Quote:
Originally Posted by blacklion
Rob,
Regardless of my personal views about Hollywood and its business practices, as a former part-time business owner, I agree that an employee who steals material or products from the employer is a POS. I also have no questions about the legality of the actions of the employees who supplies the material or the bootlegger or torrenter who makes the bootleg discs or uploads the stolen material on the internet.
My concern as a consumer is that Hollywood keeps focussing its IP protection measures at the wrong end of the chain - they are essentially targetting the end user whereas they are actually dealing with organized transnational criminal networks. Its not Joe Sixpack or his kid copying discs from analog outputs to a drive that they need to worry about. Its the bootleggers in Shanghai and their confederates in LA that are the real problem. The studios are simply going after the soft target while ignoring their own in-house security problem and the global criminal networks.
They want to cripple analog outputs yet the people who are actually stealing and distributing the material don't even bother with copying from analog outputs. They use computers and ripping software. So does it make any sense to disable analog outputs on BD players when the organized pirate networks have long since advanced beyond that?
Honestly?
The studios have a right to protect their IP but not at expense of the consumer. Much as I detest it, I could (with much grinding and gnashing of my teeth) even abide with component outputs being eliminated from newer BD players. Heck, I have 5 BD players with HDMI and component outputs so I should be fine for another 10 years. But its the SOC and ICT that really gets my goat. The studios are not satisfied with eliminating component outputs from future BD players, now they want to have the option to cripple features on existing players. The FW update on the PS3 which eliminated the Linux OS option is a warning for the future.
Even if its just 300 people still using component outputs in all of North America, those 300 folks have the right not be forced to buy new HDMI-capable equipment when they have HT equipment that is still in perfect working order. Not just because studios are scared they might copy discs.
Hollywood is in dire need of creative thinking. But it is run by lemmings who've learnt nothing from the current travails of the music industry.
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My simple view on the subject, and this comes from running my own business, is they have every right to aggressively defend their property. If a person is stealing, they are stealing. Doesn't matter if it's an assistant stealing masters or a kid in his parents basement stealing films of the net. i favor the old ways when dealing with piracy. Scorched earth. You give them both barrels and don't differentiate between the "levels" of their criminality. Wipe them all out. If a kid is stealing, figure the amount and go after the parents home, maybe they'll take their responsibility as a parent seriously if it costs them a little bit. If an assistant at a studio is found to be uploading films, fire them, blacklist them, and make it impossible for them to work in the industry again. And go after damages in court. No settlements promising never to do it again, teach them why they should never do it again. Spending the next decade paying for their theft is the best way to make them realize they are wrong. And as far as the Chinese angle, I would have no problem isolating the whole damn country until some meaningful reforms take place. And I'm talking about human rights reforms along with economic ones. I would gladly pay more for my electronics and clothes if it meant a level playing field. But Hollywood's hands are tied as long as the world governments continue to wink and nod in the interest of cheap goods.