Slashdot Log In
Peerflix Launches P2P DVD Sharing Service
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Tue Sep 20, 2005 07:29 PM
from the more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat dept.
from the more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat dept.
Dotnaught writes "Peerflix has offically launched, ending a 12 month beta test. The company manages the peer-to-peer trading of physical DVDs (with CDs and videogames coming soon) by mail. As the article in InformationWeek suggests, while such trades may be legal under the first-sale doctrine of U.S. Copyright Act, content owners won't be pleased -- discs are easy to copy and there's ample precedent to suggest users will dupe discs before trading them."
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Full
Abbreviated
Hidden
Loading... please wait.
as opposed to the NetFlix project? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:as opposed to the NetFlix project? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Why use this instead of Netflix? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Why use this instead of Netflix? (Score:4, Insightful)
Different strokes for different folks.
Assume that you get 3 movies out each week from Netflix for $17.99. That's $215.88/year, and with 52.18 weeks in the year, that's 156.54 movies a year, for the cost of $1.38/movie.
Peerflix costs about the same ($.99 + $.37 = $1.36/movie).
So what is better? If I wanted to rent movies, I'd use Netflix. If I wanted to own movies by trading out movies I don't like in my collection, I'd use Peerflix.
Disclaimer: Happy Netflix customer. ;) I prefer to rent, not own.
Parent
Re:as opposed to the NetFlix project? (Score:4, Insightful)
This is more offensive because it encourages you to use your rights under the first-sale doctrine.
It also pisses them off because no money flows to them. Netflix and every video store also annoys them, but its (mostly) too late to stop that, at least in the short term.
They won't be happy until they get a fee everytime a person views their movie.
Greedy bastards, aren't they?
Parent
Asks about piracy (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Asks about piracy (Score:5, Insightful)
I believe the submitter is suggesting that the end user would make a copy, keep the copy, then send on the original, not the copy...
Parent
Re:Asks about piracy (Score:5, Funny)
I usually see a little box drawn on the disc with a sharpie. Next to the box, the word "copied" is written. If there is a check in the little box, well, you know it's been pirated.
Parent
Re:Asks about piracy (Score:5, Insightful)
But the submitter probably was suggesting the usual rent-burn-return piracy. It's just not the only form out there is all.
Parent
Re:Asks about piracy (Score:5, Funny)
Scratch marks. The pirate will leave scratch marks when they put the disk in its packaging 'cos they have a hook hand.
Plus, the notes on the back of the box differ in telltale ways from the usual fare, for example they might say stuff like "Ahar me mateys, this be a fine film, 'two hooks up' raves the critics! The whole crew will rejoice at this swashbuckler of a picture, plus an extra DVD with a treasure chest of bonus scenes! Rated ARRRRRR!"
Parent
Fighting The Waves (Score:5, Insightful)
And even then... would companied like Paramount have to sue themselves for owning something like Blockbuster?
Lying, cheating bastards (Score:5, Insightful)
Reference:
- the "do not pirate" commericals in a theatre, after you've paid to see the movie
- The FBI warning at the beginning of every DVD that you can't fast-forward through
- Unskippable advertisements on DVDs, especially rentals
Parent
Yeah, right (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe thet's it, people will realize what turkys they are when Peerflix gets flooded with those loosers.
This is GREAT! (Score:4, Interesting)
I like the whole idea. In fact, my friends and I have been doing this for years now. We never buy the same game (unless it's needed to play networked games) and just pass it around between each other when we're finished. Always have new games to play and typically at about 1/4 the cost.
Now it has happened and will continue to happen that we all like the game so much that we end up buying our individual copies of the game anyway. I really like this idea though!
Why'd this take so long? (Score:4, Insightful)
I used to do this with my friends in college - I bought Eye of the Beholder, he bought Ultima Underworld. When we finished them, we'd trade boxes.
Ripping traded discs (Score:4, Insightful)
What is this easy DVD copying method that they (Score:4, Insightful)
It would be nice if these media retards understood that the reasons why MP3s took off in the late 1990s was that hard drive capacities increased dramatically in a short period of time relative to the capacity of CD-ROMs, because CD-RW drives became real cheap all of a sudden and because the people who liked making mix tapes really liked a format that was a lot easier to deal with that allowed you to make mix CDs with hundreds of songs just by pointing and clicking. None of these things apply with DVDs, the biggest hard drive you can get today will only hold 100 uncompressed DVD images (I'm assuming that we don't want further compression because it degrades the image which looks like shit on a big screen TV), people don't make video mix tapes (although it would be kind of interesting) and also because it's still a pain in the ass to strip CSS off of DVDs. Jesus Christ, could these lazy media bastards just put down the grape-flavored MPAA piracy Kool-Aid for once?
DVDShrink (Score:4, Informative)
Uh, check out DVDShrink [dvdshrink.org]. Not only will it strip CSS, it will automatically calculate the necessary compression ratio to transfer that dual-layer disc onto a single-layer disc. If you want to preserve quality, you can cut out special features, or just rip the main track and remove all menus, previews, etc.
Sure, it might not be quite as nice as the original, but about 30% of the DVDs I've backed up were single-layer anyways, and I enjoy being able to easily rip out the stupid mandatory preview tracks.
This program and many others like it make DVD copying a breeze; some of the advanced functionality might scare people off, but for the most part it's point and click.
So while I think the MPAA has a lot of things wrong--like bascially their entire distribution model as well as their take on piracy, in the U.S. if not globally--they are correct in believing that DVDs are easily copied.
Parent
Amazing, Isn't It? (Score:5, Interesting)
The "average user" can't (according to the Windows shills) figure out how to run Linux - but they can figure out how to duplicate a DVD and then share it over a P2P network (according to said "average users" writing for the RIAA and MPAA).
What's wrong with this picture?
they already have this service for free (Score:5, Interesting)
check one out some time.
The Situation in a Nutshell (Score:4, Interesting)
The fact that digitization is making it easier and easier to distribute this media after the showing in theatres is completely beyond the moral scope of these companies.
They quite simply found a lot of free cash in the 80s with cable TV distribution and VHS rentals. That free cash was never theirs by right in the first place, and they offered a viable distribution service back then...those times are over, and the right to reap all those free profits is being taken back by the real bosses in a free market, the customer.
Eat shit and die MPAA/RIAA
My own Peerflix experience... (Score:5, Informative)
I've only had 1 problem so far. I got a copy of Night of the Living Dead that was scrathed to hell. When it arrived, it played, so I confirmed it. Of course, when I played it, I found that a couple minutes would not play. But because I had let a week or so pass between receipt and claim, I was out of luck. I wrote about 5 emails to their CS about this, and got 1 response, which really had nothing to do with my complaint. But otherwise nearly all the movies I've gotten are in very good condition.
The bad part is that a lot of movies are technically "available", but might only be in the hands of 1 or 2 other users, neither of which actually intends to share their copy, but has it listed for one reason or another. So it sometimes takes a few weeks (or more) to get some movies. Also, maybe half the movies I listed have been requested by others. But then again, I didn't expect the demand to be extremely high for that copy of The Mask someone gave me. Generally, good movies get requested fairly quickly.
If you have a specific movie in mind that you want right away, Peerflix isn't the best solution. But if you have a list of 20 or so movies you would like to get eventually, it's a nice service.
My only other complaint would be that when your "Peerbux" goes to zero, it automatically charges another $5 worth to you, rather than waiting until you actually want to buy something. This is obviously a nice way for the company to get a few bucks extra from everyone in the end, but it strikes me as shadey.
As far a Piracy goes, well, it's really no different than renting movies or using Netflix, so I think it's a non-issue as it pertains to Peerflix specifically.
Re:My own Peerflix experience... (Score:5, Interesting)
You're in luck! This movie is in the Public Domain due to a forgotten copyright renewal back in The Good Old Days when they were still required.
Download and burn a copy. It's legal. Check around.
http://www.archive.org/details/night_of_the_livin
Parent
First Sale (Score:4, Interesting)
That's just because it isn't software. On more than one occasion I have been told by software companies that selling your used copy was illegal, even if the sale included all packing material and an affidavit that you wiped your harddrive of the product. They argue that the First Sale Doctrine does not apply to them because the software was never sold, only licensed. They have shut down eBay sales of software and sent cease and desist notices to yard sales.
All the DVD manufacturers need to do to stop Peerflix, is to slap a license on every DVD. It won't be legal, but that hasn't stopped the software industry or its lapdogs in the judiciary.
Re:bah... we already have a trading medium (Score:5, Informative)
Uh, you get the sale price less the Amazon seller fee and a $1 service charge. It's not based off the original purchase price, as resold DVDs typically don't sell for anywhere near original cost to you. And who gets the extra amount Amazon reimburses for shipping (which is treated separately from its fees)?
Whomever is behind replaylink.com is basically printing out the mailer and charging you for that nicety. Why not sell it yourself and not pay the fee? It's pretty easy to list items for sale on Amazon, with no need to share information with another third-party.
It also seems a bit shady vis-a-vis Amazon's resale policy, what with a seller listing items for trade that aren't in its direct possession ... neat idea, but it basically introduces a second middle-man (in addition to Amazon) to the transaction between true buyer and true seller.
Parent