Movie Industry to sue File Sharers 572
Wack Valenti writes "SiliconValley.com reports that the motion picture industry, taking a cue from the RIAA, is planning to file copyright infringement lawsuits against file sharers it says are illegally distributing movies online. The first suits could be filed as early as tomorrow."
Starting tomorrow morning? (Score:2, Funny)
Not so long ago, the EFF suggested just this. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Not so long ago, the EFF suggested just this. (Score:5, Insightful)
What bugs me about the EFF statement is that they've backed away from it. I thought it was right all along to sue the individuals responsible for copyright infringement, and I still do (although I'm crass enough to make disparaging comments about the RIAA/MPAA as they sue). I currently use Kazaa to share out a handful of audio sermons from my church's pastor -- content that we own the copyrights to and are fully, legally allowed to distribute however we wish. So I have a vested interest in Kazaa and BitTorrent remaining legal. They have a legitimate use: they diminish the load on our Web server (and by extension, the cost) by distributing the load.
As the Web sites I volunteer for begin experiementing with video and other large chunks of data, it is imperative that technology assist us in moving forward. If we artifically limit the technology, then we will be unable to offer up content, even though we own the copyright on it, and wish to provide it for free!
Of course, suing thousands of naive kids and tech-illiterate grannies isn't really going to stop an onslaught of millions of infringers, and does have a chilling effect on legitimate uses such as mine, and does play right into the old line about making all citizens into criminals to keep them under control. So even though it's the right way to do it, I'm not sure what good it does.
Re:Not so long ago, the EFF suggested just this. (Score:5, Funny)
You're tricking a bit the kazaa credit system, eeh? Cool way of having a gig of mp3 available that you know nobody is gonna download.
Now that we have proven... (Score:5, Insightful)
As far as I am concerned, at this point we should all be doing our best to hasten the decline.
Everybod jump on the pendlum and push. It's gotta swing trough it's arc before there will be any relief. The United States of America has to legislate and litigate itself into its role as a backwater far off the information super-highway, before anything here can get fixed.
The sooner the rest of the world leaves us in the economic and Intellectual Property [sic] dust, the better.
In fact, if the corporations can make enough of a mess SOON ENOUGH, it could even prevent the stupid legislation.
Sue Away, MPAA! (hey it rymes, it should be their new slogan! 8-)
As environmental pressure increases, the organisim is forced to evolve.
So it will be _best_ for the world if we can all get the pressure up as fast as possible.
Plus we know how much credibility the US now has overseas. The more they win here, the freer the rest of the world will be. They *know* (hopefully) that if they follow our lead, then they will enevitably end up with a Bush of their own.
Re:Now that we have proven... (Score:5, Insightful)
The MPAA has the financial resources and the political might to possibly "tie" that pendulum down as soon as it swings far enough their way. If you help swing it, are you so certain that they won't nail it in place at the edge of its arc?
Re:Now that we have proven... (Score:3, Insightful)
Politics and Business Pendlum analogy works (Score:5, Insightful)
When you repress your own businesses, the market goes elsewhere. That is the free market theory at least. To date the swing of the pendlum often leaves countries totally devistated in its wake if it goes to far, but the regions recover even if the political systems don't.
I beleive that the current economic trends are tanamount to disaster and if the "ugly" can come on fast enough to be noticed by the populace they may act to fixe it.
We are boiling frogs here (to mix a metaphore). If the "Broadcast flag" (for instance) were to "suddenly go live tomorrow" it would be gone in a year. If we let it ease in slowly we may be stuck with it for decades.
As it is now, the "rising rate-rate of litigation" (yes, rate twice) is enough that our economic partners around the world are starting to notice and scatter. But consider that this change of rate has been exhibited almost solely in my lifetime (or more correctly in Ralph Nader's professional lifetime). It has not yet become ensconsed in our "perminant" way of life, it hasn't outlived a generation cradle-to-grave. It isn't "tradition", so it is possible to escape it *IF* we can get the public to see the precipice.
I don't really "wish" for the colapse as some kind of nielist orgastic ideal. I have just become convinced that it is essentially enevitable.
(To continue to mix metaphores) we *really* need to pull the band-aid(tm) off quick, or we are going to lose a _heck_ of a lot of hair... 8-)
But even if the entire United States colapses economically (which would be hard to do given that we grow lots of food) business and creativity will simply rise somewhere else.
It's not a pretty pendulum. It's not a "local" pendulum. But the cycle persists.
Wehn it gets totally out of wack, we (editorial we not royal or possessive we) throw a war...
Oh wait...
How many wars does any given "we" get before the world calls a time-out? 8-)
Re:Politics and Business Pendlum analogy works (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Now that we have proven... (Score:5, Insightful)
"As far as I am concerned, at this point we should all be doing our best to hasten the decline. Everybod jump on the pendlum and push. It's gotta swing trough it's arc before there will be any relief. The United States of America has to legislate and litigate itself into its role as a backwater far off the information super-highway, before anything here can get fixed."
Amen to that brother! I was rooting for Shrub to win the election for that very reason! He is pretty much despised (and rightly so) down here in Australia, and you'd better believe that the people I told that to reacted with shock and disbelief.
The sooner the U.S. destroys itself, the sooner the rest of us can carry on our lives without being subjected to every base pop media fad to emerge from the rancid American slum-culture de jour.
Just why a middle class Australian would want to emulate the lifestyle of a crack addicted black urban slum dweller eludes me.
Re:Now that we have proven... (Score:3, Insightful)
Just why a middle class Australian would want to emulate the lifestyle of a crack addicted black urban slum dweller eludes me.
Actually they don't. That was the whole point of the election. More people think that morals are more important than Bush's unnecessary wars or the massive deficit. Those same people probably have kids who are as red voting as them.
While I do see that morals are important, I don't think they are as important as the other topics. Besides, to me, moral issues are personal, not
Re:Now that we have proven... (Score:3, Insightful)
You don't have the right to the latest movies. If you think they're not worth paying for or waiting for them to come out on video, then dont watch them. Three minute songs that are half samples anyways are one thing, but hours and hours of film and TV? Be honest people.
Re:Now that we have proven... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Now that we have proven... (Score:3, Insightful)
TV/movies/books/music/wahtever. If you can justify pirating one of them, you can justify pirating any of them. They're all morally equal in my book.
Oh, I almost forgot games, PC, xbox, etc. They're good too. ITs all just a risk/reward calculation. What are the chances of getting cought, and identified through my isp, and prosecuted, and convicted? (not very high, and even less here in Canada). As long as
Re:Now that we have proven... (Score:5, Insightful)
You know what? You're absolutly right. Of course we dont deserve the right to other people labor. But people dont deserve most of what they get in life. Be it good or bad, lifes not fair that way. But that doesnt mean that its wrong to take advantage of the situation and get ahead while you can. If ive got a means to gain somthing, be it knowledge, entertainment, or anythign else, if it doesnt take away from or harm someone esle, im going to go for it. Nerds in their rooms using bit torrent will NOT bring the industry to its knees. It will just anger them, make them more strict and less likely to listen to reason.
On that point I'd like to point somthign out. Nerds sitting in their rooms have made a difference. Ever heard of iTunes, movielink, or netflicks? It would be impossible to download movies or music online legally if people hadn't pirated them first. We'd still be stuck having to go to the store and purchase or rent hard copies of evreything if hollywood and the music industry hadn't had their hands forced.
And participate in our government. people who disagree with the system should become consumer rights advocates. raise money, hire lobbyists, support candidates, make tv commercials. co-opt the current political parties. work the system
I never suggested not working the system. But working the system doesnt mean you cant also work outside of the system. Not all people can afford to put out TV commercials for propaganda, hire lobbyists, or switch careers. That doesnt mean they should be unable to play a part. Part of the process in changing society is doing what you feel is right, and then working to make it legal. Unjust laws should not be followed, they should be broken, and shown to be the mistakes that they are.
Anyways, im tired and im going to bed. I doubt that I will be able to bring you over to my way of thinking (and tahts not really the goal anywyas), or you me. If anyone continues this line of discussion further, I'll take a look and comment on it tommorow.
Movie-goers Sue Movie Industry (Score:4, Funny)
Stargate Atlantis (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Stargate Atlantis (Score:4, Interesting)
I wish they'd find a way to solve their problems without being outwardly hostile to the Internet, computer users, and/or their customers.
Solving Problems... (Score:3, Insightful)
Honestly, look at the alternatives they have:
Put heavy copy protection on DVD's or TV broadcasts.
Overturn Betamax - make all recording illegal.
Shut down the programs which allow filesharing.
Lower prices to point of where it is not worth stealing.
Sue downloaders / sharers.
The only one that seems to be non-
Re:Stargate Atlantis (Score:3, Insightful)
Just exactly what is their beef with that? Should I have waited will the DVDs come out before I saw that episode?
Man these people are just evil. I just want to watch your tv show for god's sake why do you have to make it do difficult for me. Don't you want me to watch the damned show?
Re:Stargate Atlantis (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually no, they don't. They want you to watch their damned commercials.
Re:Stargate Atlantis (Score:3, Insightful)
Solution to the problem (Score:3, Insightful)
Couples got to the movies more often than individuals.
In part that is so they can stop having to talk to each other for a while without risking offence.
conspiracy theorists rejoice (Score:5, Interesting)
seriously though, it is kinda interesting that after a couple years of wait and see, they've suddenly decided to file these suits after bush (friend of corporations, etc) is firmly back in power
mod me down as flame-bait if you want, I just find it an interesting point, not conspiracy but it makes sense; they waited until they knew the party that would support them was going to be in power for a while before they moved.
Re:conspiracy theorists rejoice (Score:5, Informative)
The Ninth Circuit is considered the most liberal in the country, and yet it has been very friendly to the members of the RIAA and MPAA.
Poor government knows no party.
Re:conspiracy theorists rejoice (Score:5, Insightful)
That said, I think there is a strong point to be made about companies being hesitant or cautious around election times.
Re:conspiracy theorists rejoice (Score:5, Interesting)
Hollywood was solidly backing Kerry, maybe this is their temper tantrum because "their guy" didn't win.
LK
Re:conspiracy theorists rejoice (Score:5, Insightful)
Sheesh
Re:conspiracy theorists rejoice (Score:3, Insightful)
Except for laws supporting trial lawyers; those litigious bastards are all Democrats :-)
Re:conspiracy theorists rejoice (Score:3, Insightful)
Companies like Disney, which own Miramax, also broadcast Michael Savage on the radio waves.
Re:conspiracy theorists rejoice (Score:5, Informative)
Unless you have been living on Mars for the last eight months, you might have noticed that George Bush [opensecrets.org] is not the darling of the entertainment industry. If you look at the top contributers [opensecrets.org] not one of them are from the entertainment industry. One cannot say the same for John Kerry [opensecrets.org]. The top contributors [opensecrets.org] include Time Warner and Viacom. If you look at the RNC [opensecrets.org] ($2.8M) and the DNC [opensecrets.org] ($5.7M) who do you think is more beholden to the entertainment industry?
I think it is obvious that the actions of the entertainment industry is independent of the occupant of the White House. The Democrats are as friendly to corporations as the Republicans. If you believe otherwise, then you have tasted to much of the Kool-Aid. I hope you voted Nader, because both the Democrats and the Republicans are not for you.
Re:conspiracy theorists rejoice (Score:4, Informative)
The Democrats created the DMCA.
It's traditional to cite such things. It often makes for a stronger argument, assuming the facts support it.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (Public Law 105-304) was sponsored in the House by a Howard Coble [loc.gov], a republican (NC-6th). In the senate, it was sponsored by Orrin Hatch, also a Republican (UT).
The Democrats extended copyrights.
The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (Public Law 105-298) was also sponsored by Orrin Hatch [loc.gov]. It was named for a Republican congressman. In the House, it was sponsored by, (get this!) Howard Coble of North Carolina.
Yeah yeah, some Democrats are listed as cosponsors. And both bills did garner the votes of both Republicans and Democrats. Details, details.
Re:conspiracy theorists rejoice (Score:3, Informative)
Please (Score:5, Funny)
What ?! (Score:4, Funny)
May I plug i2hub.... (Score:4, Interesting)
I have fully moved to private networks like this, and my University's DC++ hub. I was shocked when i saw all these people at school using public networks like Kazaa (corrupted now) and Ares and BT.
Re:May I plug i2hub.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:May I plug i2hub.... (Score:4, Interesting)
Sure, the i2hub users are probably not using the Internet2 for research or education, but it's not like the users are circumventing any systems to use the Internet2 - university networks are just routed that way. If you're really concerned about i2hub users wasting your valuable tax dollars, perhaps you should contact the appropriate people and convince them to implement systems to route P2P traffic over the regular Internet.
Besides, it might actually be CHEAPER for all this data to go over the Internet2...
Funny thing is.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Funny thing is.. (Score:4, Insightful)
It's not legal in any case (Score:5, Insightful)
To be honest, I'd rather see a return to the days of 5 dollar tickets and extra extra buttered popcorn and a Coke for a couple bucks more than see the movie industry devolve into this legal sewer. With DVD sales doing well, it becomes more and more reasonable to watch a movie in your house. With the proliferation of file-shared movies online, the quality of playback becomes less an issue as viewers get attuned to the lower bitrates.
Personally, I'd rather go see the films in a theater and don't mind paying a couple bucks to do so. Lately, it's been getting outrageously expensive, well passed the point where one could argue that it was merely inflation. I'm not saying that file sharing would be curbed by cheaper theater tickets, god knows the addictive powers of the free movie drug. But I do think that they could really recreate the concept of the "blockbuster" with a little less take at the box office.
In short, file sharing copyrighted works is illegal. The movie industry probably shouldn't do this, but are well within their rights to litigate. I'd like to watch movies at the theater but not pay so much.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
USENET (Score:5, Interesting)
I always wondered why USENET is not targetted.
Re:USENET (not centralized) (Score:5, Insightful)
It is peer-to-peer and egalatarian as hell, but everybody (with linux anyway) already has the software and you have to search it *by* *hand*. It is SUPER EASY to forge a message, especially if the forger is an admin of a host system.... *any* host system in the net.
Nobody really has the power to unilaterally remove any of the content in particular, and even the venerable "cancel message" can be blocked. As long as any USENET backbone exists almost any message can "pibby-back" through the "blocked" parts of the net as a crosspost.
It is just too soft a target to really take any action against. Don't beleive me, just look at what is flowing there. The borderline kiddy-porn that is in the alt.binaries.(whatever) group is unstopable.
Besides, there are enough stupid people involved that you can't keep titty-pictures out of alt.sex.pictures.erotica.gay.male. What a dumb waste of time to try to *send* those pictures in that forum. What a DUMB waste of time trying to STOP those pictures from being sent in that forum.
What an _incridible_ waste of time trying to filter, find, and catch every single USENET server site in an attempt to really trace the sources of movie fragments....
If *you* had to "go after" USENET where would *YOU* start?
P.S. Remember: Drugs, Terrorisim, and Kiddy Porn are the root passwords to the US Constitution.
For those of us with DVD burners it's REALLY simpl (Score:5, Informative)
Play it with VideoLan client
Open up dvd smartripper
Rip the DVD
Run the ripped files through DVD2One
Burn to a DVD
Wont... (Score:5, Interesting)
mount
ROFL.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Seriously though, vobcopy -l -o
Thats what big drives are for (I really only hoard a few movies at any given time..)!
Who the hell cares (Score:3, Insightful)
The fact is, the stuff that comes out of the "Entertainment Industry" is 99% A-Grade crapola, and the sooner people come to realise that fact the sooner we will cease to care what these dinosaurs do to their ever-shrinking customer base.
Get over it guys. Who cares what these numbnuts do? Go read a book and stop lining the pockets of these cretinous music and movie execs for a change.
They're simply not worth all the angst.
Re:Who the hell cares (Score:3, Interesting)
Then why are people breaking the law by downloading the stuff?
Double Standard (Score:4, Insightful)
Yawn... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Yawn... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Yawn... (Score:4, Funny)
Oh, I almost forgot. My local IP address is 192.168.0.100...
Re:Yawn... (Score:4, Funny)
YOU MOTHER FUCKER, THAT'S MY IP ADDRESS!
You're trying to frame me!
Re:Yawn... (Score:5, Funny)
Dear Mr. England,
Thank you for providing us with your machine information. We have fixed the situation to better serve your secure viewing needs:
Your computer is now safe from non-compliance. Thank you for your cooperation.Sincerely,
Mortimer Snerd
MPAA Compliance Officer
Wooooohooooo (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Wooooohooooo (Score:5, Informative)
Takes one to know one... (Score:5, Interesting)
So now the RIAA are going to go after people for violating copyright law and screwing them out of their profit. *Sigh* Not that it's the same people in charge now... but still. Anyone want to vote hypocritical bastards?
Re:Takes one to know one... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Takes one to know one... (Score:3, Informative)
The GPL is a license that describes your rights to use and copy the material it is on.
A copyright also is a license that describes your rights to use and copy the material it is on.
If we want others to respect the GPL, then we must also respect their copyrights...even if we don't agree with them. The laws that we use to argue that the GPL is valid are the very same laws that make copyright valid. If copyright is
Cease and Desist! (Score:5, Interesting)
I
So... is this the end of offering open access to your neighborhood? I have no interest in monitoring traffic over my network, but it looks like the buck stops at the little guy (as usual).
Re:Cease and Desist! (Score:3, Interesting)
What exactly is the objection? (Score:5, Interesting)
Just a thought for consideration.
Perhaps the RIAA's actions are objectionable not because they are protecting Intellectual Property rights, but because they are using illegal search techniques and shotgun accusation techniques in a clumbsy attempt to do so.
I for one would have no objection to the MPAA suing people whom they have determined are offering copyrighted material for download based upon public web pages or other public directories. And where they have actually downloaded enough of the file to verify that it is indeed the copyrighted material and not just a matching file name.
Re:What exactly is the objection? (Score:3, Insightful)
Tax avoidance is illegal and it isn't wrong for the government to enforce those laws, but I think we can all agree that it is wrong for the government to sieze all assets of somebody who missed declaring a couple of thousand dollars of income. The philosophy behind these lawsuits is: m
Freeway Blogging on Movie Theaters? (Score:5, Interesting)
More on Freeway Blogging. [freewayblogger.com]
For those of you just joining ... (Score:4, Insightful)
Coincidence? I think not! (Score:5, Interesting)
10719431 [slashdot.org]
10719438 [slashdot.org]
10719453 [slashdot.org]
10719470 [slashdot.org]
10719614 [slashdot.org]
10719618 [slashdot.org]
10719643 [slashdot.org]
Re:Coincidence? I think not! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Coincidence? I think not! (Score:4, Informative)
I think I've heard one or two complaints from the porn industry, but over all I think you are completely correct.
And I think I know why.
Royalties. There are none.
Very few, if any, porn contracts include royalties for anyone - performers, cameramen, "director," etc. They all get paid as a work for hire. The publisher then makes a run of DVDs and sells most, if not all, in one big transaction to a distributor who parcels them out to the buying public through various parallel channels.
By the time the end product has made it into a large enough number of hands so as to inevitably end up shared on the net, everybody has already been paid.
I think that bears repeating - by the time any widespreading "pirating" can get into gear, everybody involved has been compensated for their work, so they really don't care.
I think that if the music and mainstream movie industries could come up with a similar business model, the entire problem of "piracy" would disappear overnight, essentialy redefined out of existence.
Remember when the MPAA were the good guys? (Score:5, Insightful)
At the time, I called BS, and said that the only reason that the MPAA wasn't suing yet was because video piracy wouldn't take off until Internet connections got a bit faster - given that video files are much bigger than audio files.
Well, guess what, that was exactly the case. I assure you, if FTTH becomes a reality, this will become an even bigger problem. Please, let's stop fooling ourselves that pirates are making a pseudo-moral decision that pirating from certain evil companies is ok, but pirating other products is not ok because those products are actually worth the money.
People pirate what is easy to pirate. That's how I pirate! Audio and video cassettes made pirating copyrighted materials easier, but not particularly easy, because it takes too long to copy and distribute copyrighted materials that way.
Computers and the Internet made this type of piracy an order of magnitude easier. Each time we get faster connections to the Internet and bigger hard drives, it gets easier still.
Stop pretending that the companies can offer you something to stop you from pirating their products. Or next, will you be saying that, actually, while the director's commentaries and alternate endings are great, DVDs are too expensive at $20 and need to come down to $10, otherwise you'll pirate them?
And then, what will stop you from demanding $5?
Listen, either you're ok with pirating copyrighted works, or you're not. But stop pretending that you're only ok with it because the system is rotten. Because there is no evidence that if the threat of lawsuits were lifted and prices dropped, anything would change.
And, also, please stop pretending that it's because the RIAA and MPAA are fighting the Internet or computers or modern technology. Last time I checked, Outkast just went platinum from online mp3 sales. iTunes sells millions of songs per year, online. The RIAA and MPAA have no problem with modern technology. But they need to make sure it works in such a way that it doesn't enable unrestricted piracy.
Re:Remember when the MPAA were the good guys? (Score:4, Interesting)
I cannot, in good faith, give money to their organizations, and I feel absolutely no shame in stealing from them, given how they're nothing but a bunch of management swine who price fix and steal from those that work for them.
I think a company that's largely honest breeds honest customers. I, for instance, would never pay for a piece of Microsoft software on purpose. In good faith, I could not do so, because their new licensing schemes, etc... make me feel sick, and I do not want to show my support for such things. You might tell me not to use MS products then, but the reality of the situation is that in many cases, you *need* Office to get by. OpenOffice might be decent, but at least on OS X, it's ugly as sin and I'm not convinced that it's fully interoperable with MS Office.
On the other hand, I feel compelled to pay for my Apple software, because I believe that it's reasonably cheap and that Apple cares about their customer base. I feel the same way about the independent artists I listen to, and usually buy their CDs. I'm all for supporting the little guy and very much want to do so; I just feel no qualms stealing from a filthy rich megacorporation who doesn't care about me in the slightest.
Re:Remember when the MPAA were the good guys? (Score:3, Insightful)
> because the RIAA and MPAA are fighting the
> Internet or computers or modern technology.
> Last time I checked, Outkast just went
> platinum from online mp3 sales. iTunes sells
> millions of songs per year, online. The RIAA
> and MPAA have no problem with modern
> technology. But they need to make sure it
> works in such a way that it doesn't enable
> unrestricted piracy.
The RIAA and MPAA aren't opposing modern technology. They're opposi
Re:E-Books DOA. (Score:3, Insightful)
In fact, book piracy does occur rather rampantly for the "popular" stuff. It's by no means a fast process, as you've well d
Talk's Cheap (Score:3, Insightful)
So far, my quality of life is no different than before. Maybe slightly improved by the additional money in my pocket. I spend some of it to see live music. I buy wine and books with the rest.
It's gotten to the point where the best thing to do is to shoot your TV and spend more time taking the dog for a walk. And don't buy another CD or DVD until they end the shakedown. 86 the bastards. It's a luxury, not a necessity.
Re:Talk's Cheap (Score:3, Insightful)
It's that apathy that the MPAA and RIAA are (correctly) banking on to enable them to survive.
Nonstory. Cheeks have already been spread. (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems that this is clearly the kind of thing Americans want. If the capacity for outrage doesn't exist for prisoners of war abused in Iraq, if it doesn't exist for voting machine manufacturers pledging money and support for only one party, if it doesn't exist for the zero accountability expected of the Enron, Worldcom, and Haliburton criminals... why should any American give a second thought to the people who will be fscked by the MPAA?
As has been said by people more eloquent than I, it's too late [austinchronicle.com] anyway.
Spot the Astroturfer (Score:3, Insightful)
Tired of the boring ol' "Spot the Fed" game at Defcon? In this article, we can play "Spot the Astroturfer"! No t-shirts, just pride, but then again you don't have to try to expense a Vegas trip to an increasingly suspicious finance dept. So I think it works out even.
Pay special attention to phrases repeated by supposedly different posters (even though that's also a staple of genuine Slashdotters), and ACs replying to themselves with "I agree!".
Get spotting, and post your Astroturfer-spotting tips here!
What do I get? (Score:5, Interesting)
MPAA has a stronger case than RIAA (Score:4, Interesting)
Now, paying $16.99 or more for a CD with 10-12 songs, 9 of which I couldn't care less about, that's another story. While I haven't and won't share, I can certainly understand the argument.
So I don't really have a problem with MPAA doing this, as long as the prices stay where they are as a result.
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:what has the world come to (Score:5, Funny)
Um, I think the point is that they are NOT paying customers...
Re:what has the world come to (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:what has the world come to (Score:5, Interesting)
Fill me in here in case I missed something, but how are the movie theaters stealing money from anyone? I mean, at least you can claim (however implausibly) that stealing music is okay because the companies make rediculous margins and rip off the artists. That doesn't even remotely apply to movie studios though, it's not like actors are underpaid (in fact, I understand they have a very strong union), and the amount they charge customers is far less relatively speaking. I mean, paying a few bucks to see a $200million movie isn't a bad deal.
So to reiterate my question, how are the movie companies stealing your money?
Re:what has the world come to (Score:4, Insightful)
Nobody takes away the God-given right of a Slashdotter to share music and movies, not to mention watch movies for free. And anybody who makes money out of anything that has anything to do with the movie or music industry is evil, and it is the right of a Slashdotter to rip them off and distribute the spoils among the poor downtrodden geeks of the Slash-wood forest.
On the other hand, when EFF suggests the same thing [com.com], these same people stay quiet and not say a word.
Bloody pirate hypocrites. ARRRRRRRR! x-(
Re:what has the world come to (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, if you're going and paying that, you must think it's worth it. If you're not going, well, then you clearly haven't been robbed of anything at all. Besides, $13NZ for movies which can cost tens of millions of times that to produce is hardly unreasonable. Nor is $40NZ for a DVD, and the simple fact it is illegal so complaining "how dare they accuse me of being a criminal" when you pirate the movie is rediculous, since you quite simply are a criminal for it.
I should add the note here that I do have a number of downloaded movies off the internet, so I'm certainly not passing moral judgment on people for doing that, since it'd be simply hypocritical. What pisses me off isn't people who download copyrighted material, it's people who are self-righteous about it, convinced they have a god-given right to do so, and think any copyright owner who dares try to stop them is evil for doing so. If I got busted for piracy, sure I'd be pissed off, but I wouldn't think it unfair, any more than I'd be annoyed at getting a traffic ticket for driving 10kph over the speed limit, it's annoying, but a fair cop.
Re:what has the world come to (Score:4, Insightful)
Who modded this interesting? Have I just been trolled?
Re:what has the world come to (Score:4, Insightful)
The presumption that the ones who don't buy, WOULD buy if they couldn't download is specious at best.
The total, _ACTUAL_ "lost revenue" to movie snarfing is almost certianly LESS than the cost of one lawyer for one case.
These people should be persuing the people who MINT and SELL full bootlegs. This online trading stuff is literally NOTHING.
It's actually probably even a net gain from word of mouth.
(And I have *NEVER* downloaded a movie via USENET, any p2p application, or similar. I BUY DVDs.)
The people who will buy, buy. The people who won't, don't. The people who *may* don't exist.
Only the industrial bootleggers represent actual lost revenue. The "traders" are only a threat the the CERTIAN DREAMS OF AVERICE of certian ??AA organizations.
So it is STUPID to piss off your customers and splashing them with shit because you are chasing the shadow of a penny you _thought_ you _might_ _have_ seen rolling down a sewer.
Re:what has the world come to (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:what has the world come to (Score:5, Funny)
So this is what the third horseman looks like
Ahoy, folks. The end is nigh.
Re:what has the world come to (Score:5, Funny)
Something to think about next time Bush talks about god.
Re:what has the world come to (Score:3, Funny)
Amen brothers!
Re:Why only now? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Why only now? (Score:5, Interesting)
The MPAA has been doing this for quite a while.
I remember when they sent a C&D letter to Pirate Bay, a filesharing site in Sweden for putting up the sound-track of Shrek on Torrent.
Ofcourse, the response was even better - classic Fuck You [thepiratebay.org].
And I'm sure we all remember the fiasco of movie premiers being up on filesharing networks, and how the MPAA raised a ruckus.
Definitely not the first time, I guess they're just going to intensify their efforts more.
Re:Why only now? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Why only now? (Score:3, Interesting)
If Iran sent me a notice saying that I'm violating so shariat laws, I'd send an equally vocal and Fuck-you letter to them.
Your argument tries to shift the blame on the people responding, rather than the industry and the government that actually supports these laws.
Blame the RIAA and MPAA and our government - do not blame some guy in Europe for retorting back. If anything, we nee
Re:Why only now? (Score:4, Interesting)
Probably because hard disks capacities are so large and DVD burners are now pretty much standard equipment on PCs. There must be a corresponding increase in movie pirating, critical mass must have been reached.
Me, I wish they had a "burn on demand" (BOD) model where you pay a minimal fee (think rental cost, ideally cheaper) and get to burn a movie on DVD. No case, no extras, just the movie.... I guess video-on-demand is almost the same...
Speaking of lawyers: Vioxx is Prozac for lawyers [ericgiguere.com]Whew, I was worried for a minute there! (Score:5, Funny)
The RIAA has been doing this for so long, why is the MPAA only doing this now, I wonder?
Hey, who cares? No self-respecting geek clutters up their hard drives with the drivel that the MPAA members produce. Now if the Porn Industry Movie Producers (PIMP) start cracking down on sharing Miko Lee and Jenna Jameson flicks, then us geeks are really going to be in trouble.
Re:Well (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I'ts official (Score:4, Funny)
but then again you are a fucktard who cannot comprehend the idea that not everyone is addicted to the next piece of trash from hollywood
Re:Really Red (Score:3, Funny)
Because they have enough in their mouths as it is.