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Why I get my entertainment via BitTorrent

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Re: Why I get my entertainment via BitTorrent

#111

Post by cstuder »

RealGeek wrote: post #96
billpg wrote: post #74

As someone with money who enjoys a lot of American TV, I'm not really interested in excuses why these services are not available worldwide. Quit making excuses and make it happen. The torrenters don't seem to have any trouble building a global distribution network, and they are hiding from the law while simultaneously kicking your butt. If you don't want to make it happen, quit whining about losing money. I have mone…

The delay in geographical releases is because studios license the copyrights to a regional studio or a distribution company. Unfortunately, this arrangements prohibits them to use any alternate distribution channels to release the content on their own. Also, the regional company is unlikely to have any arrangements with services like Netflix and Hulu. In the end its all about the money and bureaucracy.

Am I right to presume that this system with regional licences was set up by the studios themselves? What stops a studio from skipping their regional partners and just release their content worldwide?

The internet doesn't really know regions, so local distribution partners are no longer a concern (Except maybo for localizing content).

Re: Why I get my entertainment via BitTorrent

#112

Post by mikecane »

cstuder wrote: post #111
RealGeek wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The delay in geographical releases is because studios license the copyrights to a regional studio or a distribution company. Unfortunately, this arrangements prohibits them to use any alternate distribution channels to release the content on their own. Also, the regional company is unlikely to have any arrangements with services like Netflix and Hulu. In the end its all about the money and bureaucracy.

Am I right to presume that this system with regional licences was set up by the studios themselves? What stops a studio from skipping their regional partners and just release their content worldwide? The internet doesn't really know regions, so local distribution partners are no longer a concern (Except maybo for localizing content).

This same thing is a problem with eBooks. They haven't come to grips with it yet.

Re: Why I get my entertainment via BitTorrent

#113

Post by RealGeek »

cstuder wrote: post #111
RealGeek wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The delay in geographical releases is because studios license the copyrights to a regional studio or a distribution company. Unfortunately, this arrangements prohibits them to use any alternate distribution channels to release the content on their own. Also, the regional company is unlikely to have any arrangements with services like Netflix and Hulu. In the end its all about the money and bureaucracy.

Am I right to presume that this system with regional licences was set up by the studios themselves? What stops a studio from skipping their regional partners and just release their content worldwide? The internet doesn't really know regions, so local distribution partners are no longer a concern (Except maybo for localizing content).

Problem is Internet distribution is still a small percentage of their business and most distribution partners demand exclusive rights.

Distribution of content globally via Internet would still require regional monetization effort like regional advertisers and payment processing.

Re: Why I get my entertainment via BitTorrent

#114

Post by bad_user »

sp332 wrote: post #110
bad_user wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment doesn't follow from mine because I touched on both (a) quality and (b) legislature that makes distribution or possession of copies illegal. This is an economy of scarcity -- people tend to buy the cheapest product that fulfills their needs. Those needs many-times include not getting sued to oblivion and risk huge penalties.

I was going to reply with all the legal stuff on TPB, but I wanted to point out that even the biggest-budget and most popular content can survive even if it's available for free. There are a lot of producers who distribute primarily on P2P and it doesn't seem to be any harder for them to make money. I think http://vodo.net/ is the biggest example that comes to mind right now, and individual artists like http://www.pr…

You're touching on alternative business-models. Alternative as in different than creating shit then selling it directly ... a general business model that has worked since money where invented.

And the problem with these business models is that they aren't general enough (working on a case by case basis) and don't even survive the onslaught of technological evolution.

Music artists can make money from concerts (they always did). But in case you haven't noticed, theaters are in big trouble, artists many times having to seek out employment in sitcoms/trashy TV shows to make a living. One month ago I also watched an opera show in 3D with surround sound ... it was like being there and it will only get better.

Yes, you can find artists that do well by riding the Internet wave / the freemium business model. That doesn't mean it works on a bigger scale or that it will continue to work 5 years from now.

Creating shit and selling it if it provides value is the only sustainable and general business-model. Society would be worse without it, unless you're talking about getting rid of money altogether.

Re: Why I get my entertainment via BitTorrent

#115

Post by wccrawford »

cabalamat wrote: post #104
wccrawford wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And so you can import it, assuming your country's laws permit. But if you want the content owner to sell it to you directly, you'll have to wait for them want to do so. The reasons for them not wanting to do so could include laws, expenses, or other craziness that you aren't aware of. Believe it or not, we experience the same crap here in the US in regards to foreign stuff. BBC shows are really popular here, but are…

> But if you want the content owner to sell it to you directly, you'll have to wait for them want to do so. .. or use BitTorrent! If the content owner refuses to sell the content to someone, then that person isn't depriving them of any income by pirating it. If an activity harms no-one, then it can't be immoral to do it. If the law says otherwise, it's a bad law.

If someone refuses to sell you the Mona Lisa for the price you want, it's okay to copy it?

Because let's be honest, they aren't just refusing to sell the TV episode to you... They're refusing to sell it at market rates. If you offered them a million dollars for the latest episode of XYZ show, they'd make it happen on your schedule.

What you're saying is that if you can't have it your way, it's perfectly ethical to just take it. And I can't agree with that.

Re: Why I get my entertainment via BitTorrent

#116

Post by wccrawford »

rickmb wrote: post #75
rrrazdan wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole system makes eminent sense. Content that has been permitted by the owner is released in your country, when the owner permits. If you are resort to piracy because of this, you are still stealing.

It always amazes me that people who consider it an ethical issue by equating copyright infringement with "stealing", have no ethical problem with the fact that copyright law is being blatantly abused to achieve exactly the opposite of what it was intended to do, i.e. maximizing the distribution of original work. Copyright laws exist to serve society, not just a handful of corporations.

[Citation needed.]

Was it really meant to maximize distribution, or was it meant to encourage production? Because it -does- encourage production.

Re: Why I get my entertainment via BitTorrent

#117

Post by rms »

wccrawford wrote: post #115
cabalamat wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But if you want the content owner to sell it to you directly, you'll have to wait for them want to do so. .. or use BitTorrent! If the content owner refuses to sell the content to someone, then that person isn't depriving them of any income by pirating it. If an activity harms no-one, then it can't be immoral to do it. If the law says otherwise, it's a bad law.

If someone refuses to sell you the Mona Lisa for the price you want, it's okay to copy it? Because let's be honest, they aren't just refusing to sell the TV episode to you... They're refusing to sell it at market rates. If you offered them a million dollars for the latest episode of XYZ show, they'd make it happen on your schedule. What you're saying is that if you can't have it your way, it's perfectly ethical to ju…

>If someone refuses to sell you the Mona Lisa for the price you want, it's okay to copy it?

Yes! The Mona Lisa is in the public domain, copying it is perfectly acceptable.

Re: Why I get my entertainment via BitTorrent

#118

Post by ordinary »

_delirium wrote: post #76
mhd wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

International copyright laws are a bit of a mess.Also, in lots of countries you have to pay a fee if you're "performing" publicly. And according to some agencies, Youtube videos do count as such. If I remember correctly, one such agency, the German GEMA wanted to collect 12 Euro cents each time a major label video was watched on youtube.

True, but I think he was asking why the meta-information isn't provided, where you'd be able to click on something next to a video and get information about which regions it's available in.

Yeah, exactly.

Re: Why I get my entertainment via BitTorrent

#120

Post by goatforce5 »

cabalamat wrote: post #104
wccrawford wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And so you can import it, assuming your country's laws permit. But if you want the content owner to sell it to you directly, you'll have to wait for them want to do so. The reasons for them not wanting to do so could include laws, expenses, or other craziness that you aren't aware of. Believe it or not, we experience the same crap here in the US in regards to foreign stuff. BBC shows are really popular here, but are…

> But if you want the content owner to sell it to you directly, you'll have to wait for them want to do so. .. or use BitTorrent! If the content owner refuses to sell the content to someone, then that person isn't depriving them of any income by pirating it. If an activity harms no-one, then it can't be immoral to do it. If the law says otherwise, it's a bad law.

The content owner would argue something along the lines that you're depriving them the opportunity to have a market to sell that show to a distributor (TV channel, DVD wholesaler, etc) in your area.

The potential value of any distribution deal falls as the original need is satisfied via the use of unauthorized distribution methods.

Having said that, I don't feel particularly bad about downloading stuff that's never released in my market.

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