Here is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time.
Is this really what the piracy debate has come down to?
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This is a complicated issue. And first we need to define some terms.
This is not a piracy fight. It’s a debate.
And the term “Piracy” is a bad one. Because it suggest people who download illegally are “pirates”.
For me, the term “pirate” suggests someone who profits from illegal downloading. And a big, big, big majority of people who download illegally do not make money from it. They just enjoy the content.
We don’t pirate because we want to go out of our way to screw musicians, actors, directors, screenwriters etc. If anything, we pirate because we don’t want to get screwed ourselves.
So, why do we pirate?
Here’s what I can think of.
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We don’t want to wait
We don’t want to over pay
We don’t want to run around to a shop
We don’t want to search through a shop
We can’t get what we want
We don’t want a physical copy
We don’t want to pay at all
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If you can defeat all those points above, you will end digital piracy.
It’s that simple.
But sometimes it isn’t.
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Why must we wait?
It is worse for TV. Boardwalk Empire premieres in Australia six months after the US. Why do they make us wait for it?
Even a week is too much. The latest episode of Doctor Who had a big twist in the first ten minutes. They kept it secret till the UK broadcast, but it’s a week before the AU one. And if you wanted to keep the surprise, you would have to literally stay off the internet.
I have Doctor Who as one of my likes, and one of my news feeds. I am a fan. And as soon as I logged onto my Twitter, my Google and my Facebook, I saw the twist. Luckily, I downloaded and enjoyed the episode already.
I didn’t do this in the UK. I didn’t watch it on TV their either, but the second after the episode finishes, it is available to watch, free and on demand, on BBC’s iPlayer. I would say that there is no downloading of Doctor Who in the UK at all. Simple none.
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Why must we over-pay?
Books are full price in digital, and it’s cheaper to buy them in shops mostly. DVDs can fall into this trap – big movies selling for £3 in the UK, but £15 on iTunes.
And that’s digital vs. digital. Paying $30 for an album for one track? Please. Who wants to do that? Then if you have advanced tastes, there’s the imports game. We’re talking too much money – and we know you are ripping us off.
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Why must we go to a shop?
Video stores and CD shops are going if not gone. The video above suggests we should buy DVDs because they are better. How do I even do that? How do most people do that?
And why get a DVD and sit through trailers and crap? The video above suggests that downloading is dodgy and takes a long time. That has not been my experience at all. It’s easy, fast and reliable. Why can’t film companies be like that?
Especially as you still screw me with region codes!
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Why must we dig through a shop?
What stores that are left are badly stocked. Where the internet is an infinite shelf.
Even if you live near a store. Even if you live IN a store. Will that store have everything you want?
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Why can’t we get what we want?
Why the fuck is Nashville not available on DVD here? Why did I have to search high and low for Sweet Inspiration, the Songs of Dan Penn and Spooner Oldman on CD? All those sweet Criterion DVDs….unavailable.
How can I get them then? Well, why they are right here online. At my fingertips.
And let’s go beyond official releases. The internet has such great live sessions, bootlegs and more. I want to hear it – why can’t I?
And then there’s TV. Why can’t I watch the Daily Show? Because of some archaic contract and red tape?
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Why must we own physical copies?
I have thousands of good CDs on crap jewelcases. I have ripped them, and thrown away the cases, keeping the discs and booklets, for a lot of them. You want me to go buy some more jewel cases now?
I watch and listen to far more now than my house can fit. We have seen how much stuff is out there (thanks internet). You expect every home to own every CD and DVD? Insane.
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Why must we pay at all?
This is the tricky one.
I think most people would like it if the people who created the things they’ve enjoyed gets paid for it.
But we don’t necessarily want to be the ones who pay them.
But there are ways of hiding that cost. Advertising. Subscriptions.
There’s no easy answer to this one, but think of it from another angle.
Can we really go back to a model where we pay for everything individually? We are just into too much music and TV these days.
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My 8 points for why we pirate. We need a solution that covers them, and piracy would end. A global BBC iplayer. With every show ever. As soon as they are released. Ad supported perhaps? Or subscriptions.
The solution is not that impossible. We can almost see it. Let’s go for it.
Or else the world will just keep on downloading anyway.
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UPDATE – James rightly points out that another reason to pirate is so you don’t put up with that stupid trailer to not pirate just to watch a DVD you bought.
I have to say, this expands out into another reason it is not easy. Stupid trailers and ads are coming into DVDs. Stupid menus I never liked. And then just the fact the DVDs might be a box downstairs. Sure, I can go get it, pop it in the DVD player, wait for it to load, play me an anti-piracy ad, navigate the menu and make it to my show.
Or I wish I could have subscribed to something where I can just type in a name and click it and play.
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That video above is so bad. And it misses the point completely. And the point is this.
Piracy is easy.
And we like easy.
If there was something easier than piracy, we would take it.
But it’s not as hard as that exageratted nerd in the video. And it’s about the content. I’ve watched downloaded TV shows with my friends in a living room and enjoyed it as much as a DVD.
People often ask – how do you compete with free?
The answer is you’re not.
You’re competing with easy.
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Slashfilm podcast about the PSA video – http://www.slashfilm.com/filmcast-dark-ep-143-antipiracy-psas-tragedy-commons-guest-scott-mendelson-mendelsons-memos/