profile.country.GB.title
I know this is probably quite a volatile subject to debate on these forums and one which some of you will probably scoff at. But does it really hurt the industry like they would have us all believe?
No doubt some of you have borrowed CD's, DVD's from friends and family and thought nothing more of watching\listening to them for free and what is wrong with that I hear you ask?
For those of you who never read the small print, most if not all DVD's will show the following Copyright warning..
'Unauthorised Copying, LENDING, Public Performances, Radio or TV Broadcasting of this Video is Prohibited.
OK, so now that we have all broken the law at one time or another does it really hurt to download a torrent movie?
I don't mind admitting that I have watched a few and on the whole I find this to be a very positive experience. I get to review the film myself before deciding whether or not to buy, a bit like how rental DVD's work.
Of course now that Blockbuster Video has gone bust our options are much more limited to online viewing by the likes of Netflix or rentals by post from places like LoveFilm. The trouble with both of those options is that not all film labels are supported and so we never get to see some of the best movies. I saw one last year called 'Getaway', I liked it so much I tried to buy it but no, it's not destined for release. I even tried renting it but again, no release date has ever been mentioned.
In the past I have blindly gone out and bought films which I knew very little about and as a result have been very disappointed with those purchases not to mention the huge sums of money I wasted.
Watching the odd illegal torrent or illegally borrowing from a friend helps me decide which films or CD's are worthy of spending money on. I don't see why I should support artists or producers that churn out garbage year on year!
There's a lot you can say about try before you buy, it's time the movie & music industry understood that.
So what about people mass producing pirated copies of torrent movies and burning them to disc? Well no doubt it happens but likewise the same can be said about someone legitimately buying a film or CD and making copies of that also.
Perhaps the industry needs to review the bigger picture. Personally speaking I think try before you buy would be a very good way forward and will no doubt generate more sales in the long run. In the past there has even been talk of disposable discs which you watch once and throw away, maybe that would be another option worth exploring further?
How do you feel?
Dr.Slinky McVelvet - Inventor of the word 'Mellifluous' - 30.12.14
HI there
This is one of the topics that is on the borderline of the Forum Rules:
- Obey the Law. Don’t post anything that violates any law or appears to support any illegal activities, such as drug use, piracy, hacking, etc.
________________
One could say that its the "Redistribution of data (or binary code)" 
Anyhow, Its sad that a company like Blockbuster went bankrupt, however they only have themselves to blame. They new that the industry was moving towards an online streaming model, and refused to change. Anything that does not evolve will die and Blockbuster is no different. They could have 'invented' the industry and even pip Lovefilm to it.
Netflix and Lovefilm are making great strides into giving people what they want. Unfortunately the movie companies are holding them back. I say this because of the geographical blocks that are in place. Why should Netflix's catelogue of programs be different in the UK to the US or any other country. Until the industry wakes up and stops this type of madness, they only have themselves to blame.
There is also evidence to suggest that filesharing drives sales and hence profits, due to a 'buzz' that gets created. This is supported by the creators and director of Game of Thrones : HERE
There is NO evidence that blocking sites or 3/6 stricks policies work, so that tactic is pointless. One of Australia's biggest ISPs has recently gone on record as saying so : HERE, as well as making a point in regards to 'foreign interests' dictating government policies.
“Why would the Australian government let a foreign company dictate which websites our citizens can access? Are our legislators captured by foreign interests? Should we allow American commercial interest to dictate Australian national policy?”
UK Government policies are already dictated by our corporate counterparts in the way of 'lobbying'. US made policies are also creeping in to the UK. Is this the way we are going?
All this therefore supports my arguement of better online streaming services without geographical blocks (Hulu, Netflix, Amazons...).
Build it and they will come.
profile.country.GB.title
Hi Quinnicus,
Yes I do fully support your comments and I have tried to observe the forum rules but I should make it perfectly clear to anyone else reading this post that it is not my intention to endorse or promote such activities, I am merely interested in knowing other peoples opinions on the matter.
I guess only time will tell how the moderators feel about this post but hopefully they will see it for what it is, a healthy debate about an age old problem which effects us all.
Truth be known I think we are all guilty of breaking the rules to a certain degree and most of the time we don't even realise we're doing anything wrong. I wonder how many people who read this post have ripped a CD into iTunes or some other media playback device? Technically that's against the rules because you're are making a copy. The same goes for ripping movies to a media player. Sure it's more convenient for some but again it's not technically legal.
Manufacturers even seem to encourage us to do it and the demand for streaming media devices is an ever growing market. Clearly the film industry needs to catch-up and move with the times.
Yes it was a huge pity Blockbuster folded, I was quite friendly with the staff at my local branch, mind you I was probably their best customer!
Like you say they could have invented the industry had they realised the potential of online streaming.
Call me old fashioned but I still like to own the DVD myself, don't get me wrong.., I'm not opposed to online streaming but I find being able to reach into my shelf and pulling out some random DVD far more convenient.
The Game of Thrones article makes for a very interesting read. It's great to read the story where a more tolerant approach can be taken. I don't doubt that it has boosted the ratings for the show, the more exposure something gets the more demand it will create. That's something I omitted from my previous post. Some of the films I've watched I would not have otherwise seen and as a direct consequence I went out and bought the DVD. It's a fair asumption to make therefore that I have increased the profits of the film makers.
The other article link you posted is also very interesting and it does make some fair points. I've been giving this quite a lot of thought since my earlier post and I think there is a workable solution to piracy already with us. Take for instance BBC iPlayer. It's not something I watch often but the few times that I have you're usually given so long to watch the show before it expires.
Could the film industry adopt a similar approach? Why not launch all movies online and give the user a set time to watch it? If the user enjoys the film he will then go out and either buy the physical disc or chose to watch it again at some point through an online streaming host. Surely that would help cut down on the demand for pirated films if not eradicate the problem completely?!
If I could legally preview an entire movie before I decide to buy it I would jump at the chance and my movie purchases would be more frequent as a result. Often I don't hire films simply because of user ratings but previewing it for free would stop that from happening.
It would be nice if someone else joined this debate, who knows, maybe we can solve an age old problem here in this community?
profile.country.GB.title
Hi chap,
Thanks for the heads-up on the up coming law changes, the pdf makes for an interesting read.
So it would seem that we can now legally take extracts from literary materials or other websites for the purpose of news reporting, blogging etc..? That's useful to know! It's always handy to copy & paste the odd line or two when trying to discuss an issue.
As for your question about downloading a copy of something you already own...?
Well it's a little grey but I would imagine that as the file is being shared 'illegally' it would follow that it would be illegal to download it.
I find this bit interesting:
What if a DVD or other media is protected by copy protection technology?
Media such as DVDs are often protected by anti-copying technology to
guard against copyright piracy, and this is protected by law. Copyright
owners will still be able to apply this protection. However, if copy
protection is too restrictive, you may raise a complaint with the Secretary
of State.
Is this an indication that copyright owners might somehow change the current copy protection to make it easier? If so won't that open-up a whole new can of worms? I'm puzzled as to how that might work!
Good read, thanks for that!
Your right - the way torrents work, you upload data as well as download it. As you have no control on who you are uploading to and therefore cannot verify that the person already owns the media in question, therefore is still against the law. If I thought about it, I could have worked that out. Thanks for that !
The copyright protection - the way I read it is, If DRM protection prevents you from making your own backup or format shift for you own purposes (as its too restrictive), then you can make a complaint. I dont think this is the case at this moment. Even Cinavia has been broken now.
profile.country.GB.title
That's true but then surely using some third party software to crack the protection would also violate copyright rules. Hence my question as to whether copyright owners will somehow modify the protection strategies used.
If legally owned discs cannot be format shifted easily (I love that saying) and without the use of cracking software then surely the complaints will start to roll in?!
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