competition says they can't. How does that make sense?
The real victims here are the bit-binders, the intrepid folk who take the time to sew together the individual bits that make up an ebook. Automated, mechanized bit-binding already threatens this artisanal trade, and without the price-fixing support of the publishers, we may soon see many bit-binderies going the way of the dodo.
Jens Krustensen, fourth generation bit-binder, weighed in on this touchy subject, saying:
"People don't realize how difficult bit-binding is, or how essential it is that we get paid fairly for our work. Sure, anyone can sew a zero to another zero, but it takes 4 years of training, plus another seven of apprenticeship, before you can sew those ones to each other. That kind of training takes a lot of money. These newfangled mechanized bit-binders are shiny, but what happens when you're halfway through Moby Dick and all the ones start to fall out? Our culture is too important to entrust it to these foolish 'advances', if you can even call them that."
Please continue to pay inflated prices for DRM-hobbled ebooks. If we don't, the bit-binder could become as rare a sight as a tallow-chandler, and the world will weep.
Gotta go back to Suzanne Collins, author of the Hunger Games books, if you want to do that. A friend recommended that I read them, and they are actually pretty solid for teen lit. After reading them, I mentioned the base similarity to Battle Royale to my friend, and was greeted with a "huh?". Hard to find a lot of people with solid Japanese cinema knowledge.
Tangent:
Let's say I freely tell the Hunger Games story to my friends, and say that my memory is perfect so they are receiving an exact, word-for-word COPY of the story from me. Are we stealing at this point? Are we even infringing?
Until we can legislate smarter people behind keyboards, there's no point in your fancy cyber-whatsits laws.
This wasn't a virus, it was a social engineering attack, akin to someone claiming to be the pizza guy so you buzz them through your apartment complex's security door. Bigger locks aren't the solution here. The solution is a frozen-pizza only apartment complex, or possibly an in-building pizzeria.
The problem I see with your reasoning is that you're assuming that the Federal Government is the best place to decide these things. If I'm ever in a position where I have to personally consider the ramifications of an abortion, then the opinions and pontifications of others will mean fuck-all to me. That's one of the most personal decisions anyone will ever have to make, and it's a decision for individuals to make. Barring that possibility, it's a decision that needs to stay as close to home as possible.
Paul's stances make sense to me in that he's for putting much of our lives out of the federal government's reach. At state levels, the representatives are more closely tied to their constituency, and so the true will of the people should be more clearly heard.
I've always heard him loud and clear on abortion, in that he says clearly that he's personally against it, but that it's just not the federal government's job to legislate what people can and cannot do with their own bodies.
Regarding gay rights, I think he addressed what is a core semantic hurdle in the gay marriage argument when he stated that, for purposes of government, hetero or same-sex unions should be termed "civil unions", which suddenly makes all 'marriage' arguments moot. As far as government is concerned, it becomes a matter of contract law, neutered and stripped of religious overtones.
Marriage is more a religious term than anything, and if it suddenly wasn't about some Bible-thumper's hackles being raised about a perversion of marriage, then they'd have to set the religious objection aside and admit that it's about bigotry.
Power corrupts, and what Paul is advocating would be to reduce the corruption by reducing the amount of power held in DC.
On the post: Why Hollywood Is Doomed: It Takes Sensible Advice Like 'Make Good Movies' And Turns It Into A Screed About Piracy
Re:
On the top end, where for me you find movies like The Avengers (paid to see twice, 3D and 2D, and will buy the DVD/Blu-Ray), the Christopher Nolan Batman movies (paid to see in regular and IMAX, bought 2 DVDs), The Road (paid once, bought DVD), Inception (paid once, given DVD), and The Prestige (paid once, bought DVD), the value of the movie is sufficient to warrant a theater viewing and/or DVD purchase. I will watch a good movie in theaters, and I'll buy it on DVD when it comes out. Once I buy it, I'll rip and format-shift the DVD to my heart's content, but I like having that physical media.
Good movies = I spend more money
Mid-range movies may earn a theater viewing or a rental, even both, but aren't good enough to justify the DVD purchase, at least not at full price.
Okay movies = I spend some money
Then we come to the bottom of the scale. Low-value movies don't warrant any up-front money. If I never downloaded movies, then I'd never see these. However, since downloading is free and, for those who know how to protect themselves, consequence-free, I figure it's worthwhile to take up a gig of HDD space to see if there's anything redeeming about the movie.
Bad movies = my curiosity, or the absence of apathy, but no money
I download them because I can, not because I can't live without them. If things change to the point that I can't download, then I won't. I just won't watch them at all. Before torrents, I just didn't watch as many movies.
Net loss to Hollywood - Zero, with the possibility of a small gain if I actually like something enough to grab a bargain DVD.
BTW, I won't even download Battleship, just as I didn't download the last Transformers movie. Some things aren't even worth the easily cleared HDD space.
Michael Bay = ostracism and a middle finger
On the post: Game Of Thrones On Track To Be Most Pirated Show Of 2012; Pirates Still Asking HBO For Legitimate Options
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Scientific Proof of the success of paywalls!
Louis CK had what appeared to be a pretty rousing success doing this, but again the matter of equal quality and appeal is subject to debate.
I'll be reasonable, even if HBO suddenly offered their original offerings in this manner, people would still pirate them. However, I don't doubt that they would see a revenue bump as those lost customers would suddenly have an avenue to make the purchase. Bottom line, I don't see how it could hurt them to attract more paying customers from a group that is already showing that they like and follow the show. As it stands, their attitude shows an unwillingness to change that galls me.
Once upon a time, HBO was an innovator. They need to find their way back to that.
On the post: Game Of Thrones On Track To Be Most Pirated Show Of 2012; Pirates Still Asking HBO For Legitimate Options
Re: STOP JUSTIFYING pirates.
Here are a couple facts for you:
Shows like GoT are freely and readily available in HD quality within hours of airing.
Torrenting and streaming are easy, convenient, and, if you take some care, nigh on impossible to stop or police.
There are certain among the torrent/streaming crowd who would pay for these shows if there were a convenient and reasonably priced service through which to do so.
There is no convenient and reasonably priced service through which to download/stream these shows.
When you consider the above facts, this sleazy pirate (read: lost customer) will choose to circumvent the established distribution channels until such time as HBO's business model becomes more agreeable.
Disclaimer: Not all sleazy pirates are lost customers, but I feel safe in saying that I'm not the only one.
On the post: Game Of Thrones On Track To Be Most Pirated Show Of 2012; Pirates Still Asking HBO For Legitimate Options
Re: Scientific Proof of the success of paywalls!
On the post: Game Of Thrones On Track To Be Most Pirated Show Of 2012; Pirates Still Asking HBO For Legitimate Options
Re: Re: Re: Scientific Proof of the success of paywalls!
You have here an anecdote, a single instance, proving nothing apart from "this is how it happened this time". If you want something approaching proof, you're going to need a bit more rigor in your method. Here's what I propose:
Create 3 unique products of equal quality and general appeal (this is the tricky bit). For the first, put it behind a paywall with no possible way to obtain it apart from going through said paywall. The second, behind a paywall with options to circumvent the paywall. The third, open and free to all.
Release these products into the wild and see what happens, then report your findings back to us. I'll make no predictions, and I'll encourage you to refrain from speaking in absolutes until you've tested your hypothesis.
Anecdotally, I pirate the hell out of the current season of GoT because, with cable and HBO package upgrades, it would cost me about $50/month to watch it "legally". I pay for my basic cable and watch a fair amount of programs there, so the aggregate value is solid, but there is no reasonable pricing plan for current GoT content. I bought the first season on DVD (then ripped/converted it for portability and ease of use), and, again, WOULD PAY for the current season, but there's no way to buy only that, so HBO can pound sand until Season 2 comes out on DVD.
In closing, please seed.
On the post: Game Of Thrones On Track To Be Most Pirated Show Of 2012; Pirates Still Asking HBO For Legitimate Options
Re: Re: Scientific Proof of the success of paywalls!
Sorry, had to do it :)
On the post: Here We Go Again: FBI Wants Backdoors To Snoop On Nearly All Internet Communications
Lines up nicely
Next up, a request for a joint operation between the NSA, CIA, and FCC utilizing high-temperature superconductors to create piracy-stopping supercomputers - "Government agencies get together for hot three-way".
I'll stop there, but imagine the possibilities.
On the post: FBI Quietly Returns Anonymizing Server It Seized... Without Telling Anyone
Seriously, guys
Separate issue, how exactly do they get into the server room on two separate occasions without anyone being notified? Someone had to see a Gorram warrant the first time, at least? Or did Agent Coulson there work his magic on the janitor to get the keys?
On the post: Social Reader Apps: Better Than Paywalls, But Still Walls
Almost as annoying as...
BTW, Vote funny in 3 seconds or you want Super-SOPA.
On the post: Social Reader Apps: Better Than Paywalls, But Still Walls
Only the tip of the iceberg
"Bill Swenson watched '7 sexual positions for less-endowed men', as well as 8 other videos on Dailymotion."
The comments on that type of post are priceless.
On the post: Breaking: U.S. Sues Apple, Publishers Over eBook Price-Fixing
Re: Why Apple?
Imagine if Walmart, through agreements with Pepsi and Coke, forced the price of soda to rise at Target/Costco/wherever.
Low-overhead stores suddenly aren't allowed to 'pass the savings on to you' because their competition says they can't. How does that make sense?
On the post: Breaking: U.S. Sues Apple, Publishers Over eBook Price-Fixing
Re: ebooks are too expensive
Jens Krustensen, fourth generation bit-binder, weighed in on this touchy subject, saying:
"People don't realize how difficult bit-binding is, or how essential it is that we get paid fairly for our work. Sure, anyone can sew a zero to another zero, but it takes 4 years of training, plus another seven of apprenticeship, before you can sew those ones to each other. That kind of training takes a lot of money. These newfangled mechanized bit-binders are shiny, but what happens when you're halfway through Moby Dick and all the ones start to fall out? Our culture is too important to entrust it to these foolish 'advances', if you can even call them that."
Please continue to pay inflated prices for DRM-hobbled ebooks. If we don't, the bit-binder could become as rare a sight as a tallow-chandler, and the world will weep.
On the post: Parent Claims 'Ender's Game' Is Pornographic; Teacher Who Read It To Students Put On Temporary Leave
Re:
I see you there, lurking on the periphery of my vision.
But when I try to look at you, you scurry away.
Are you shy, squiggly line?
Why only when I ignore you do you return to the center of my eye?
Oh, squiggly line, it's all right. You are forgiven.
On the post: Parent Claims 'Ender's Game' Is Pornographic; Teacher Who Read It To Students Put On Temporary Leave
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
"It's the feast of Sol Invictus, dammit!"
"It's not Easter, It's Eostre, you assholes!"
"If you don't call it Samhain, I'm gonna Sam-Brain you!"
Granted, it was only one girl protesting, but she'd cast a level 5 Intimidating Shout before she started in, so shit got real very quickly.
On the post: Guess What? Copying Still Isn't Stealing
Re: Hollywood are thieves
Tangent:
Let's say I freely tell the Hunger Games story to my friends, and say that my memory is perfect so they are receiving an exact, word-for-word COPY of the story from me. Are we stealing at this point? Are we even infringing?
On the post: Penguin Pointlessly Annoys Readers With USB-Only eBooks
Re: Re: yea
On the post: If Phishing Email Can Kill NY Power Grid, Lack Of Cybersecurity Legislation Is Not The Problem
Simulation transcript
-Hi Fred, this is Bill Nefario, Powerco password enforcement division. We need to verify all current passwords on your system.
-That sounds a little suspicious to me. I don't think I should...
-(clicks through Linkedin search results) It's ok, Tom in information security gave me authorization.
-Oh, you know Tom? Ok, here you go.
You can't legislate away stupidity.
On the post: If Phishing Email Can Kill NY Power Grid, Lack Of Cybersecurity Legislation Is Not The Problem
Re:
This wasn't a virus, it was a social engineering attack, akin to someone claiming to be the pizza guy so you buzz them through your apartment complex's security door. Bigger locks aren't the solution here. The solution is a frozen-pizza only apartment complex, or possibly an in-building pizzeria.
Mmm, cyberpizza.
On the post: Obama Administration: ACTA Is Binding & Don't Worry Your Pretty Little Heads About TPP
Re: Re: Re: Re: Ron Paul
Paul's stances make sense to me in that he's for putting much of our lives out of the federal government's reach. At state levels, the representatives are more closely tied to their constituency, and so the true will of the people should be more clearly heard.
I've always heard him loud and clear on abortion, in that he says clearly that he's personally against it, but that it's just not the federal government's job to legislate what people can and cannot do with their own bodies.
Regarding gay rights, I think he addressed what is a core semantic hurdle in the gay marriage argument when he stated that, for purposes of government, hetero or same-sex unions should be termed "civil unions", which suddenly makes all 'marriage' arguments moot. As far as government is concerned, it becomes a matter of contract law, neutered and stripped of religious overtones.
Marriage is more a religious term than anything, and if it suddenly wasn't about some Bible-thumper's hackles being raised about a perversion of marriage, then they'd have to set the religious objection aside and admit that it's about bigotry.
Power corrupts, and what Paul is advocating would be to reduce the corruption by reducing the amount of power held in DC.
On the post: Obama Administration: ACTA Is Binding & Don't Worry Your Pretty Little Heads About TPP
Re: Re:
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