Psh. It gives exposure to artists (who often already have way too much money) and is a circumvention of corporate control and broken copyright laws. I'm all for it.
I don't think pirating is really decreasing profits of corporations that much. I've said it before, but I'll say it again. People who have enough money to buy two things that they want generally will buy them. The people who pirate are the people who would have to sacrifice something else in order to buy the media and if deprived of pirating, would simply not consume the media.
And it's not like they're just sitting on the money they didn't spend. It gets spent on something more worthwhile, like food, or rent, or something. So it doesn't hurt the economy and I suspect that the entertainment industry doesn't lose as much money as they claim they do.
They probably actually make more money because people who, say, watch their shows/movies for free may later buy paraphernalia relating to that show/movie or buy a T-shirt for that band. Instead of trying to limit exposure like that, the entertainment industry should try to figure out how to use it. Like maybe start making their primary digital offerings more affordable (since it costs them nearly nothing to produce things digitally) and make the bulk of their money off of theater releases (which are difficult to replicate with a pirated copy) and tangible goods.
Also, if they made better products, perhaps people would be more inclined to pay good money for them. Just a thought.
Valve's Gabe Newell Says Piracy Is a Service Problem
The CEO and cofounder of Valve is never short on opinions. As the creator of some of the most beloved games titles (Team Fortress 2, Portal, Half-Life) and owner of the most pervasive online gaming portal for the PC platform, Gabe Newell has earned the right to express them. In an interview for the University of Cambridge's school newspaper, Newell said that the way to end piracy is to provide a service that's more complete than cracked software, and that restrictive DRM only encourages more piracy.
"We think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem," he said. "If a pirate offers a product anywhere in the world, 24 x 7, purchasable from the convenience of your personal computer, and the legal provider says the product is region-locked, will come to your country 3 months after the US release, and can only be purchased at a brick and mortar store, then the pirate's service is more valuable."
The proof is in the proverbial pudding. "Prior to entering the Russian market, we were told that Russia was a waste of time because everyone would pirate our products. Russia is now about to become [Steam's] largest market in Europe," Newell said.
The purpose of Steam is to provide as much value not only to the customer but also to other game publishers. "Our success comes from making sure that both customers and partners (e.g. Activision, Take 2, Ubisoft...) feel like they get a lot of value from those services, and that they can trust us not to take advantage of the relationship that we have with them."
I think that the entertainment industry should get with the times and have readily available online services where any and all seasons of any and all TV shows, past and present, are made available to watch at any time. By this I mean you don't have to compromise between Hulu Plus, Netflix and Amazon Prime based on which shows each service has or doesn't have that you may want to watch.
However, the entertainment industry has always fought against the innnovation of distribution technologies. They fought against the first MP3 players, and against the VCR.
The entertainment industry should just learn from the video gaming industries. I think Steam has caused a big revolution, in that Steam just lowers the bar for potential customers. Who wants to go to the stores when they can have the convenience of downloading their games? And what more legal way to do that than to do that with an online service like Steam?
And I think services like iTunes do help in that too. It's a shame that the US store is separated from the European store, although luckily we can just switch stores without trouble, unlike some other services. And it's DRM free even. Sure the audio is compressed in a lossy format, but still, better than nothing.
If the film and television industry would just be as progressive, it would help a lot. The only reason I'm downloading my favorite cartoon series is because I cannot buy them in the English language, with the exception to some (thank you, Mystery Incorporated people, I will buy the entire first season on iTunes in HD as soon as I have the money).
It would be so freaking awesome if Steam or another service like steam had cheap movies, series and stuff. Then you could have all youre favorite series somewhere online ready to watch. Ofc they would have to be sanely priced.
Psh. It gives exposure to artists (who often already have way too much money) and is a circumvention of corporate control and broken copyright laws. I'm all for it.
Justifying does not in the same sentence associate it with freedom.
Human Wheatley? What fuckery is this? Why would you make that? In any case, aren't there mods that make nude Chell anyway? My brain is so full of fuck right now.
Human Wheatley? What fuckery is this? Why would you make that? In any case, aren't there mods that make nude Chell anyway? My brain is so full of fuck right now.
It's just a censorship joke, as for why Wheatley is human, its from a "ask a character" tumblr blog, and since there's already an ask Wheatley blog (4 in fact) this one is made Wheatley human to create variety.
It's just a censorship joke, as for why Wheatley is human, its from a "ask a character" tumblr blog, and since there's already an ask Wheatley blog (4 in fact) this one is made Wheatley human to create variety.
Now Lamar Smith has another bill, the "Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011" that will destroy online privacy! I feel like I want to scream!
Nothing will come of it. The traitors in the White House will just shoot off another form letter to try to, in their minds, quell dissent. In reality, it will only serve to fan the flames of discontent in a broken, corrupt and ultimately doomed regime.
I know in a way it would suck, but it would be truly remarkable to see Hollywood crumble over this whole SOPA thing as the internet grows stronger. If that happens, the sad thing is if they would have left the internet alone in the first place nothing would have happened.
I know in a way it would suck, but it would be truly remarkable to see Hollywood crumble over this whole SOPA thing as the internet grows stronger. If that happens, the sad thing is if they would have left the internet alone in the first place nothing would have happened.
Nothing good comes out of Hollywood anymore anyway.
I'm afraid I'm not even sure what people are discontent with in this thread anymore. Much like the Occupy Wall Street movement, there's a lack of cohesion.
If we're saying internet censorship is bad and a risky move, then yes I agree.
If we're saying we should all be able to get free stuff online without paying for it, I disagree.
OWS lost my support when it became clear that they'd bow to the police and hadn't the spine to actually do what needs to be done to fix America. Revolutions aren't carried by drum circles and revolution is the only thing that can fix America.
America should strive to have the best of all systems, the freedom of a liberal democracy for its citizens, the pure and incorruptible government of the Northern European nations, the class equality of communism and the social service and support networks of the Democratic Socialist governments of France, Germany and Britain.
Further, steps should be taken and laws enacted to keep individuals, religious groups and corporations from growing too powerful and wealthy. History shows that that manner of influence inevitably leads to horrible things.
These things cannot be done in the current government or even via a peaceful revolution. The current power structure is far too entrenched to be excised like the tumor it is by any other means than rebellion.
Comments
"Google drew more than 7 million signatures for an anti-SOPA and PIPA petition that it linked on its highly trafficked homepage."
Including mine.
Yet the war is not over, or never will be!
War. War never changes! (except when it does...)
You asked for it!
Psh. It gives exposure to artists (who often already have way too much money) and is a circumvention of corporate control and broken copyright laws. I'm all for it.
And it's not like they're just sitting on the money they didn't spend. It gets spent on something more worthwhile, like food, or rent, or something. So it doesn't hurt the economy and I suspect that the entertainment industry doesn't lose as much money as they claim they do.
They probably actually make more money because people who, say, watch their shows/movies for free may later buy paraphernalia relating to that show/movie or buy a T-shirt for that band. Instead of trying to limit exposure like that, the entertainment industry should try to figure out how to use it. Like maybe start making their primary digital offerings more affordable (since it costs them nearly nothing to produce things digitally) and make the bulk of their money off of theater releases (which are difficult to replicate with a pirated copy) and tangible goods.
Also, if they made better products, perhaps people would be more inclined to pay good money for them. Just a thought.
I think that the entertainment industry should get with the times and have readily available online services where any and all seasons of any and all TV shows, past and present, are made available to watch at any time. By this I mean you don't have to compromise between Hulu Plus, Netflix and Amazon Prime based on which shows each service has or doesn't have that you may want to watch.
However, the entertainment industry has always fought against the innnovation of distribution technologies. They fought against the first MP3 players, and against the VCR.
And I think services like iTunes do help in that too. It's a shame that the US store is separated from the European store, although luckily we can just switch stores without trouble, unlike some other services. And it's DRM free even. Sure the audio is compressed in a lossy format, but still, better than nothing.
If the film and television industry would just be as progressive, it would help a lot. The only reason I'm downloading my favorite cartoon series is because I cannot buy them in the English language, with the exception to some (thank you, Mystery Incorporated people, I will buy the entire first season on iTunes in HD as soon as I have the money).
HA! I see what ya did there!
Justifying does not in the same sentence associate it with freedom.
Human Wheatley? What fuckery is this? Why would you make that? In any case, aren't there mods that make nude Chell anyway? My brain is so full of fuck right now.
It's just a censorship joke, as for why Wheatley is human, its from a "ask a character" tumblr blog, and since there's already an ask Wheatley blog (4 in fact) this one is made Wheatley human to create variety.
Well, I disapprove.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bill-maher-on-internet-piracy-i-call-it-caucasian-looting/
Now Lamar Smith has another bill, the "Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011" that will destroy online privacy! I feel like I want to scream!
http://www.slashgear.com/sopa-sponsor-has-another-internet-bill-that-records-you-247-20210264/
Think on the bright side. At least it isn't human!Wheatley who is also Harry Potter. Because that exists.
Time to get drunk.
Nothing will come of it. The traitors in the White House will just shoot off another form letter to try to, in their minds, quell dissent. In reality, it will only serve to fan the flames of discontent in a broken, corrupt and ultimately doomed regime.
I forgot how some people don't like clicking on blind YouTube links.
WATCH THIS. IT'S INTERNATIONAL SOPA. WITH 1984-LEVEL SURVEILLANCE.
Nothing good comes out of Hollywood anymore anyway.
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2012/01/21/megaupload/
Also, FileSonic has now disabled file-sharing in the wake of MegaUpload's takedown.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/filesonic-has-disabled-file-sharing-in-wake-of-megaupload-takedown.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss
If we're saying internet censorship is bad and a risky move, then yes I agree.
If we're saying we should all be able to get free stuff online without paying for it, I disagree.
That was a fantastic read, that article.
Further, steps should be taken and laws enacted to keep individuals, religious groups and corporations from growing too powerful and wealthy. History shows that that manner of influence inevitably leads to horrible things.
These things cannot be done in the current government or even via a peaceful revolution. The current power structure is far too entrenched to be excised like the tumor it is by any other means than rebellion.