apparently US interests have been pressuring NZ's government to change how it funds medications here to ensure they get more money, too.
(net result: medication prices going up through out the country.... and in a lot of cases the NZ government having to increase invalid or disability benefits/allowances. except the current government's trying to cut them to make people go out and work... while actively reducing the number of jobs available... ... ... yes, it's stupid. 'right wing' (by which i mean 'plutocrats, multinational corporations, and US interests) economic policies are like that.)
point is, the 'entertainment industry', at least in the form of the big corporations and associations and such like, are doing these things Badly in the USA (piracy's never going to be Zero as long as the tech allows it, but it's a lot lower when the customers are being served properly than when they're not).
in many places outside the USA they're not doing it at all. they are expressly Preventing willing customers from using these services and giving them money to access content legitimately.
and then they complain when the would-be customers pirate it instead.
honestly, digital 'piracy' has a hell of a lot more in common with smuggling than piracy. technology has simply caught up to the point where smuggling is as viable in the digital world as it once was (is?) in the real.
and smuggling is almost inevitably the result of either monopolies or taxation driving prices up beyond reasonable levels for what the item is compared to how much the customers need it and how much they have to spend, or of artificial barriers being put in place by outside authorities (sometimes this is legitimate, as in times of war, when it makes sense to forbid trade with the enemy. other times, it really isn't.)
so long as there are people who find the utility/price/available resources values for a given item to be unacceptable, while still finding the product desirable, and there is an illegitimate party willing to provide the product at an acceptable price compared to it's utility and the customer's resources, you're going to have smuggling, and thus 'piracy'. (please note that a Legitimate party doing this is called a 'competitor', and the only reason these don't exist on the relevant level is because they have been made illegal when various governments took the Incredibly dubious step of granting (and then perpetually expanding) monopolies to private interests. bad enough when that's an individual human who can be held responsible for their actions, but they decided instead to grant these things just as easily to Corporations. it is impossible to meaningfully punish a corporation without destroying it. combine that with an excess of greed and a lack of good sense all around and you end up with today's fun situation.
it gets worse: in most places they now functionally ARE the 'Nobility' (not that they'd know that in it's adjectival form if it bit them in the arse.... possibly because words don't usually do that, and it would be confusing) now, and, just to make things That Much Better... they're incompetent at profiteering, too.
also 'free trade is good for something other than reducing city-regions with less production capacity/weaker economies to functionally economically dependant colonies of their larger neighbours.'
seriously, you'd think they'd Want actual free trade... if their entertainment industry still Functioned properly they'd end up with a meaningful monopoly and economies so crippled and dependant on them for such things (and, admittedly, china for others) that they could never go against them and thus Anything could be enforced with far less hassle.
but no, monopolists and paranoia win again.
now if only it were possible to persuade the NZ government to stop pursuing economic suicide by pushing for free trade deals all over the place... (and political/cultural suicide with the stupid things tehy're willing to do for the mearest hint of such a possiblity)
(see 'i forget which' large rant about the downsides of free trade some posts above.)
Re: Re: Re: Re: @"Rekrul": re "golden age of entertainment":
actually, in the US at least, the structure is such that it Can be... but only by a few of the elite at the top of the banking structure.
it's entirely possible (or was a few years back) for 100 dollars to be put into circulation, officially, which leads to some 10,000 plus dollars Actually circulating due to the way the banks are set up, and annoyingly i forget the rest of the details in the example (it was a while ago and i'm not an american anyway) but it ends with 100 dollars being Withdrawn from the economy again. at the end of the day the bosses at the banks Technically didn't change anything, according to their records, everything still matches up... and yet somehow their bank accounts have gained a few million that wasn't previously in circulation...
then there's the whole concept of 'interest'::
consider: the bank charges fees to pay for their services while they look after your money. they pay you interest that, unless you give them a Lot of money, is less than the fees. they then lend out your money to others, charge Them interest for it, at a much higher rate than what they give you, and pocket that interest. they get payed coming and going. (NZ has a nationally owned bank again these days, which basically charges no fees because, like every other bank, it's income comes from lending out your money anyway.)
and let's not even get into the joys of what happens to all those rounded fractions of cents, or the possiblities of hacking, or the complete Bullshit that is 'identity theft' (hint: it's Bank Robbery.)
*facepalms*
ok, got kinda off topic.
anyway, there are laws in both the case of digital media and money. thing is, the laws in place for money make sense to the vast majority of the population and are generally benificial to the public (in some cases a bit lacking, obviously, see the nonsense made of the global economy by morally lacking traders with far too much greed and not enough sense), while the laws regarding copyright and patents are damaging, and in the case of copyright, so out of alignment with the views, logic, and best interest of the general public that they are Ignored by otherwise law abiding individuals. combine this with extreamly dubious court outcomes on related issues and dodgy dealings getting the laws passed or amended in the first place, and you actually have a situation that is not only undermining (in some cases rightfully, in others merely understandably, and in yet more inevitably) old business models, but also has great potentual to actually undermine the entire concept of the Rule of Law, as the current law only really benefits high ranking individuals in the plutocratic and bureaucratic hierarchies, and is enforced unevenly.
wow. i'm terrible at this whole 'staying on topic' thing. hopefully this comment is meaningful and informative to at least someone... (heck, i'd be at least as pleased, if not more so, if it encouraged someone who otherwise wouldn't to simply think about things from a different perspective :D)
streaming's a joke in large parts of the world still, of course.
that said, it doesn't matter that DVDs and Bluray are Digital, they're a physical media that the various companies seem inordinately attached to, to the point of making rather irrational decisions which shoot their profit making ability in the foot rather than even entertain the vague notion that it any given change in the plan Might involve reducing how much money comes in from, and effort is expended upon, shiny plastic discs, when they could be making more money Over All by getting their heads out of their arses and embracing the opportunities provided by modern tech in terms of marketing and distribution, and by understanding, and adapting to, the fact that the way people see their business has changed, rather than wasting time and money on activities that active alienate their customer base fighting those changes.
indeed. and pursuing it is a terrible idea. actually, the USA is large enough that free trade Within it's borders is probably doing more harm than good ... :S
of course, there's protectionism and protectionism. one lot encourages new industry to develop in a given location, leading to an cycle of economic growth in that city-region if properly employed. the other pointlessly cripples entire sections of the economy in every city region in the country to feed pointless monopolies or encourage dangerous over-specialisation.
ehh, given previous articles here, i think the main reason it's not done in the US is because the newspaper companies like to abuse the hell out of copyright too, and don't want to undermine their own position.
Re: Re: Isn't cash good for all debts public and private?
so, basically, institute a layby plan (or something to that effect), with a 0 dollar down payment, for the Sale, and then imediately have that debt payed in full using cash? technically you bought the thing on credit, no cash used in the transaction that gives you the item. pretty sure all it generates is two more bits of paper in the shop's records.
doesn't get around the anonymity thing, but does allow you to pay cash. in theory, at least.
if you lower it by the right amount, sure. in some cases that amount may well be zero.
generic shooter 50012 is probably not one of them.
actually, with so many shooters who's main difference is how crappy the control setup is or isn't, at this point, it might help sales more for half those companies to make something else people actually want instead...
On the post: US Trying To Force Governments To Pay Much Higher Prices For Needed Drugs Through Secretive TPP
Re:
apparently US interests have been pressuring NZ's government to change how it funds medications here to ensure they get more money, too.
(net result: medication prices going up through out the country.... and in a lot of cases the NZ government having to increase invalid or disability benefits/allowances. except the current government's trying to cut them to make people go out and work... while actively reducing the number of jobs available... ... ... yes, it's stupid. 'right wing' (by which i mean 'plutocrats, multinational corporations, and US interests) economic policies are like that.)
On the post: US Trying To Force Governments To Pay Much Higher Prices For Needed Drugs Through Secretive TPP
Re: Obama and the OWS
the TPP forces this crap on everyone ELSE, too.
On the post: Up Is Down, Night Is Day, US Pretends Protectionist, Anti-Free Trade Agreements Are 'Historic Free Trade' Treaties
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: @"Rekrul": re "golden age of entertainment":
On the post: Up Is Down, Night Is Day, US Pretends Protectionist, Anti-Free Trade Agreements Are 'Historic Free Trade' Treaties
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
or any claims you might make to intelligence.
On the post: Up Is Down, Night Is Day, US Pretends Protectionist, Anti-Free Trade Agreements Are 'Historic Free Trade' Treaties
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Up Is Down, Night Is Day, US Pretends Protectionist, Anti-Free Trade Agreements Are 'Historic Free Trade' Treaties
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
point is, the 'entertainment industry', at least in the form of the big corporations and associations and such like, are doing these things Badly in the USA (piracy's never going to be Zero as long as the tech allows it, but it's a lot lower when the customers are being served properly than when they're not).
in many places outside the USA they're not doing it at all. they are expressly Preventing willing customers from using these services and giving them money to access content legitimately.
and then they complain when the would-be customers pirate it instead.
honestly, digital 'piracy' has a hell of a lot more in common with smuggling than piracy. technology has simply caught up to the point where smuggling is as viable in the digital world as it once was (is?) in the real.
and smuggling is almost inevitably the result of either monopolies or taxation driving prices up beyond reasonable levels for what the item is compared to how much the customers need it and how much they have to spend, or of artificial barriers being put in place by outside authorities (sometimes this is legitimate, as in times of war, when it makes sense to forbid trade with the enemy. other times, it really isn't.)
so long as there are people who find the utility/price/available resources values for a given item to be unacceptable, while still finding the product desirable, and there is an illegitimate party willing to provide the product at an acceptable price compared to it's utility and the customer's resources, you're going to have smuggling, and thus 'piracy'. (please note that a Legitimate party doing this is called a 'competitor', and the only reason these don't exist on the relevant level is because they have been made illegal when various governments took the Incredibly dubious step of granting (and then perpetually expanding) monopolies to private interests. bad enough when that's an individual human who can be held responsible for their actions, but they decided instead to grant these things just as easily to Corporations. it is impossible to meaningfully punish a corporation without destroying it. combine that with an excess of greed and a lack of good sense all around and you end up with today's fun situation.
On the post: Up Is Down, Night Is Day, US Pretends Protectionist, Anti-Free Trade Agreements Are 'Historic Free Trade' Treaties
Re: Re:
on that note, I'm personally in favour of the use of 18+" naval artillery shells as the implement of choice for said cleansing, when possible.
On the post: Up Is Down, Night Is Day, US Pretends Protectionist, Anti-Free Trade Agreements Are 'Historic Free Trade' Treaties
Re:
On the post: Up Is Down, Night Is Day, US Pretends Protectionist, Anti-Free Trade Agreements Are 'Historic Free Trade' Treaties
Re: We have always been at war...
seriously, you'd think they'd Want actual free trade... if their entertainment industry still Functioned properly they'd end up with a meaningful monopoly and economies so crippled and dependant on them for such things (and, admittedly, china for others) that they could never go against them and thus Anything could be enforced with far less hassle.
but no, monopolists and paranoia win again.
now if only it were possible to persuade the NZ government to stop pursuing economic suicide by pushing for free trade deals all over the place... (and political/cultural suicide with the stupid things tehy're willing to do for the mearest hint of such a possiblity)
(see 'i forget which' large rant about the downsides of free trade some posts above.)
On the post: Up Is Down, Night Is Day, US Pretends Protectionist, Anti-Free Trade Agreements Are 'Historic Free Trade' Treaties
Re: Re: Life imitates...
no one said it was GOOD art.
there's a lot of evidence that something doesn't have to be 'good' to be 'art'.
(and in what sense of the word is 'art' used here? i mean, there's an 'art' of war, after all...)
On the post: Up Is Down, Night Is Day, US Pretends Protectionist, Anti-Free Trade Agreements Are 'Historic Free Trade' Treaties
Re: Re: Re: Re: @"Rekrul": re "golden age of entertainment":
it's entirely possible (or was a few years back) for 100 dollars to be put into circulation, officially, which leads to some 10,000 plus dollars Actually circulating due to the way the banks are set up, and annoyingly i forget the rest of the details in the example (it was a while ago and i'm not an american anyway) but it ends with 100 dollars being Withdrawn from the economy again. at the end of the day the bosses at the banks Technically didn't change anything, according to their records, everything still matches up... and yet somehow their bank accounts have gained a few million that wasn't previously in circulation...
then there's the whole concept of 'interest'::
consider: the bank charges fees to pay for their services while they look after your money. they pay you interest that, unless you give them a Lot of money, is less than the fees. they then lend out your money to others, charge Them interest for it, at a much higher rate than what they give you, and pocket that interest. they get payed coming and going. (NZ has a nationally owned bank again these days, which basically charges no fees because, like every other bank, it's income comes from lending out your money anyway.)
and let's not even get into the joys of what happens to all those rounded fractions of cents, or the possiblities of hacking, or the complete Bullshit that is 'identity theft' (hint: it's Bank Robbery.)
*facepalms*
ok, got kinda off topic.
anyway, there are laws in both the case of digital media and money. thing is, the laws in place for money make sense to the vast majority of the population and are generally benificial to the public (in some cases a bit lacking, obviously, see the nonsense made of the global economy by morally lacking traders with far too much greed and not enough sense), while the laws regarding copyright and patents are damaging, and in the case of copyright, so out of alignment with the views, logic, and best interest of the general public that they are Ignored by otherwise law abiding individuals. combine this with extreamly dubious court outcomes on related issues and dodgy dealings getting the laws passed or amended in the first place, and you actually have a situation that is not only undermining (in some cases rightfully, in others merely understandably, and in yet more inevitably) old business models, but also has great potentual to actually undermine the entire concept of the Rule of Law, as the current law only really benefits high ranking individuals in the plutocratic and bureaucratic hierarchies, and is enforced unevenly.
wow. i'm terrible at this whole 'staying on topic' thing. hopefully this comment is meaningful and informative to at least someone... (heck, i'd be at least as pleased, if not more so, if it encouraged someone who otherwise wouldn't to simply think about things from a different perspective :D)
On the post: Up Is Down, Night Is Day, US Pretends Protectionist, Anti-Free Trade Agreements Are 'Historic Free Trade' Treaties
Re: Re: Re:
that said, it doesn't matter that DVDs and Bluray are Digital, they're a physical media that the various companies seem inordinately attached to, to the point of making rather irrational decisions which shoot their profit making ability in the foot rather than even entertain the vague notion that it any given change in the plan Might involve reducing how much money comes in from, and effort is expended upon, shiny plastic discs, when they could be making more money Over All by getting their heads out of their arses and embracing the opportunities provided by modern tech in terms of marketing and distribution, and by understanding, and adapting to, the fact that the way people see their business has changed, rather than wasting time and money on activities that active alienate their customer base fighting those changes.
On the post: Up Is Down, Night Is Day, US Pretends Protectionist, Anti-Free Trade Agreements Are 'Historic Free Trade' Treaties
Re: Free Trade?
of course, there's protectionism and protectionism. one lot encourages new industry to develop in a given location, leading to an cycle of economic growth in that city-region if properly employed. the other pointlessly cripples entire sections of the economy in every city region in the country to feed pointless monopolies or encourage dangerous over-specialisation.
guess which one governments like to use?
On the post: Mainstream Press Account In Australia Makes The Case For Why 'Piracy' Is Not The Problem
Re:
On the post: Louisiana Makes It Illegal To Use Cash For Secondhand Sales
Re: Re: Isn't cash good for all debts public and private?
doesn't get around the anonymity thing, but does allow you to pay cash. in theory, at least.
On the post: New Research Brings Much Needed Objectivity To Game Piracy Numbers
Re: *dons tinfoil hat*
but it's more believable than you'd like to think.
On the post: New Research Brings Much Needed Objectivity To Game Piracy Numbers
Re: Re: Re: Re:
generic shooter 50012 is probably not one of them.
actually, with so many shooters who's main difference is how crappy the control setup is or isn't, at this point, it might help sales more for half those companies to make something else people actually want instead...
On the post: Company Thanks Guy Who Alerted Them To Big Security Flaw By Sending The Cops... And The Bill
Re: Re:
On the post: 'British Cinema's Golden Age Is Now': So Where's The 'Serious Problem' Of Copyright Infringement?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Out ACTA-ing ACTA: All TPP Negotiating Documents To Be Kept Secret Until Four Years After Ratification
Re: Re: History is written by the winners
Ben's desire reduces the odds of the successor simply repeating the same mistakes. (or at least repeating them in the same way.)
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