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Piracy Outstripping Legal Video Sales? 294

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the consumers-have-made-their-desires-clear dept.
b.burl writes to tell us a recently released report by the NDP Group supports the horror stories being fed to us by studio execs, but not quite in the way those execs would have you believe. The study shows a continued rise in video piracy compared to legal video sales. The largest target continues to be adult oriented content and TV shows, with only an estimated 5 percent being mainstream movie content. From the article: "[A]mong U.S. households with members who regularly use the Internet, 8 percent (six million households) downloaded at least one digital video file (10MB or larger) from a P2P service for free in the third quarter of 2006. Nearly 60 percent of video files downloaded from P2P sites were adult-film content, while 20 percent was TV show content and 5 percent was mainstream movie content."
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Piracy Outstripping Legal Video Sales? More

Piracy Outstripping Legal Video Sales?

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  • The Internet is for Porn! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @04:32PM (#17380598)
    Why you think the net was born?

    Porn! Porn! Porn!

  • Adult oriented content (Score:5, Funny)

    by Warbringer87 ( 969664 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @04:33PM (#17380610)
    #1 cause of computer literacy among 18-24 males.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by WormholeFiend ( 674934 )
      #1 cause of computer literacy among 18-24 males.

      They download pr0n for the articles?

      Color me skeptical.

      • Re:Adult oriented content (Score:4, Insightful)

        by s_p_oneil ( 795792 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @04:52PM (#17380816) Homepage
        He didn't say "literacy". He said "computer literacy". Here are all the things they can learn from it (often in this order):

        1) How to use a mouse.
        2) How to launch and use a web browser.
        3) What local files and folders are, and why it's a good idea to save your favorite videos locally in your own folder.
        4) How to hide things stored locally so your parent, boss, girlfriend, etc. can't find it.
        5) How to install and use P2P software (often followed by how to install anti-malware software).
        6) How to locate and install video and audio codecs.
        7) How to find and use anonymous proxies to circumvent those pesky web filtering devices.
        8) How to set up their own proxies, write scripts or programs, and/or hack the filtering device to circumvent it.

        Some kids end up becoming programmers, IT specialists, or even hackers just to be able to see a boob. ;-)

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by chia_monkey ( 593501 )
      Also the #1 cause of blindness and uwanted hair growth on the palms of 18-24 year olds...

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Kjella ( 173770 )
      ...not to mention 12-18 males. At 18, you can just buy the damn stuff.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      That most downloads is porno is well known. The word "porno" is now also beeing used as an adjective meaning "really great". (norwegian)

      A real-estate agent advertises a "porno 4-room apartment for sale" here: http://e24.no/oppogfrem/article1535337.ece [e24.no]

  • A shame... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by KingSkippus ( 799657 ) * on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @04:34PM (#17380616) Homepage Journal
    20 percent [of video files downloaded from P2P sites] was TV show content

    And this is a crying shame.

    I download television show content myself. What I can get on iTunes, I get on iTunes and pay $2 per show, or buy a whole season at a time. What I can't, I seek elsewhere, including P2P networks. I don't download movies at all, because I can simply get them on DVD.

    The fact is that I'm not going to pay $50 a month for cable or satellite for something that's, frankly, not worth that much to me. Television and movie studios can either get compensation for their stuff by making it available to me in a manner I want (iTunes/timely release of DVDs), or they can get bupkiss when I download it for free, an option that I'd really rather avoid, to be honest.

    If, god forbid, the industry succeeds somehow in making television shows impossible to download, then I simply won't watch their stuff at all. Most of it has that little value to me.

    It's all so stupid. I can't believe there's an industry out there that is so desperate to stop the pirates that they're willing to forego billions of dollars, yet here we are, living it.

    If someone gave you the choice of making $1 billion for making a television show, but the show is pirated to an extent such that over half the people who watch it don't pay you, or making $500 million for making a television show with little or no piracy of it at all with a much, much smaller audience, which would you prefer?

    Yeah, me too. Stupid, huh?

    As for porn, I don't care. I've only seen a few porn movies myself, and I don't find them exciting. I honestly think that porn is one of those things that everyone thinks they're supposed to be really into, so they watch it and act like it's a big deal; but realistically, once you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all. People get naked and do it, ho hum. Check out this other one where... Um... People get naked and do it, ho hum. But you know, whatever. I guess if there's anything I don't understand about that is why people still buy DVDs or the naughty channels on cable when they can pretty much get anything they want over the Internet.

    • MythTV your TV (Score:3, Insightful)

      by drewzhrodague ( 606182 )
      The fact is that I'm not going to pay $50 a month for cable or satellite for something that's, frankly, not worth that much to me.

      I agree, and this is why Free-to-Air satellite, and the dismal excuse for basic cable that Comcast gives me are okay options. I record those things of interest with my MythTV [mythtv.org] Knoppix distro [mysettupbox.tv]. While there aren't that many science fiction shows, I am quite satisfied to watch whatever comes across the airwaves, like ST:TNG, and the weekly episode of Farscape. I can't justify spen
    • If someone gave you the choice of making $1 billion for making a television show, but the show is pirated to an extent such that over half the people who watch it don't pay you, or making $500 million for making a television show with little or no piracy of it at all with a much, much smaller audience, which would you prefer?


      Why, I'd pick that one of course!

      Yeah, me too. Stupid, huh?


      Yes indeed.

    • Re:A shame... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MillionthMonkey ( 240664 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @05:05PM (#17380952)
      If someone gave you the choice of making $1 billion for making a television show, but the show is pirated to an extent such that over half the people who watch it don't pay you, or making $500 million for making a television show with little or no piracy of it at all with a much, much smaller audience, which would you prefer?

      $1 billion and no future customers vs. $0.5 billion and lots of currently unsatisfied future customers?

      They're not exactly in it for the money, not for today anyway. You're thinking short term. The RIAA and their partners at Microsoft are willing to make the necessary investments now so that they can eventually do for arts, culture, and politics what DeBeers did for diamonds. They basically want a stranglehold on popular culture so that they can reduce the diversity of viewpoints you hear and limit the quality of audio/video signals that you see- quite a lucrative position to be in that also confers significant political power. With consolidated media you can selectively promote political candidates who will let your lobbyists write the bills that they pass in Congress, and you can easily suppress alternative viewpoints from being heard anywhere except on the Internet. Political suppression on the Internet will require political/legislative fixes, to solve problems like Net Neutrality that just let anyone say anything.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by jfengel ( 409917 )
      In the case of TV, the networks have a special consideration: nearly free bandwidth. They get premium advertising space delivered into everybody's home for free, which allows them to produce really expensive shows with a truly national audience. And the must-carry laws mean that they have to be available on cable systems, too.

      Therefore, pay-to-download doesn't just substitute one form of income for another; it completely undermines this immense boondoggle they've been given in over-the-air broadcasting. And

    • you obviously know nothing about porn (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @05:24PM (#17381168)
      Uhhh, I don't know what planet you're living on, but here on Earth, porn is VERY popular, if anything, MORE people are fans of it than care to admit. The whole beauty of Internet porn is the SHEER variety of it all. Seen one, seen 'em all? I could say the same thing about Chinese people, but that would be just ignorant, wouldn't it? If you're not into porn, and it's "all the same to you", that's fine and dandy. I can't fathom why people like professional football so much. Seen one game, seen em all, right?

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by iminplaya ( 723125 )
      People get naked and do it, ho hum. Check out this other one where... Um... People get naked and do it, ho hum.

      Actually, it's more like, "Wow! I've never seen the cat jump that high."

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by s_p_oneil ( 795792 )
      I agree with most of that. The only point I would differ on is that they charge way too much per season for most TV shows. There are some shows I would like to have, but not at $50 or more per season. They're taking something we're used to getting for free (with ads) and assigning a fairly high price tag to it. Yes, I know how many hours of entertainment it is, but it's still kind of a lot to ask when you've already seen it for free.

      Take Heroes for example. I'd much rather go to nbc.com and watch any episod

    • Re:A shame... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Jimmay ( 1009425 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @07:02PM (#17382258)
      Pr0n is all the same???? Are you serious???

      Here's some of what you're missing:

      Straight hardcore, girl on girl, 3-somes, BJ-only, HJ-only, foursomes, orgies, orgies with vampires (my personal fave), black porn, white porn, asian porn (another fun one), watersports (need to take a leak?), bukakke (are you thirsty?), double stuffing (only if your buddy and you are REALLY secure), gay hardcore, gay orgies (not my cup of tea), amateur, amateur upskirts (that creepy guy in the clubs with a vidcam and a raincoat on), amateur db (downblouse viewing), latex fetish, puffy fetish (these are hilarious! almost as much fun as a ball-gag, a ball-pean hammer, and a fifth of Jack)..... and I haven't even touched on the various sub-genres of poop pr0n!

      Hmmm.... off to the newsgroups.....

    • Re:A shame... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @07:33PM (#17382532) Homepage
      First, the bullshit the executives use about tv shows "pirated" is exactly that. Bullshit. Advertisers are not paying less to air during the shows that are being "pirated" in fact the shows that are heavily pirated are the top shows and earn the MOST money. BattleStar Galactica is the #1 "pirated" show on TV next to the simpsons. Both make craploads of money and get paid for what they did, the channel that aired it got paid for the advertising during the airtime, JUST LIKE NORMAL.

      Anyone that says you are stealing a TV show that AIRED is so full of it they stink. the show was created, they got paid for it, the broadcaster got paid for airing it by the commercials that aired during it. THEY ALL GOT THEIR MONEY.

      The exec's that are whining like little babies are the ones that want to wring another $1.00 per viewing out of it after it aired. I.E. the pigs that smell the cooking bacon out there and want a piece of that pie too.

      It's drivin by 100% unadulterated greed, and they try to villify it to justify it in the minds of the public.... Their real definition is that you are a thief if you have a VCR, DVR, recording DVD player or PC that can watch it... They just dont say that in public as it will piss off the public.

  • Metrics used are flawed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by eln ( 21727 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @04:36PM (#17380638)
    10MB is still well within the range of the size of videos porn sites flood the net with as teasers to get people to go pay for the full-length stuff on their websites. Just because it's being downloaded for free via P2P doesn't mean it's piracy or illegal, it may be precisely what the publishers of the content wanted.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Nos. ( 179609 )
      Okay, but they did say 10MB or larger. However, the stats they have are pretty useless. They give no indication of how many of those downloads were of copyrighted material. I download trailers of games and movies over P2P all the time.
      • The metric is asinine to the nth degree. Who buys 10 minutes of video at a store? Basically, they are talking about people watching YouTube videos and calling them "illegal" because they might be clips of SNL or the latest South Park.

        A real metric would be measuring how many people downloaded FULL PROGRAMS and BURNED THEM TO DISCS for permanent storage.

        They might as well claim everybody who uses NetFlix and BlockBuster is a pirate, too, since they rent movies, as well.

        • I downloaded all the seasons of Futurama and Stargate, but you know what else I did/am doing? That's right, I'm buying the expensive box sets. Timeshifting is legal, fair use, etc. plus I PAY for the programming (Cable premium channels) so whether I set my VCR, TV app, or download it, what the hell is the difference? It all comes down to timeshifting. They should kiss my feet because I am buying the box sets after legally timeshifting every season of those shows.

          OH NOES, THESE PEOPLE MIGHT DECIDE TO BUY THE
  • > The largest target continues to be adult oriented content and TV shows, with only an estimated 5 percent being mainstream movie content. From the article:

    The Internet is for porn! [youtube.com] (What NDP wrote!)
    The Internet is for porn! (I shake my Wiimote!)
    Wii up all night honking our horn
    To porn, porn, porn!

  • I'm shocked and surprised (Score:3, Insightful)

    by macadamia_harold ( 947445 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @04:38PM (#17380658) Homepage
    Nearly 60 percent of video files downloaded from P2P sites were adult-film content, while 20 percent was TV show content and 5 percent was mainstream movie content.

    Only 60 percent? The fact that the amount of porn being downloaded is nowhere near the 90% mark surely spells doom for the mainstream tv & movie industry.
  • Generally, movies are more easily available for purchase than TV shows, which might explain a lot about these findings. It would have been very nice if NPD could subdivide their categories into content which is available online or on DVD, and that which is not. Then we could see the extent to which legal distribution channels cut piracy.

  • Why is this surprising? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by $RANDOMLUSER ( 804576 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @04:40PM (#17380694)
    Blockbuster doesn't carry pr0n, neither does Wal-Mart. Besides, your neighbors are at Wal-Mart.

    I think TV series are in the position that VHS movies were 15 years ago. Back then, movies cost 80$ US, and nobody bought them. When the price came down to the 20$ range, they started to sell. I think many people feel the same about TV series. At 80$ a season, they're not going to sell. I mean, after all it's just a TV show. If the prices came down to the 30$ range, I bet more people would buy them because they're major fans, or to watch the two episodes they missed.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Elentari ( 1037226 )
      Actually, there's a Blockbuster store in my town that does.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by kwerle ( 39371 )
      I don't suppose they'll ever sell me one, thank you, NetFlix.

      Netflix carries all the TV I want to see - except Mythbusters, and the daily show on a nightly basis.

      Hmm. I just got an iTunes card - that may take care of Daily Show! Mythbusters I've requested Netflix carry.

      Cable failed to live up to it's early hype - TV without commercials (yeah, that was the idea). Now it is dead to me because of that failing.

      Yeah, I'm still paying for the content, and that's fine with me.

      The bottom line is: I won't be buyi

    • $2 per show is too high (Score:2, Interesting)

      by ahbi ( 796025 )
      I agree. My problem with iTunes is that $2 per show (regardless of time) is just too damn much. That comes out to $40 per season for a 20 episode season. Well, on Amazon the DVDs run $20-30. On NetFlix they are a sunk cost. Why buy on iTunes?

      Now I was bored once and decided to try iTunes-Videos out, but I couldn't find anything I wanted to watch. And the more I searched the more the $2 per episode bugged me. A 1 hour show, $2. A 30 minute show $2. If I think $2 is too much for an hour show, why wou

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by node 3 ( 115640 )

        My problem with iTunes is that $2 per show (regardless of time) is just too damn much. That comes out to $40 per season for a 20 episode season.

        Most (all?) seasons on iTunes are cheaper than $1.99 times the number of episodes. The ones I've looked at are $35.

        Why buy on iTunes?

        • They are available the day after the show airs.
        • With a season pass, they show up automatically.
        • They are immediately and easily played on your computer (where I watch my TV).
        • Can be played on iPods, and soon iTVs, which covers absolutely every (non-contrived) scenario for TV viewing.
        • iTunes downloads are very fast.
        • Price-point is acceptable (to me).

        Of course, YMMV (and in fact, clearly does), bu

    • At 80$ a season, they're not going to sell.

      Er, they charge $80 for a series because people pay it, and they're selling very well. I'm not buying, but I know plenty of people who do, and while that's just anecdotal, the numbers [zdnet.com] back me up.

      Personally, I'd rather pay someone to kick me than watch something twice -- let alone multiple times -- but maybe that's just me. Between books, magazines, the net, programming, and gaming, there's enough to do that's new and fresh that I see little point in watching some

  • I'm a bad, bad pirate (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Dirtside ( 91468 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @04:44PM (#17380734) Journal
    Pirate that I am, I evilly downloaded the first three episodes of Heroes because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. The videos I downloaded had had ALL THE COMMERCIALS REMOVED! No revenue for you, NBC!

    Of course, as a result, my wife and I sit down and watch Heroes on NBC every week, including commercials (we don't watch enough TV to need a TiVo). If we hadn't been able to illegally download those videos, we'd likely not be watching the show OR the commercials.

    So I ask: Did it benefit or hurt NBC that I illegally downloaded and watched the first three episodes of Heroes?

    • Re:I'm a bad, bad pirate (Score:5, Funny)

      by voice_of_all_reason ( 926702 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @04:50PM (#17380804)
      You hurt them on the inside ;(
    • It doesn't matter. The law is not about who benefits or who gets hurts; the law is about the law. Which, admittedly, is part of the problem.

      • What, that the law provides exclusions for timeshifting, which really is what this is a form of?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by stubear ( 130454 )
          No, it's distribution. Timeshifting is done by the individual who is going to consumer the content, not by others who provide the content for them.
      • The law in this case does consider who gets hurt (as it always should). You may be able to extract damages from a person who distributes Heroes for free, but you'll run into the timeshifting argument (they were broadcast), and you'll also run into the problem that this increases exposure of a new series, thus adding to the people who actually watch the show. Of course, you first need NBC to bitch about this, which depends on whether they're run by screwheads.

        As an aside, ever since I got my ReplayTV, I do

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by rachit ( 163465 )
      You can go to www.nbc.com and download Heroes episodes from thier website. Not sure if includes commercials or not, but IMO, nbc is doing the right thing here by allowing access to episodes over the web (even if it was with commercials).

    • So I ask: Did it benefit or hurt NBC that I illegally downloaded and watched the first three episodes of Heroes?

      Are you a Nielsen viewer (as in, are you one of the people that Nielsen Media Research surveys to see what people watch on TV)? If no, then whether you watch Heroes on the air or from piracy makes absolutly no difference to NBC. Maybe you'll buy something that was advertised during it, and maybe that company will spend more money advertising on NBC, but how do they know that's where their extr

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Ironica ( 124657 )

        Are you a Nielsen viewer (as in, are you one of the people that Nielsen Media Research surveys to see what people watch on TV)? If no, then whether you watch Heroes on the air or from piracy makes absolutly no difference to NBC.

        Actually, Nielsen has set-top boxes in a small fraction of homes all the time, but then does random polling of the general population to supplement and calibrate the data they get from "Nielsen families." So *any* of us might figure into Nielsen's statistics, if we happen to get tha

    • Not that your argument doesn't hold any water, but in the case of Heroes, NBC offers the show online on their website. It can also be downloaded off of iTunes.
    • Just watch them online [nbc.com]. :) OK, it has advertisements but it's free beside that.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by q2k ( 67077 )
      I watched all 11 Heros episodes over the last 3 days - right from NBC.com with very limited advertising. There was 4 or 5 commercial breaks that lasted about 15 seconds each - and showed the exact same commercial each time. It was an interesting approach. The commercials were short enough that I didn't get irritated by them, yet by showing the same one 5 times in about 40 minutes I do remember what companies were doing the advertising.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Gogo0 ( 877020 )
      I downloaded 24 season 3 and subsequently purchased all the season DVD boxes.
      Same for:
      Curb Your Enthusiasm (bought DVDs)
      Dexter and Brotherhood (subscribed to Showtime)
      Battlestar Galactica (started watching SciFi)
      House (started watching new eps as they air)
      The Shield (bought DVDs and follow it as it airs)
      Lost (bought DVDs and follow it as it airs)
      and a few others.

      Im sure that Im in the list of people who downloaded TV material. Good thing for the studios that I did, theyve got a lot of my money as
    • Considering that I already pay Comcast loads of money for cable TV (because if you don't, they charge you just as much more in the cable modem bill). It is none of their business what I watch the shows on, whether it is on my TV or on my computer. Likewise, I see no difference between "downloading" a show to the TV screen and downloading it to my hard drive. Sure, there are no commercials on the P2P versions, but if I was going to watch it on the TV, I would have taped it first to skip over commercials anyw

  • 5 Percent? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SandwhichMaster ( 1044184 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @04:47PM (#17380764) Homepage
    The MPAA is constantly whining, wasting millions of dollars, and annoying all of us over 5 percent? I made the mistake of buying a DVD recently and had to sit through that annoying anti piracy clip. You know... "You wouldn't steal a car would you? You wouldn't steal a purse..." Yeah, because stealing a car, and copying a DVD are even remotely the same. Its frustrating and insulting that every time I watch my PURCHASED DVD, this stupid thing will come up. I don't like being accused of stealing, before watching my movies. Ironically, if I'd have just pirated the movie, I wouldn't be seeing that clip, as well as other annoying previews. Maybe they should concentrate on making good movies to win over new customers, instead of insulting remaining customers.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Dunbal ( 464142 )
      You wouldn't steal a car would you? You wouldn't steal a purse...

            Yes I would, yes I woul... oops?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by bigberk ( 547360 )
      It is insulting to be put through an educational lesson on the industry's demands. So stop buying the DVDs, that's what I did. (Rent second-hand to keep money away from the industry). I'm not going to pay to be talked down to... and when I do go to movies, it's second run theatres
    • That is why the movied pirate god's invented DVD decryptor and shrink. Rip it, shrink it, and then watch it, with no warnings, no previews, no region codes, no commercials, no retarded extras, no control lock outs, excessive menus, etc etc. The movie simply starts playing and still has the convience of chapters still in place.

      The best part in my opinion is that you don't even have to reburn it to a DVD if you don't want to. Plays quite well straight off the harddrive with no issues. Love it.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by MobileTatsu-NJG ( 946591 )
      "Ironically, if I'd have just pirated the movie, I wouldn't be seeing that clip, as well as other annoying previews."

      Every time I've watched one of those commercials at a theater I've heard a few people say "How do you download movies?"

  • Outstrip? (Score:4, Funny)

    by voice_of_all_reason ( 926702 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @04:47PM (#17380766)
    v. to outdo; surpass; excel.

    I don't think this word means what you think it means. To outstrip legal downloads, piracy would have had to been behind first, which is a preposterous claim.
  • Nearly 60 percent of video files downloaded from P2P sites were adult-film content

    You can tell it's geeks and nerds doing the downloading.

  • tv shows illegal? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jupiterssj4 ( 801031 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @05:00PM (#17380910)
    Why is downloading TV shows illegal? They are broadcast for free on the tv anyway, and I just fast forward at 5X through the commercials on my DVR, so I don't see them anyway. Why are they pissy about tv shows being bad to download, oh no! someone might actually watch their show! I agree about porn being up there, its because its expensive and not at common rental places or stores

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by IANAAC ( 692242 )
      Why is downloading TV shows illegal?

      I pretty much agree with you if they're broadcast over-the-air shows, but some of the most popular shows being downloaded are actually shows on HBO, SHO, etc, which are premium channels with no commercials to begin with.

      That being said, I can also understand why people continue to do it: Premium cable is not at all cheap.

  • Oligarch #1: There seems to be a trend towards downloading content...
    Oligarch #2: Really, wow, what should we do about that? Leverage the new technology to our advantage?
    Oligarch #1: Naaa, lets bury our head in the sand and pretend its not happening! That way we dont have to do any actual work and can continue to skim traditional channels for the bulk of the cash!
    Oligarch #2: Cool, and lets sue the internet!
    Oligarch #1: Yeah, that will work! Kinda like our "fart vs thunder" collegues in the RIAA!

    • It actually happened (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Back in 1996, something similar to this conversation actually happened. This was when the Internet was really starting to take off, and the Media Moguls were really worried that free downloads would jeoparize their historic business model and wanted to preserve it at all costs.

      I was working at Interval Research at the time (a Paul Allen funded attempt to clone Xerox Parc, which failed due to various bits of stupidity). The manager of our group (we were working on a precuror to the Palm Pilot) managed to get

  • Pay content will increase (Score:4, Informative)

    by Nightspirit ( 846159 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @05:00PM (#17380914)
    ...and it is incredibly addicting. Xbox live media download has serious flaws (lack of content, lack of chapters, etc.) but it is incredibly easy to use. I've already spent $60 on there due to just being bored and having instant (well, within 5 minutes) gratification. I've since toned down my purchases, but that $60 is more than I've spent all year on DVDs and CDs.

    I believe once content providers use and improve on this model pay pay to download content will approach or surpass illegal downloads.
    • You forgot "doesn't work half the fucking time" and calling xbox support is like getting kicked in the nuts.

  • Where can I buy videos for download without DRM? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by vertinox ( 846076 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @05:01PM (#17380916)
    Seeing what the answer to that question will explain why piracy is doing better than legitimate sales.

    As soon as they put the videos online for sale and download without DRM and a standardized format (Divx or Xvid), I think you will see a dramatic change.

    • My method (Score:3, Interesting)

      by sootman ( 158191 )
      Sales! I buy DVDs when they make it into the $5.49 bin at WalMart or the $7.50-9.99 bin anywhere else.* Bring'em home, rip'em**, copy'em to my server***, then put'em into a closet.**** I'm not big into extras or anything, and copying the VIDEO_TS folders would take up too much room anyway, so I'm happy to have one file per movie.

      I've also recently discovered that this method also works with DVDs from the library. :-) I imagine it would also work with NetFlix discs.

      * There's no such thing as "I've got to hav

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by kindbud ( 90044 )
        ** I rip them with HandBrake on Mac OS X to ~1500kbps, deinterlaced, 2-pass H264 MP4s.

        Six hours encoding time for a 100 minute movie (give or take depending on content), is that about right?

        Disk space is cheaper than my time. I just rip the VIDEO_TS and watch with a DVD player a few minutes later.
  • Most Slashdotters are immune to this argument by now. But for the newcomers - welcome, and let the trolling commence!!!

  • cut off nose to spite face (Score:4, Insightful)

    by grapeape ( 137008 ) <mpope7 AT kc DOT rr DOT com> on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @05:15PM (#17381072) Homepage
    I download the occasional tv show, when I happen to be busy when the show I like is broadcast or I fail to tivo it. IMHO if the Execs would look at the big picture they would find that it probably increases revenue rather than lessens it. Take 24 for instance, its a show where you pretty much have to see every episode, if I miss one I download it. The alternative is to wait until the season is over and buy the box set, which I do anyway. When I miss a show or several episodes and cant find a torrent, I generally just stop watching until the box set is available so they loose my eyeballs the rest of the season. Usually somewhere in between the missed show and the dvd release I tend to loose interest and forget about it, so they loose even the dvd revenue. This is what happend with me and Lost, I watched all of the first season, missed almost a month of season two and the only torrents I could find were unbearably slow so I just stopped watching. I had every intention of getting it on DVD but found another show I liked that was on at the same time so I still havent bothered.

    I dont have an IPod and dont care for itunes, but if I could buy a download at a reasonable price that was at a resolution viewable on my tv I would have no problem doing so. A few networks have at least figured out part of that, my son for example watches Ben10 on cartoon networks website for free regularly. Since its free he doesnt mind watching it on the computer, they flash banner ads so they get their ad revenue and everyone is happy.

    For some reason the networks have a hard time accepting that times have changed the days of the whole family sitting down at 8pm to watch Ed Sullivan are long over, people are busier and have more diversions and distractions. Giving the viewing audience flexability is the future, the old ways will die, it might take a while and will be fought tooth and nail but its no less inevitable.

  • I beg to differ, sir! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Weaselmancer ( 533834 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @05:16PM (#17381080)

    8 percent (six million households) downloaded at least one digital video file (10MB or larger) from a P2P service for free in the third quarter of 2006.

    Free? Nonsense! I have to pay my ISP every month!

    Nyuk nyuk nyuk!

  • Wow, people using the Internet to download TV episodes they missed, i.e., timeshifting, which is allowed by the Fair Use clause? and YET while users have been doing this for several years now, DVDs still sell? What's next, they'll discover that people will borrow books and videos from libraries *gasp* for FREE, while still buying their own copies of the videos and books from borders or amazon or another store? OH NOES!

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by DragonWriter ( 970822 )

      Wow, people using the Internet to download TV episodes they missed, i.e., timeshifting, which is allowed by the Fair Use clause?

      Downloading TV episodes you "missed" is not timeshifting as was ruled fair use under Betamax.

      Receiving it through the regular broadcast means and recording it yourself is timeshifting. Getting a copy from someone else who recorded it, edited it from the format it was broadcast (say, by removing commercials) and made it available to you is something completely different.

  • Ya know, I'm pretty skeptical of all these reports that show how downloading this and that has eaten away at video sales, CD sales, etc. Given the exact same set of data, executives on both sides of the argument could support whatever claim they were making...that downloads are helping sales, that downloads lead to future in-store sales, that downloads are hurting sales, etc. Taken a step further, there are infinite numbers of ways to collect this data, once again giving a bias to whichever argument you wan

  • The largest target continues to be adult oriented content and TV shows, with only an estimated 5 percent being mainstream movie content.

    Most TV shows are broadcast to a particular region at whatever time and day, then the networks like to arbitrarily rearrange schedules, preempt, etc. It's no wonder that DVRs and downloading are so popular. The moral issue gets hazier to me too--is downloading a TV show really any worse than taping/DVRing it? Am I "stealing" from the advertisers that paid to put in c

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by UncleTogie ( 1004853 ) *
      What kills me is this:

      They scream about all the lost ad revenue.... and act like it's the fault of the consumer. Well, NBC/ABC/CBS, you may have contractually obligated yourself to show those ads, but I am under NO contractual obligation to view them, keep them on tape, or see them as anything than "broadcast-twice-as-loud" annoyances. I'm 70% deaf, and have to jack the TV up to hear the subtle dialogue usually NOT included in captioning. The commercials now get muted, since I'm NOT interested in window

  • How many would carry various fetish videos, and how many people want to be seen renting or buying such videos?

    Compare that number with the people that actually do watch such videos.

    A) I'd suspect that people would find most fetishes are fairly common
    B) People still wouldn't want to be seen renting it.
  • compared to legal video sales. The largest target continues to be adult oriented content and TV shows,

    Pirated TV shows, eh? Anyone surprised? It's the content provider's fault, and its their problem. No sympathy here. The reason it's pirated so much is that there's no viable alternative. VERY few shows, except a few tokens available on iTunes (The Office, etc), can't be bought legally until the season finishes and the DVD comes out. If it comes out. Months later.
    So let's say the DVDs come out.
  • Everyone knows the internet is for porn [youtube.com].
  • How the hell does anyone compress a movie down to 10MB? A free trailer can be 10MB and downloading a free trailer isn't piracy, it is advertisement. Stupid idiots.
  • The leap that the media industry makes is that these "downloads" are DISPLACING sales (zero evidence of this). I think that's bogus. For several years now I have neither bought nor downloaded audio music. If I stopped being able to find movies on torrents tomorrow, I guarantee you I would not go and buy the DVDs. I might go and rent them from my local small store for $2, but I sure as hell won't buy them.

    My best guess is, the industry is facing decreasing sales as a result of declining quality and excessive
  • Oh, you wouldn't believe the free* content I've downloaded and watched in the past month. Good grief there's probably enough to put me behind bars for years.

    The amazing thing is that it's just so easy, and I even got a free* box to do it on! There's this website..I think it's okay to link it here [directv.com] that will give you the box that downloads literally tens of thousands of shows every month. It will store them so you can watch them over and over again. They'll even come to your house and set it up for you - in m

  • NPD group is biased (Score:5, Informative)

    by bigberk ( 547360 ) <bigberk@users.pc9.org> on Wednesday December 27, 2006 @05:47PM (#17381494)

    Report is from NPD Group, well who are their clients [npd.com] ... EMI Music (a large RIAA member).

    This is not an unbiased research firm, they are a marketing company and will serve the interests of their clients.

    Probably just another arm of the RIAA/MPAA. I don't see how it would possibly serve this for-profit company's interests to say anything other than downloading is theft

  • I've purchased and rented a few DVD's of TV shows, to find the soundtracks completely altered. The producers didn't already have the copyright permissions to include the songs in the non-broadcast format, and they didn't want to pay to acquire the rights.

    The shows' impacts were significantly altered by this. In once case, songs had originally been well chosen to reflect the moods of scenes as well tying in current pop culture in a very relevant fashion. The DVD alternative soundtrack did neither -- just

  • I don't see the RIAA defending porn (Score:3, Funny)

    by gelfling ( 6534 ) on Thursday December 28, 2006 @12:07AM (#17384162) Homepage Journal
    So it's a win win for everyone.

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