Today, two major events occurred that will have a dramatic impact on the future of online television distribution. First: as reported in an article in the business section of The Gaurdian, TV-Links, a directory of streaming pirated video, was shut down today in the UK for facilitation of piracy. The site did not host any actual content, but linked to numerous other sites where the pirated material could be viewed. This was the first of this sort of anti-piracy bust to occur in the U.K.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., Comedy Central has launched a new web site for their flagship news satire program, The Daily Show. The new site contains a searchable archive of every segment of every episode for all of Jon Stewart's run as host, going back as far as 1999. Though many networks now offer streaming video, this is the largest archive ever made publicly available.
Though these two events seem to be complete opposites, they share a common factor: instant access. The entertainment industry misunderstands the nature of priacy. Many people who participate in file-sharing are not looking to steal from the industry's bottom line. Rather, most simply wish to watch their television and movies and listen to their music when and how they want. There will, of course, always be a group of people whose aim is to circumvent payment for their entertainment, but this group is small, and will not be stopped by the shut-down of a few sites as the MPAA and others play catch-up. Rather, the best way to stop the majority of piracy is to address the need that it represent. The success of business endeavors like iTunes show that most people are perfectly willing to pay, they just want to watch or listen to whatever they want that very instant. Likewise, the success of YouTube demonstrates the appeal of instant entertainment. If the film and television industries embrace this trend, they stand to make plenty of money off of instant digital distribution. But if they continue to chase after file-sharing sites, they will continue to promote their image as bullies while scaring away an otherwise profitable customer base. The Daily Show is clearly a step in the right direction. The question now, though, is whether others will follow suit.
Disclaimer: I do not condone the piracy of copyrighted material, nor the crime of copyright infringement.
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That they make via DVD and Cable is the first priority. They are moving in the direction that you suggest awfully fast. The hackers are just faster, because making the new toys do everything they are capable is their goal. No worries about who loses their 'buggy whip' income, these guys just want to drive fast!
"Little vicious minds abound with anger and revenge, and are incapable of feeling the pleasure of forgiving their enemies."
Lord Chesterfield
The hackers are always faster. I suppose that's another untapped opportunity for the entertainment industry. When you look at open source software, you have thousands of passionate people working on projects with legitimate good intentions. The entertainment industry, as well as many others, need to tap into this resource, which should result in both the creation of a better product and a group of developers who are more than happy to keep up with modern trends and technology. But that's a subject big enough for it's own blog entry, so just wait, I may have one about it up soon.
"When you look at open source software, you have thousands of passionate people working on projects with legitimate good intentions. The entertainment industry, as well as many others, need to tap into this resource, which should result in both the creation of a better product and a group of developers who are more than happy to keep up with modern trends and technology."
I would have thought that the whole point of open source was contrary to the point of the entertainment industry. One is anti-monopoly and the other is all about monopoly.
The open source mentality is very different to that of the entertainment industry, in that open source is about pooling resources and focusing on quality, whereas the entertainment idustry is all about profit.
The bulk of the most profitable entertainment they produce is developed for the lowest common denominator and the bulk of the total entertainment they produce is little more than bait to attract viewers so they will watch advertisements and buy products. The entertainment industry is about securing resources exclusively and maximizing the bottom line at all costs, if that means that art and actual quality content is shelved in favour of American Gladiators, then so be it; quality doesn't mean shit when you can sell crap for a better profit.
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I am the people my mother warned me about.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tuffgong
TUFFGONG
Senior Executive Administrator™
As a Jazz, Blues and R&B singer/songwriter, and a voracious music consumer on a limited budget, this is an important and difficult subject for me. As in most things, the Golden Rule applies. Although Christianity is not my religion, it's a reference we can all understand.
I know too many talented people who can't tour because they had to take a job selling RVs or go back to school and become X-Ray technicians. I don't blame this completely on pirating, but on the same attitude that "Music should be free" and keeps people from paying a cover charge to hear a good band.
I am flattered that people want to share my music, but i wish that they would understand that it took me 5 years and $30,000 dollars to make that CD, plus the time that I spent on it instead of spending that time on something more lucrative. So if they like my music, I hope that they don't begrudge me the $15 for the CD. I want people who enjoy my music to support it, just as I support companies who market software instead of using "free" illegal copies. I want them to keep making new products and upgrades, just as I assume people want me to make more music if they like it enough to copy it.
I don't expect to even make that $30,000 back. I just want a trickle of income to allow me to keep making music!
But yes, we want the convenience and instant access available, and many companies are not keeping up with that demand. I buy songs from iTunes, from eMusic and on CDs in stores and online. eMusic is so affordable that I worry about how the artists are getting paid, but at least I know that it's legal, authorized and that the artists are getting credit and spreading their popularity!
I have to agree that many people used Napster and its offspring simply because it made music available that could not be found elsewhere. I always make an effort to buy something first. If it's not available for sale (out of print, not broadly published) then I will go ahead and ask to copy it from the person who played it for me.
Artists and music companies: MAKE YOUR MUSIC ACCESSIBLE and I believe that most people will BUY it!
Karen Maria
http://KarenMariaCapo.tripod.com
McDonalds is in trouble, but they will probably hire crews to spray herbicide.
I doubt that any amount of guilt or morality will roll things back.
Here is a great article about this topic. Its' focus is Rick Rubin, and his new position with Columbia.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/magazine/02rubin.t.html?_r=1&oref=slog...
You may have to register to read it. He supports a subscription system to replace the old CD market. Basically the music you can pirate today is free, easier to find than music is to buy, and morally the equivalent of listening to the radio unless you are the up loader. If every piece of sound ever recorded could be accessed for a small subscription cost the advantage, except for free, would shift back in favor of legality. Artists could be compensated according to the popularity of their work, and if the price was low enough it would eliminate most of the reason to pirate.
That may not be what eventually happens, but it sounds good to me. Each copy is free to produce, so the service of recording, and making it easily available should be where cost and value are placed. Artists will probably have to rely on live performance for a larger part of their money, but a service like the one he describes would help them to be discovered.
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
Oscar Wilde
"I know too many talented people who can't tour because they had to take a job selling RVs or go back to school and become X-Ray technicians. I don't blame this completely on pirating, but on the same attitude that "Music should be free" and keeps people from paying a cover charge to hear a good band."
I disagree with this, largely because I have many friends who are musicians. My musician friends have some of the largest mp3 collections out of anybody else I know. With most of them, if I mention something new to them, the first thing they do is jump on limewire and download it. I remember reading an interview, I can't remember who it was that was interviewed, I think it was a member of a band called Asylum Street Spankers, but in the interview he was asked how he felt about mp3 piarcy, he basically said that if musicians were doing their jobs and playing gigs, they shouldn't care less about mp3 piracy.
The fact is that there are too many musicians who aren't prepared to promote themselves properly and who aren't proactive enough in regard to getting gigs. Too many musicians only focus on getting a record deal and ignore the fact that gigging is meant to be their job with a record deal being an added bonus. I know some very talented, but lazy musicians, who basically sit about making great music, but never getting out there and playing to audiences. They get pissed off when other less talented acts are getting gigs all over the place, but fail to recognize the fact that they just aren't making the effort. They are just sitting around waiting for somebody to hand them a record deal, when they only play a handful of gigs a year.
Basically if a musician is only interested in selling records and isn't prepared to simply make a living from playing gigs, I have little sympathy. There are plenty of things I'd like to do for a living, but I recognize the fact that I'm not prepared to make the effort or I realise that I'm not good enough to make a living doing it, or I realise that I won't make the amount of cash I will doing another job. I don't expect people to sympathize with me, the same rule applies to everybody. If these musicians really love music and are perepared to work, then they should be happy to tirelessly persue any chance to get a gig and treat that as their job: gigging. Record deal revenue and other sales revenue should represent a bonus, but it's a bonus that they are prepared to live without.
The fact is, that most of the shittiest, most talentless, image driven popstars and the major money corporations they represent are the ones who get hit hardest by mp3 piracy, independent record labels and artists tend to enjoy huge promotional benefits. I never hear any musician friends of mine complaining about mp3 piracy, they're all mp3 pirates. The only musicians I hear complaining vocally about it are multi-millionaires like Metallica, who are concerned that they might lose a few dollars from the multi-millions they earn annually for doing the same job millions of musicians do just to make enough to pay the rent.
"I am flattered that people want to share my music, but i wish that they would understand that it took me 5 years and $30,000 dollars to make that CD,"
To be honest, I've never been able to find material on any filesharer for any band that wasn't already well established to some extent. Small time artists get discovered on filesharers, big names get pirated. One way it commonly works is like this: Somebody stumbles across or is advised a small independant musician, they run a search in Limewire, if they are lucky they will get one or two tracks, they download, they listen, then they realise that if they want more they are going to have to root out the album, because they'll never find the tracks online, so they buy the album. The bulk of the mainstream music I've downloaded was stuff I would never have bought anyway, so it doesn't represent a loss; I don't upload.
An indie artist with an album that's only sold a few thousand copies is far more likely to benefit from their music circulating free and gaining exposure, rather than suffer from loss of album sales. If they are good, that exposure will generate interest in gigs and in buying the record or future records, or even bring the artist to the attention of agencies and managers who might secure them better gigs and a better record deal.
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I am the people my mother warned me about.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tuffgong
TUFFGONG
Senior Executive Administrator™
http://www.progressiveu.org/090204-dont-miss-this-chance
How do people learn so much about computers, hacking etc.? Do they buy programs, do it on their own, are they just born smart?
DISCLAIMER: I am not being rude. I'm stating my opinion. No personal attacks are meant. Please give some leniency on how you take my words. imagine me saying them with a smile. ^__^
According to Ray Kurzweil, before too long, we will be able to upload and download not only video, music, pictures, but 3 dimensional objects as well. We will be able to send clothing, furniture, even food! There is a tidal wave of "stuff" that people want to share, and it is one of the most exciting developments in recent memory.
The idea of ownership is going to change and this scares the pants off of exec who prosper by NOT sharing with others.
In a way, it comes down to what we were taught as little kids: share your toys, play nicely with others and your life will be better for it.
by Neil Stephenson
Is a good book (bit of a wade for about 80 pages before it takes off) that deals with exactly what you are refering to.
Matter Compilers (nano tech manufacturing devices) visualize a laser printer that can produce anything. We have a ways to go to get there, but the progress toward it does look steady.
"Little vicious minds abound with anger and revenge, and are incapable of feeling the pleasure of forgiving their enemies."
Lord Chesterfield
http://www.progressiveu.org/090204-dont-miss-this-chance
What do you mean before too long? That sounds impossible!! HOw can I get food to magically pop out from my computer over wires?? That doesn't make sense unless it is a hologram that will fill me up...in that case that doesn't sound healthy.
DISCLAIMER: I am not being rude. I'm stating my opinion. No personal attacks are meant. Please give some leniency on how you take my words. imagine me saying them with a smile. ^__^
There are certain categories of problem (the illicit drug trade, guns, and military spending are three that spring to mind) that are difficult to solve because there is a well-funded infrastructure that perpetuates the problem, because or a group of people whose ability to pay the rent on an ongoing basis depends on it. Drug dealers may be criminals, but they're not stupid. They don't want the bottom to fall out of their market, because then they'd be out of a job. The members of the RIAA are in a similar fix. They see adapting to technology and giving user's what they want (under terms the users accept) as a sure-fire way to screw themselves out of a lot of money. Irrespective of whether they think what they do is morally-defensible, their rent-checks depend on it. And that's that.
So any solution to the piracy problem is probably also a solution to the other problems in the same category. Which either means we should bust our assess to find such a solution, or that we should abandon hope...
http://www.progressiveu.org/090204-dont-miss-this-chance
I am confused. You guys know so much about technology, its sounds like a foreign language.
DISCLAIMER: I am not being rude. I'm stating my opinion. No personal attacks are meant. Please give some leniency on how you take my words. imagine me saying them with a smile. ^__^
i remember when we just had three channels. my mother was on a game show and i got to stay home from school to watch because there were no VCRs yet.
i don't mind paying for entertainment. hell, i'd rather pay than watch commercials.
the markets always evolve. things always change. business and industries either evolve or get left in the dust.
http://getsomehairapy.wordpress.com
http://www.progressiveu.org/090204-dont-miss-this-chance
I have a question. I have asked this on yahoo and google but no one knows the answer. If I watch movies on cinecast or any other website is that illegal? If I don't download or "share" or upload is it illegal and what are the penalties? Does anyone have any links about the legality of this issue?
DISCLAIMER: I am not being rude. I'm stating my opinion. No personal attacks are meant. Please give some leniency on how you take my words. imagine me saying them with a smile. ^__^
Legal precedent is inconclusive at this point. The actions being tried are civil rather than criminal so far. Even a hosting site itself is sheilded under safe harbor provisions of the DNCA if they promptly comply and 'take down' content at copyright holders request. As a casual viewer of clips on YouTube there is very little chance of any liability. If you are the uploader then they may be after you.
Although you do not think you are downloading a copy of a streamed clip there is a good chance one is stored on your computer. If law enforcemant has a reason to confiscate the PC and look they will find it.
cinecast is a site linked with malware. You might want to be sure you anti-virus and anti spyware scans are up to date if you are using the site.
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
Oscar Wilde
http://www.progressiveu.org/090204-dont-miss-this-chance
And how can it be stored? All I did was press play and it played. No files popped up, nothing. How do I know? I have norton interent security does that do anything?
DISCLAIMER: I am not being rude. I'm stating my opinion. No personal attacks are meant. Please give some leniency on how you take my words. imagine me saying them with a smile. ^__^
Flash (the most common for streaming) places a .flv file in your temporary internet files folder. The name of the file is usually coded so it is hard to tell which it is. You can set your browser to not retain them.
If you security is up to date it should protect you. The anti-virus is not always effective against spyware. I'm not to familiar with the product you use, it might include both.
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
Oscar Wilde
http://www.progressiveu.org/090204-dont-miss-this-chance
Oh my gosh you scared me now. Will I really be fined 150,000 dollars and jailed for just watching a movie? What is malware? I heard that there are some websites where the streamed movies are allowed by movie makers. Whats your tak e on it? Do you know which ones do that? And how can I search and make sure that it isn't downloaded? Can I simply delete it if I find it or is it more complicated than that. Please help! Which websites are safe to watch?
DISCLAIMER: I am not being rude. I'm stating my opinion. No personal attacks are meant. Please give some leniency on how you take my words. imagine me saying them with a smile. ^__^
I have a problem with Rhapsody and iTunes making their music utterly incompatible with anything besides themselves. I want to take my music running, in the car, to work. If I bought it, I ought to be able to use it however I want. If this is the "access" you are referring to, I whole-heartedly agree.
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"Smart" is definitely a relative term. I know a great many intelligent people who do a great many unintelligent things.
The problem you refer to is finally being addressed. iTunes offers DRM-free AAC downloads which I believe can be converted to MP3 through their iTunes Plus brand, Amazon UnBox offers unDRMed MP3s, and so does eMusic. We're finally getting closer to that point, which I hope is an indicator of the music industry finally listening to their customers.
http://www.progressiveu.org/090204-dont-miss-this-chance
Yeah, well they were talking about buying the websites that give free stuff and finding out who uses them and suing them. How true is that?
DISCLAIMER: I am not being rude. I'm stating my opinion. No personal attacks are meant. Please give some leniency on how you take my words. imagine me saying them with a smile. ^__^