Interesting Article..Potential for Disturbing Trend

[camp54]

Searched around, and didn't see this posted anywhere, so I figured I'd post....Thought this article would be of interest to everyone here, since it brings up some good points:

Part one: http://www.tvpredictions.com/smith082607.htm
Part two (in case you missed the link in the article) http://www.tvpredictions.com/smithtwo082607.htm

The end of the article sums it up best, because it shows potential fall-out for all consumers, not just those tied up in the Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD "war":

So magnify the trend using Paramount as an example of what you can get away with. What happens when cable and satellite companies start bidding for content exclusivity of major content?

Will DIRECTV pay Time Warner for an exclusive right to distribute HBO, meaning that customers who bought cable with the expectation of getting HBO are disenfranchised? Will all baseball games only be available on Comcast cable? Will Showtime only be on Echostar?

Will consumers have to have a cable box and two satellite receivers as well as two HDTV disC players in order to access all major content? And will studios shuffle the deck every once in a while as they make new exclusive agreements, forcing consumers to scrap perfectly good equipment and libraries because someone else has bid more?

Disposable equipment, disposable discs, disposable formats, disposable customers. Disposable companies too.

Consumers, regardless of their interest in the HDTV format war, should take note: Paramount has just lowered the bar for acceptable behavior to customers.