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San Francisco, 3:14 PM
Sun Nov 8
11 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/06/09
[www.nzherald.co.nz]
edit: 'growing' was not originally intended as a pun, but after I posted I saw the relation. I guess my sub-concious wanted to express itself. :D
11/05/09
11/06/09
Nope.
Annalee's just being fanciful / prophetic.
-Kle. #pharmaceuticals
11/06/09
oh yes.. i see now. duh. #pharmaceuticals
11/05/09
Don't necessarily want to inadvertently shut down our favorite producers. Support local growers! #pharmaceuticals
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Do your Boritos have beans and cheese in them? #pharmaceuticals
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11/04/09
And so you guys know I do buy all scifi TV Shows we love brand new and support my shows.I own a ton of new legal TV scifis like all stargates,farscape,trek,etc.
I keep reading these studios trying hard to put big brother on us and quoting from their lying papers claiming losses,etc which is all a bunch of BS.
You guys need to research this subject good cause we can all be effected by these greedbags.
And how many of these studios have ripped us off by price fixing,DRM KRAP,stealing from their artists,etc.
I support indie fimmaking and have a big hate for Hollywood.
Do your research well. #startrek
11/04/09
[en.wikipedia.org] #startrek
11/05/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
However, since moving back to the States, thanks to the magic of (free!) Hulu, and (not free, but cheap, and very speedy!) Netflix, I legitimately have legal access to anything I could possibly ever want to watch, making torrents unnecessary except for particularly rare/lost things, that would probably be unfindable legally anyway. #startrek
11/04/09
A second thought I had regarding this piracy issue: how many people would have bought the Star Trek DVD/Blu-Ray if it was available right now? Why do movie studios insist on making their customers wait 6 months to buy a movie after seeing it in a theatre?
Sorry, I just don't have a lot of pity for companies that look for ways to arbitrarily control their customers. There are all sorts of movies I would have added to my collection months ago if they were already available. By the same token, how many people would have bought Star Trek, if there was no piracy? The numbers don't necessarily correlate, and some research says people who pirate buy more than the average consumer, IIRC. #startrek
11/04/09
If people truly enjoy a product and can afford it, they'll pay for it. You can't really fault them for trying it out before they buy, or for not being wealthy enough to pay inflated prices for things.
Seriously--Paramount is whining over Star Trek... which is a movie about a society where money doesn't matter anymore. Maybe they should work toward that, instead of clinging to outmoded and petty practices, like a bunch of whiny children.
If they keep it up, people will just ignore them. I mean, there are many other ways to create culture and pass the time besides movies made by big Hollywood studios. #startrek
11/04/09
Five years later:
Yay, VHS is making us rich!
DVRs are going to ruin the industry!!!
Five years later:
Yay, DVRs are making us rich!
Downloading is going to ruin the industry!!!
(to be continued)
11/04/09
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11/04/09
Instead of hurting the industry the DVR is turning out to be a good friend to the industry. Perhaps my expression "making us rich" could have been finer-tuned, but the point is Hollywood regularly regards new technology as a threat and such technologies eventually end up benefiting the industry... #startrek
11/04/09
11/04/09
Then again, I think most of us actually would prefer to pay and get the box. Also most people aren't so savvy they can download, burn the image, play it in their player. Yes I know this is hard to believe but it is true! #startrek
11/04/09
I think I've heard this before. #startrek
11/04/09
11/04/09
Except that they forwarded roughly the same logic when VHS became widespread. #startrek
11/04/09
11/04/09
And what I'm saying is that these entities seem to fight innovation rather than embrace it. They put up a huge legal fight when VHS happened, and they are doing the same now, and to me this seems like the exact wrong reaction. Limiting your consumer base's options isn't a long term strategy, and both then and now the effect of piracy (though of course real) was exaggerated to bolster their legal fight. And then, as now, it didn't work.
Rather than fight the same losing battle again and again, it might make more sense for the big content creators to try to get ahead of, or at least abreast of the technology wave and try to make new methods of distribution work for them, instead of trying to shut them down. #startrek
11/04/09
If we all used DVD players than Paramount only has to deal with creation of DVDs. That means the digital and phsyical production of the DVDs. If they try to get ahead of the game (say with new cool digital distribution system where you can put your face on Kirk's body) they would have to make new arrangements with these new producers. The negotiating is costly and riskier considering they don't have a historical valuation system. Additionally, not everyone can afford or wants the new technology so they have to keep the arrangements with the old technology producers. If they slow down the spread of the new technology they can better determine what kind of market share they can affectively achieve. That doesn't even include the new production methods they would have to introduce themselves. For example, with the creation of DVDs now every movie comes with a behind the scenes documentary with director commentary, a new feature that is costly and difficult to value.
As a consumer I agree with you 100%. I wish they would support the newest technology so I could have Netflix streamed into my brain. But change is expensive and companies don't like doing it when they don't see the percentage. #startrek
11/04/09
I can totally see your point, but I think the main problem is 'profit now' versus 'profit in the forseable future'. The current strategy will at least slow profit loss for some years, but it also means that the way is open for some other player that does embrace new technology and media delivery systems to steal the initiative and thereby destroy old school revenue streams. Fighting the future isn't a viable long term strategy. #startrek
11/04/09
In these 5 million downloads there are three types of "pirates:"
1) Those actively trying to steal and make a profit off of it. These are relatively few and are best dealt with via criminal actions, not civil. They laugh at DRM and you won't find many in the USA so you can't sue them. Why waste resources. Just call it shrinkage ad lobby the police to do their job - just like a brick and mortar store.
2) Those who will only take the media for free and would never pay for it. These people are impossible to stop. You can give them new obstacles, but they will find ways around them. These are probably a minority although the studios would have you believe otherwise. Chasing these people is futile as even if you catch them, they still won't buy the product, so you still ahve not sold them anything. You have only spent money.
3) The rest. The majority. These people would pay for it if you made it cheap/easy/attractive but they either are too impatient or lazy to do it legally. As a media company, can't you find a way to make boatloads of money off lazy, impatient people? Rather than sue these people and alienate them since they are truly potential customers, focus all your efforts on making these people happy and you will come out ahead.
Don't know why the media companies can't figure this out. #startrek
11/04/09
In a word: YES.
Thank you. #startrek
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I think it's less about making more profit than it is about not losing profit as their audience moves away from the old models. #startrek
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And I think the lazy community is likely the minority. Considering the uproar when Hulu hinted at possibly charging money, I think the "wont pay a dime for it" community is the bigger chunk. #startrek
11/04/09
Hard to explain what I am saying here. These are still laws, they still deserve respect because they have been and are subject to the same processes as all other laws. But it is another example of the media companies fighting the future rather than trying to create it.
I guess it's the difference between saying "cars pollute, we should get rid of all the cars and bicycle" or "cars pollute, we need something just as cheap, convenient and efficient at moving people, but with less pollution." One tries to roll back the clock which won't happen, the other looks forward. #startrek
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Additionally, that study and your argument assumes piracy results in higher music sales. The likely case is higher interest in music results in higher sales and higher piracy. Also poor people can't afford digital piracy and lots of music. So the richer you are the more likely you are 1) going to have a computer and be able to easily pirate music and 2) going to be able to afford lots of music.
Going after pirates likely will not change peoples enjoyment of music. It will certainly have an affect on the income of the individual pirate (big judgments tend to do that). #startrek
11/04/09
11/04/09
I have heard that music pirates buy more music CD's than the average consumer, I wonder if the same would hold out for movie pirates? #startrek
11/04/09
I think the general tone of the first replies is that you guys want your stuff for free. It's not free. There are tremendous costs in making these movies, the actors have salaries, the staff and camera crew have salaries. If you want advertising to be the only revenue source then reality TV will be the only profitable medium.
I used to pirate stuff, when I was a teenager and I had no money. If you're unemployed I don't mean to offend you. If you have a full-time job and you pirate cause you're cheap, stop with the BS and recognize you're part of the problem, part of the reason shows like firefly and sarah connor chronicles get canceled early.
11/04/09
Maybe we should stop pretending that entertainment should make killer earnings so that humanity could concentrate in more important.
Sheesh, how did we get to make the buffoons anc circus runners the millionaires? #startrek
11/04/09
Since this is a touchy subject with you, let me be clear - I don't pirate movies. I am of the mindset that if it's not good enough to be paid for, it's not good enough to watch. Things might be different if I didn't live in the states, but that's how it is for me.
I'm glad that you have given up your life of crime, but don't fucking assume someone else is a criminal because you are. Seriously, do you think that piracy killed Firefly and TSCC? Really? Because I think that Fox's mismanagement of the series lead to poor viewer numbers, which caused some bean counter to recommend pulling the plug because they couldn't get enough ads sold.
@Cratilo: Box Office Mojo indicated they've only made about 33 million, give or take, on the worldwide theatrical release of Star Trek, which is why DVD sales are such a big deal to them.
@James Tiberius Clarke: Good on you, then. I always worry about remorsing on buying something that I haven't seen before, which is why I don't have that big a dvd collection. Hooray for guilt, yeah?
@tmcsweeney: I agree with you entirely. The entertainment industry is pretty damn broken and the data from those surveys that indicate pirates buy more music is thin, at best. I would love to see a larger study aimed at that done, preferably by a reasonably neutral party. #startrek
11/04/09
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Personally, I'm thinking this is just another tactic to kill Net Neutrality and they (media/ISPs) can go fuck themselves.
They still don't get that "Control" is illusory on the "tubes". #startrek
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In my country a pirated DVD goes for US$1.00, while an original one goes for US$20.00. At minimum wager, people spend 4 days pay to buy one. #startrek