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Take my money, HBO

takemymoneyhbo.com

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Re: Take my money, HBO

#261

Post by waterlesscloud »

masklinn wrote: post #250
waterlesscloud wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" No value is lost when a digital good is duplicated. The only thing lost in this case is an opportunity." I know this is a popular justification for piracy, but surely you can see that a lost opportunity is in fact lost value.

> a lost opportunity is in fact lost value. I know this is a popular justification for curtailing liberties, but surely you can see that this makes no actual sense.

So now it's "curtailing liberties" to ask someone to pay for value they are provided.

Right.

Re: Take my money, HBO

#262

Post by mratzloff »

burke wrote: post #118
trotsky wrote: post #107

I worked on several commercial digital music projects in the time span between early napster and entrenched itunes. One regularly repeated meme of the era was that people didn't want to pirate music, they just wanted it "as easy" or "no drm" or "ala carte" or "all you can eat". While statistically these were all guaranteed to be true for at least some users, in aggregate they were red herrings. The industry was in th…

I'm only one data point, but: I used to pirate (all of my) music. I have bought a grand total of one CD ever. Now I happily consume most of my music through a paid subscription to Rdio. Similarly, I pay for netflix. I (grudgingly) go to theatres occasionally. I don't own and have no desire to own a dvd player, and pirate movies occasionally when they're not conveniently available. Similarly, I pirate Game of Thrones,…

Ultimately, the best solution for audiences and companies is to simulcast the episode on TV and online. If you're a paid subscriber you can watch it for no additional charge; otherwise, the cost is $3 (or whatever).

Re: Take my money, HBO

#263

Post by waterlesscloud »

gizzlon wrote: post #241
waterlesscloud wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you want the experience without compensating the people who made the experience possible. It's entirely possible to compensate them if the experience is valuable to you. Not doing so is wrong. Sorry, but that's how I see it.

What if you download it and then buy it later.. what would you call that?

That would be fine, since you compensated the people who made the experience possible, as they have very clearly asked you to do.

No offense, but this stuff is not a complicated moral dilemma by any means.

Re: Take my money, HBO

#264

Post by stevetursi »

AjithAntony wrote: post #212
egypturnash wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having stuff you don't want cluttering up your life is a perk?

Then donate the discs to someone who likes to collect physical media.

Assuming the pirate bought the disc as a penance/feelgood/whatever for downloading the media, this totally negates that whole motivation. To the studio/network, two people got to see the content for the price of one. Ironically, the giftee becomes the beneficiary of the piracy, but with none of the risk. And the pirate, who assumed all the risk, was the person who paid for it.

Re: Take my money, HBO

#265

Post by charlieok »

cletus wrote: post #145

I certainly understand the motivation for this but HBO is actually in a difficult position. - HBO drives a lot of cable purchase - Some of that money goes to the cable companies for data carriage - The cable companies know HBO sells cable - Any alternative distribution means risks the cable companies losing income - Cable companies losing income means that HBO risks either being dropped from the cable companies or ha…

I will not buy cable tv. Any information service (tv, voice, whatever) is only interesting to me if it's delivered over internet protocol.

If a lot more people made this decision, there would be no problem here.

Re: Take my money, HBO

#266

Post by rickmb »

icebraining wrote: post #256
rickmb wrote: post #209

It's ironic that the amount in the form is in US dollars. In much the rest of the world, it's already pretty much game over. A whole generation has learned to "pirate" these shows because it's the only available option. This is the reality in 2012 outside the US: ordinary people in offices and on schoolyards are discussing TV shows that aren't legally available in those countries . It's not considered anything specia…

Where is this? Where I live, most people don't know English nearly well enough to watch the shows without subtitles, and community created subs are very hit-and-miss, both in availability and quality.

The Netherlands, but I think the same goes for most of Western Europe, especially the Northern half. Which unfortunately for HBO is also the primary potential market outside North America, both in terms of disposable income and the kind of audience that watches their shows.

HBO is actually now starting to enter the local cable market. Great offering: "pay a premium price to see shows your friends talked about 6 months ago at an inconvenient time". I suppose there's still a market for it, just like there's still a market for getting yesterdays news printed on dead trees...

You have to remember that the practice of pirating TV shows started about ten years ago now. That's a whole generation that grew up watching their favorite shows that way. Any time, anywhere, and for free. Try selling those people premium cable subscriptions that offer no practical advantages whatsoever.

Re: Take my money, HBO

#267

Post by nahname »

trotsky wrote: post #107

I worked on several commercial digital music projects in the time span between early napster and entrenched itunes. One regularly repeated meme of the era was that people didn't want to pirate music, they just wanted it "as easy" or "no drm" or "ala carte" or "all you can eat". While statistically these were all guaranteed to be true for at least some users, in aggregate they were red herrings. The industry was in th…

One thing, that I find particularly interesting, is that the bittorrent numbers in the U.S. are decreasing. BitTorrent traffic is now responsible for 11.3% of all U.S. Internet traffic during peak hours, compared to 17.3% last year. While that number appears to be decreasing in the U.S. it is increasing most everywhere else. How do you rationalize such a phenomenon when the "aggregate of users" are just a bunch of thieves?

Personally, I think it is easier for an industry to paint its customers as a bunch of vicious thieves, rather than people expecting content delivery to change with the times. This seems indicative of industries that are a monopoly and are out of touch with their customers, but I fear I would be painting them with an equally broad stroke.

Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/94722096/Sandvine-Global-Internet-...

Re: Take my money, HBO

#268

Post by Retric »

mratzloff wrote: post #257
vibrunazo wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do humans are always trying to oversimplify that which is already simple? People choose to pirate because their impression is that the pros (easier, no drm, cheaper) outweigh the cons (risk of getting caught, risk of all art ceasing to exist). That's all, just a simple pros vs cons we all quickly do for every decision we ever do in our lives. No need to try to find cheap pseudo-psychological explanation to why pe…

I buy high-bitrate, DRM-free MP3s from Amazon. It really couldn't be much easier, and it's already pretty cheap (generally $0.99 per song), so the only reason remaining is that people get something for nothing. No one can compete with free.

I bought shows on blue-ray that Hulu has to watch once simply because of the advertising and bit-rate. So, IMO you can compete with free. It's just harder.

Re: Take my money, HBO

#269

Post by brown9-2 »

shpoonj wrote: post #49

I wouldn't pay a single cent to HBO. I would, on the other hand, pay $40 via iTunes per season of Game of Thrones. Networks are outdated. Stop trying to change them and adapt like the rest of us.

When you pay $40 to iTunes, where do you think a significant chunk of that money goes to? HBO produces the show. They aren't just the broadcaster.

Re: Take my money, HBO

#270

Post by gizzlon »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #263
gizzlon wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if you download it and then buy it later.. what would you call that?

That would be fine, since you compensated the people who made the experience possible, as they have very clearly asked you to do. No offense, but this stuff is not a complicated moral dilemma by any means.

But between the download and the buy there's just a "promise" to buy. Would this make it just as illegal (or illegal) as just downloading it?

"No offense, but this stuff is not a complicated moral dilemma by any means"

Well, I agree to some extend, but moral != law.

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