Intrusive copyright contols and what they could lead to (1 Viewer)

[Rachael B]

I just finished reading the thread about the supposed, pending bill that would make a DVD have a limited number of plays and/or have video discs "married" to the first player they were played in....ugh! Although the article is proably faulty, rest assured that devious minds are conspiring to impose such on the market, us!
Anything, along these lines, that applies to DVD's or future video discs also applies to audio discs too. The main providers for each are the same anyway. If obnoxious copy-controls are forced onto the market wouldn't "open" bootleg media become the superior, preferred media? It very well could.
When or if purchased music is made unrecordable even via the analog inputs of my MD recorders, I'm through with it. BTW, they're trying to devise unrecordable radio and pay per minute digital TV recording. If video discs are only good for one or a few plays, I'm done with them. I buy this stuff to have fun with it. The so-called content providers are trying to take the fun out of their products, it seems. :frowning:
I'm so sick of hearing the content providers cry about how they need protection here in the digital age. There is some truth to it and I do have some sympathy but it seems their efforts are always aimed at creating digital price suppourts for prices that are IMO, mostly above market equillibrium prices. This is more true for the music end of the biz than for video, atleast so far.
I have 5 nephews. None of them buy CD's. They're teenagers. They can't afford them or not very many. They download music. They can't download reasonably priced music, with reasonable utility, from the big five boy band providers . The point is that the entertainment industry can't be based on gouge prices.
I've never knowingly bought a bootleg LP, LD, VHS, CD, 8-track, DVD, or cassette. I've never downloaded music. I used to go to Napster just to listen to out-of-print music I could find there. I choose not to record it. But, if the entertainment chooses to take all the fun out of their products I would buy used CD's, LP's, LD's, DVD's and maybe bootlegged media. From my view open, boot-legged media would be superior to legitimate, utility-controlled media. I really don't want to have to say that but....
The big five better get real about the digital age!!!!! A consumer revolt is brewin'.

 

[Jeffrey Gray]

You know how they could prevent piracy? Drop prices. They could sell DVDs for $10 a pop (and $15-$20 for the larger multi-disc sets) and nobody would bother to pirate.

 

[Rachael B]

Jeffery, at one point a few years ago, Disney announced that some of their DVD titles that were $29.99 were being raised to $34.99. They said something to the effect that $29.99 just wasn't enough. Disney and their other labels stille seem to have the highest average prices, seemingly. You comment is simple and right to the point and true. CD's should be really cheap IMO. Downloads should be cheap too, even cheaper. SELL WHAT PEOPLE WANT! The cost of entertainment keeps going down and prices up. It's a recipe for you know what!

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

Why does this all seem so familiar? As though this was a concept they already tried and failed with? It is cloudy at the moment but I am sure the format started with a D and ended with an X.

These studios continue to show that they will do anything they can to strongarm the market. They already have price collusion, what else do they want? How about collusion plus repeat title sales? Bingo! What a splendid idea! I for one am glad to be thought of as mindless sheep who wouldn't know the difference if it jumped up and bit me. Bit me right in the wallet, in fact. I'd love to say "Well, it's not going to pass anyways" but since the MPAA has the government in it's pocket (don't believe it? Why is HDTV struggling?), it has a legitimate chance to become reality. If it does, I am out. I wash my hands of the whole mess.

Bruce

 

[Brad Eisenhauer]

SELL WHAT PEOPLE WANT!

I couldn't agree more. I buy lots of DVDs. They are a product I want at what I consider a reasonable price. Obviously, I'm not alone. I don't buy very many CDs. (Usually just greatest hits albums of older groups.) The record industry simply doesn't produce anything I want at a reasonable price. $18 for possibly 3 good tracks is not what I call "good value."
That said, a movie format that provides limited replayability or portability is not something I'll be purchasing at ANY price. For that, I can stick with NetFlix.
I also agree with what the first post said about bootlegging. Give people what they want, and they will come. Withhold it, and they'll go somewhere else. Doesn't somebody have a sig line saying something to that effect: "A black market is the invisible hand of Adam Smith saying, 'There's a huge demand over here that you're comletely ignoring.'"

As for why HDTV is struggling, it's because TV manufacturers don't put digital tuners in their HDTVs, and broadcasters won't go digital until their signals can be received by the tuners that aren't out there. Thus, last week's mandate to include digital tuners in all 36" or larger TVs by 2007. I hate government mandates and think the market of supply and demand should settle this, but unless the hardware manufacturers and the content providers get together, like they did with DVD, I don't see any other way.

 

[John_Berger]

(don't believe it? Why is HDTV struggling?)

Gee, it couldn't possibly be that HDTV is still roughly $2,000 when even a 32" 4:3 TV can be bought for less than $500, could it?

 

[streeter]

I agree, bootlegging will increase if such a bill is passed.

I don't think bootlegging will decrease if prices are lowered.

I think the only way to stop bootlegging is to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. You can sell bootlegs on a streetcorner and nobody will do anything about it. Cops walk by, nothing. There are absolutely no consequences.

 

[Lance Rumbolt]

Michael, bottlegging would decrease if you lower the price-people buy bootlegs for 2 reasons price and early release.

Reduce the price and you cut off that part of there trade.

It seems a simple solution to me.

Also if the major studios had simultaneous releases around the world then you nip pirating for early releases in the bud.

Now most studios will say it's to expensive to do a simultaneous release around the globe, but with the advent of digital cinema and downloadable film this will become less of a problem.

Lance UK

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Lowering prices will have no effect on bootlegging, sorry, but that is a fact. People will still steal.

As Michael says, the only way to combat piracy is to do something about it. Throw these crooks in jail.

 

[Paul McElligott]

The MPAA and RIAA need to get one thought through their thick, steel-reinforced skulls: the vast majority of American consumers are basically honest and not willing to go through the extra effort you need to find bootleg copies of DVDs and CD, as long as the legitimate copies are A) readily available, B) higher quality and C) reasonably priced. I'd be supprised to find that the "market share" for bootlegs was really more than 5%.

Unless I'm mistaken, most bootlegs are produced and consumed in Asia. Passing laws in the U.S. Congress that only punish and inconvenience innocent Americans is a pretty sure way to piss off your customer base, and have no real impact on the problem.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

I'm just waiting for the day when newly-printed books spontaniously combust after 30 days. But then people could still copy them long-hand, so they might have to make pen-ink turn toxic after a few weeks.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

DIVX redux...

(checks for stash of blood pressure medication...)

- Steve

 

[John_Berger]

Quote:

 

[Neil_Duffy]

Can anyone post a link to this thread/article mentioned in the first post.

Thanks.

 

[Paul McElligott]

Okay, here you go.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

it couldn't possibly be that HDTV is still roughly $2,000 when even a 32" 4:3 TV can be bought for less than $500, could it?

No. Price on new technology always starts out sky-high and then drops dramatically. Even so, the sales of HDTV's themselves have been positive, but of course, not overwhelming. The real problem is that a huge majority of people still get their signal through cable and since the cable providers are reluctant to build an adapter, that leaves alot of people out. They simply want the convenience of cable and to not switch to satellite. One of the big issues behind the reason why cable hasn't produced a mass-produced converter box is Hollywood and its desire to implement draconian copyright controls. The studios have stated that until an acceptable encryption device is made, they won't release their films for HD distrobution. That leads to the circle effect we have now...people aren't buying converter boxes because of lack of content...and the content providers won't provide because of a lack of converter boxes.I don't know how many times I've heard "There just isn't enough to watch". When people get HD, the want EVERYTHING in HD. Going back just isn't an option.
While the news that the the FCC has mandated a converter box is a positive step, it has been a long time coming. I know this isn't a black or white issue and that one aspect in itself isn't the blame, but the encryption front has been the biggest obstacle that HDTV has fought since its introduction.
Bruce

 

[Jerry AZ]

I haven't bought a music CD in a long time. Paying $16-17 bucks for a CD that will probably only have one or two decent tracks on it doesn't work for me.
Now; I'd be more than happy to pay a "reasonable" price to download CD quality music. Let me pick and choose the music I want, with maybe a short overview of the track to decide if I want it or not, and I'd be spending money like crazy.

 

[John_Berger]

Quote:

Agreed, but the fact is that the entertainment industry is driven primarily by the average consumer. Do you really think that the average consumer gives a wit about digital copy protection and content management? Hell, we're having enough problems just trying to get them to accept OAR!
The average consumer goes for cheap prices and whatever is easiest for them -- and HDTV is neither of those at the current time.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

The top 10 selling sets in the country don't even include a 32" set. The top sellers are all 13" to 27" models, and I think they all retail for $599 or less, so they probably do all street for less than $500 (most way less).
HDTVs are selling great. As far as RPTVs go. A $2000 47"-55" HD RPTV sells for the same price as a regular 47"-55" analog RPTV did several years ago. And they are selling just as well. For rear-projection, HD has almost completely replaced analog, and probably will (completely) within 2 years.
Of course, the majority of these sets are still bought by sports fans, not film buffs.
Direct-view HD sets cost a LOT more than most people have historically spent on direct-view analog sets. That is the problem.
And guess what? Most people don't buy big projection sets. They buy little direct view ones.
But as far as the main issue goes (piracy).
A combination of high prices and taking the consumers rights away (which will fail) will result in levels of piracy like have never been seen before.
This could be like trying to put out a small brushfire with gasoline.

 

[Jack Briggs]

People, I just got off the Associated Press newswire here in the newsroom where I work and could find nothing concerning this alleged report of an alleged bill. Here's my post from the other thread:



Seriously, everybody. Associated Press is not a small-fry operation given to reporting spurious matters. If such a bill existed, it would have made huge news in the business sections of newspapers across the country. The financial implications, not to mention the abuse of fair-use laws, would be making headlines.

A hoax is the likely explanation.