I've read the article and no where is it doom and gloom. You don't have to read your own personal biases into the story.

My thoughts precisely. Thanks for spelling it out so nicely.

Soap operas have public executions? I might have to give the genre another go!

Artificial scarcity makes Time-Warner more money right now. Plus they might be able to pull off some huge win copyright lawsuits. They'll wait for someone else to create a successful business model before they change.

What do you think the last mile people have to do with this? Cable companies have no love of bundling. They have to do it or they lose large swathes of content. If you're like me and won't pay for a cable subscription just to watch Game of Thrones blame Time-Warner, owners of HBO, and the people that ensure you are paying a cable company for all their other channels before you get HBO.

As the GP pointed, he's time-shifting. Nothing illegal here.

Let absurdity reign through the rule of law.

The math has as many contradictions as any mainstream religion. Complex systems are complex systems, no matter the starting point.

What, you're trying to add some intelligence to this thread?

I want him to show that empathy is somehow a new trait...that'd be some finely tune BS.

No need to feed the trolls.

Reality distortion field? I'd have to say it's the rest of us in the distortion fields. We don't have enough information to understand the system, yet many of the people on this topic have decided they know who to blame for the crash. I've come to accept that reality distortion fields are a necessary part of belonging to the human race. The few of us that can get past them are likely to hold power over the rest of us. Using reality to one's advantage is of course the ultimate power.

Reread the GP. Your comment isn't helping.

No need to blame the banks. It was a systemic problem that was not created exclusively by the banks (Ratings agencies told them the risk was low), by finance (derivatives are actually an excellent financial tool when used intelligently), by government (government backed credit has been used since time immemorial, some for good some for bad, regarding both intention and result), by salesmen (the micro-economics were sound), by buyers (again with the micro-economics), or by the ratings agencies. I don't have a comment for the last one, as they (much more than the SEC or any government agency) are the watchdog for these situations. If there was any misdeed, it was that the finance guys felt good about creating crazy derivatives while the ratings guys felt good about rating them. Yes, some people in this huge equation were malicious. They can be found in each and every corner. And they would have gotten away with it except for the crash. Justice for any who committed crimes, but blame none if not the whole for the crash.