A balanced purchase
August 1st, 2012 at 12:23 pm by David FarrarMade two purchases yesterday:
- A Blu-ray DVD player so I can watch movies and TV shows of content providers who are willing to take money off me.
- A 1 TB Media player so I can watch movies and TV shows of content providers who are not willing to take money off me.
I think that is a very balanced purchase!
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August 1st, 2012 at 12:36 pm
sounds enlightened to be sophisticated
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 12:40 pm
re #2, they are very willing to take money off you… just not willing to change their business models.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 12:47 pm
@kk not so. For example you can only buy QI series A to C. The rest you have to copy if you want to see them.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 12:53 pm
KG – Yeah I was making a more general comment about the media industry’s unwilllingness to embrace the change that is likely to overrun them. Didn’t know that about QI. Really like that series.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 1:17 pm
As the ‘Dark Knight Rises’ rolls past $US550 revenue in just 2 weeks and The Avengers takes in $US1.4B world-wide why would the ‘media industry’ want to ‘embrace change’ or ‘change their business model’?
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 1:24 pm
VPN tunnel, just sayin…
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Or:
Vote:1. Blu-Ray – so you can sit through 5 minutes of FBI warnings, menus and previews after rifling through a stack of old DVDs for 10 minutes to find the right one.
2. Torrented file – So you can watch easy-to-find and fast-to-play high-quality video files, that if you needed to you could transfer to your laptop easily to watch on a plane.
August 1st, 2012 at 1:35 pm
heh nice
DPF – are you rolling with an Apple TV box yet? 160 bucks! type in your wireless password and you can send music from PC to your stereo. or ipad. or use the ipad as a remote to control music from PC or MAC.
or search for youtube clips on ipad and send them to TV. its freakin great.
you can also put redtube etc on the tv. NICE!
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 1:36 pm
tristan – high quality avis, xvids or x264 clips do not compare to bluray. they dont come close.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 1:42 pm
Would a balanced purchase for dime be a hooker on each arm?
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 2:01 pm
What was the media player, DPF?
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Unwilling to take money off you actually equals unwilling to sell their property in that format. Not sure that gives people the right to steal it?
[DPF: Not just about the format. What about shows that no one in NZ purchases, yet they still won't sell to individuals here?]
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 2:17 pm
@alan. Of course it doesn’t give you a right to steal it. I have wrestled with the moral ambiguity of my position through one or two glasses of Pinot. First I get someone to copy them for me as I have no idea how it’s done. Second if they ever deign to sell a copy I buy one.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 2:30 pm
YWD – If you’re suggesting that technological change is having no impact on the profitability of media industry, then I’m suggesting that you’re depicted here.
KG – I solve the moral ambiguity like this. I don’t download music, but I do download movies and/or TV series after they’re screened on free-to-air TV in NZ. I regard this as a substitute for a PVR.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 2:37 pm
Alan Johnstone,
Perhaps someone could explain why such “property” arbitrarily falls into the public domain after a certain length of time. How can a so-called “right” to property exist for an arbitrary length of time? Surely this undermines the very notion that there is such a thing as a “right” to intellectual property. The “right” is merely a social construct.
If people can copy protected works illegitimately online and there are no adverse consequences in terms of harsh government action or the destruction of the industry which produces the valued protected works, then on what objective basis does one regard such copying as “wrong”?
Given that the industry has thrived in an era of rampant copying then arguably it is the law which is wrong and not reflective of society’s best interests.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 2:52 pm
more like a brunette hooker and a blonde hooker
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 2:54 pm
KG – I solve the moral ambiguity like this. I don’t download music, but I do download movies and/or TV series after they’re screened on free-to-air TV in NZ. I regard this as a substitute for a PVR.
Why wouldn’t you download music after it’s been played on the radio?
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Weihana, the arbitrary construct you refer to is the law. Pick and choose which ones you obey is an interesting path to take.
I don’t claim the law is correct, but neither do I blog about flouting it
[DPF: I do not believe I have said I flout the law. You are making assumptions that any material I download is copyrighted]
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 3:06 pm
@weihana if it’s copyrighted it’s someones property. I can get to I have no more right to steal it just because they won’t sell it to me then stealing my neighbour’s lawn mower when they won’t sell it to me.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 3:10 pm
The last time we rented a DVD to sit down and watch after dinner with the daughter, we had to sit through a lot of compulsory, impossible-to-skip previews and trailers for shithouse movies that we didn’t want to see…
Not saying that justifies piracy, but when that is the sort of things movie distributors do to their customers it’s easy to understand why they command no goodwill or loyalty from many people!
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 3:11 pm
[DPF: I do not believe I have said I flout the law. You are making assumptions that any material I download is copyrighted]
Not unreasonable assumptions, surely:
Vote:http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2005/10/a_good_bus_trip.html
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/05/games_of_thrones_and_piracy.html
August 1st, 2012 at 3:19 pm
Really the argument is about pleasing customers. You know that funny person that spends money.
Frankly I couldn’t give a flying albatross for the film industry. Can’t be bothered going to their films at some place in town so imagine how much more $ they would make if they allowed me to download and view for a small price. Last year I spent money on one theatre ticket. If I could watch at home I would more than likely buy quite a few more rather than waitt for TV to replay.
Really this is all about making their real estate pay, a bit like McDonalds in a way.
I too own real estate and its called my home. I would rather stay there and watch stuff or do something else instead.
Vote:Still never was much into fantasy land like avid film goers.
August 1st, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Alan Johnstone (90) Says:
August 1st, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Agreed. But you talked about a “right” and to most people that means more than just the law. That raises the subject of ethics.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 3:22 pm
@rrm agree completely. I spend $5k a year on DVDs and their incessant anti piracy crap makes me WANT to go and pirate them. DVD-x is very good for getting around all that on your computer but I’ve not found a way to do it on a DVD or blu ray player but I am a Luddite do not saying there isn’t a way
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 3:29 pm
A nice analogy but that’s all it is. If I “steal” a lawnmower, the previous owner is deprived of the lawn mower. Indeed that is what “steal” means: it means to take and thereby deprive the owner of that which you have taken.
Copyright violation, while arguably analogous to stealing, is not the same thing. It does not deprive the owner of the thing, rather it violates a legal monopoly on trading/distributing the thing.
The fact that legislators grant monopoly rights to content creators does not imply that such laws are necessarily “right” in an ethical sense or should be regarded the same as ordinary property.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 3:34 pm
You stated movies and tv shows from providers unwilling to take money from you. Strongly implies to existance of a copyright holder. I’m not aware of many tv shows or movies that are out of copyright.
I’m making no moral judgements here or saying that you are wrong. I’m just surprised at the open duscussion of such acts in times like these.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 3:41 pm
Alan, the law does not say that downloading copyright material is stealing. It says it is coprright infringement.
The claim that copyright infringement is the same thing as stealing comes from copyright holders, and is patently ridiculous. I’m not claiming that piracy isn’t morally wrong or that it shouldn’t be illegal. But it is a completely distinct crime from theft of physical property, and should be treated as such. The phrase “piracy is stealing” is just blatant propaganda by copyright holders.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 4:08 pm
I’m with Dime on this, ATV2 + ipad = win.
(also after jailbreaking it’ll play any media you wish!)
Vote:(and a vpn to allow hulu, etc)
August 1st, 2012 at 4:55 pm
“The claim that copyright infringement is the same thing as stealing….. …is patently ridiculous. ”
Oh, bollocks.
The owners of the original material, actually paid to have it made. I appreciate this may be a new concept to you, but it is their IP and they are entitled to make a dollar from it. Indeed, they are totally entitled to recover their investment via sales of (in this case) tickets to the movie or via rentals of the DVD. But if some thief decides to steal material that is subject to copyright, then they deprive the rightful owner of the benefit they could reasonably expect from their IP – in this case the revenue. And the owner of the copyright is totally entitled to sue.
But given your advocacy of theft in your comment, I take it you won’t be bleating if / when the price of your next visit to the movie, trebles – in order to compensate for illegal downloading.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 4:57 pm
A fair question. Guess I tend to like artists’ collections and downloading an entire album just feels like crossing a line.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 4:59 pm
Wow. Care to list the titles… or would that comment wind up in moderation?
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 5:13 pm
I read today that in the USA some attorneys troll for downloaders and sue on behalf of their clients asking $2-3000 as their pitch because that is what people will pay to settle. (john doe cases).
Maybe if the fine was based on the number of downloads it might be considered fairer or maybe $2-3000 per case is fair.
Personally I prefer imprisonment for all concerned, thieving bastards all of them as they know full well what they are doing.
And burglary charges for hackers too!
Be great if they also did the downloading company execs/owners who assist for aiding and abetting as well.
“Piracy isn’t theft”?
Vote:Attitudes like that is why society is going down the crapper.
August 1st, 2012 at 5:28 pm
Popcorn hour media player – best of both worlds. Rip your dvd/bluray as an ISO and dump it onto the hard disk (as a backup of course). Sit down and bypass those annoying ads and store your dvd’s in the back of the cupboard.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 5:30 pm
Just on copyrighted material.
Can someone explain where I may be breaking the law here.
I have myskyHd . I pay my sky subscription to have the same 30 movies paid ad infinitum. I record some of these movies on the box to watch 6 months down the track.
I like a movie that I have recorded and paid for on sky so later I download that movie onto my computer via a torrent site then put it onto a stick to watch in the bedroom. Where is there a problem?
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 5:39 pm
Here’s a silly purchase (but it’s cool):
http://www.trademe.co.nz/travel-events-activities/activities/auction-496979166.htm
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 5:56 pm
Running Man – best movie ever.
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 5:59 pm
I bought a blu-ray player last week. Picture quality on full HD TV is awesome.
Vote:Where I am (in the country), will probably wait five years or more for ultra-fast broadband, so downloading is not an option.
August 1st, 2012 at 7:24 pm
I find the western digital gear good (media player hd tv live) and mini nas (my book live 2 Tb).
Vote:August 1st, 2012 at 9:25 pm
Just in case.
http://screencast.com/t/I1EpOonxBK81
Vote:August 2nd, 2012 at 11:14 am
True, but irrelevant. Paying to make something does not imply that one is entitled to reward for it. I could put a lot of effort into sewing a sweater. But it is unlikely that I will get anything for it and that does not mean I have been stolen from.
Not true. The law entitles them to nothing more than the right to restrict copying and distribution. There is no guarantee of any dollars.
Moreover, you have deviated away from the issue: that is whether or not it constitutes stealing. Stealing has nothing to do with the right to make a dollar, nor the right to restrict copying/distribution. Stealing is the taking of something to deprive the owner of that thing.
Point is, that copyright infringement may be regarded as like stealing, does not mean it is stealing.
The price has nothing to do with illegal downloading. The price will always be set to generate maximum profit and they cannot arbitrarily raise the price and expect to make a particular amount of money because raising the price reduces demand.
This is the fallacy of the theft analogy, it presumes that the illegitimate copy would have otherwise been paid for when the fact that the price of an illegal copy is zero dollars increases demand. What is in demand at zero dollars will not necessarily be in demand at a higher price.
Vote:August 2nd, 2012 at 12:23 pm
I watch a lot of BBC on demand. Many great programmes from the BBC. It’s free to air in the UK. but if you are outside of the UK you can’t watch it online as the BBC (and ITV) websites know from you IP address that you are outside the UK. However I use a proxy IP address so it thinks i’m in the UK.
Vote:Great to watch the latest episodes of Coronation Street (and not have to wait a year) Casualty and of course Doctor Who the next day after it’s been screened in the UK.
August 2nd, 2012 at 12:56 pm
“I like a movie that I have recorded and paid for on sky so later I download that movie onto my computer via a torrent site then put it onto a stick to watch in the bedroom. Where is there a problem?”
The problem my friend is two fold, firstly there is the issue that you don’t own the right to watch the movie where you want; your sky contract doesn’t buy you the movie, it just gives you the right to watch it on a device / format prescribed by them. You can argue the morals of format restriction, and frankly I’d agree with you.
The second problem with what you do is that torrents by there nature are p2p networks, you can’t simply download media via a torrent without also facilitating in it distribution to people you don’t know. That’s where the industry has a real issue.
That’s why I would never torrent from my home address or computer directly.
Vote:August 2nd, 2012 at 3:38 pm
Slightly off-topic, but here’s a tip if you have a TelstraClear T-Box. Sign up for all the packages for a month. The next month, cancel all the extras, and leave your T-Box unplugged for a week or so. When you turn it back on you will still have all the extras as the T-Box didn’t receive the update to your settings
Vote: