kungfuwaynewho (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kungfuwaynewho) wrote2012-01-24 09:18 pm
kungfuwaynewho) wrote2012-01-24 09:18 pm
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RIAA's statement on the closing of Megaupload...
...just demonstrates how stupid and out of touch these people are. From this article, some idiot who doesn't understand how causation actually works says that "digital music sales rose after file sharing service Limewire's shutdown in 2010." First of all, who the hell was still using Limewire in 2010? But second of all, how on earth could you say that one led to the other? This is like that whole sea piracy/global warming thing. "Collectively, this evidence strongly suggests that the shutdown of illegal sites helps create a thriving and diverse digital marketplace."
No. What it does is force new alternatives. Napster gives way to Kazaa that gives way to Limewire that gives way to torrents and from there to Megaupload and its ilk, and now that the direct download sites are under attack, something new will pop up. Why?
BECAUSE I DO NOT BUY SHIT IF I DON'T KNOW IF I LIKE IT OR NOT. I don't know why this is so hard for these people to understand. I am not just going to buy a DVD or a CD without having seen or heard it first. I don't have the money to throw around on a whim, and most other people don't, either. I've purchased things I never would have without downloading them first, because I never would have known those things existed. When was the last time you heard Gogol Bordello on the radio? Exactly. But I have four of their CDs and have gone to two concerts, and I guarantee you I never would have even known about them at all if I hadn't been exposed to their music online.
Also, I rarely buy books. I read them for free from the library. How come no one's shutting down the libraries? What's the difference, really?
If I had to actually purchase all the media I consume then I simply wouldn't consume much at all. That's what these imbeciles don't get. I have a finite amount of money. I'm not just going to magically have more because you shut off my access to popular culture. If the only way I can listen to that song that I'm so-so on is to buy it then I just won't buy it. I don't download movies, so if something comes out and it doesn't excite me enough to go out to the theaters, then I just fucking wait till I can watch it for free when the library buys the DVD. The end. I don't even Redbox that shit. BECAUSE I CANNOT AFFORD TO BUY ALL MY ENTERTAINMENT. Sorry, media. Sorry, studio execs and producers and everyone else. That's just the way it is.
They act like it's a zero-sum game and it's not. If I download an episode of American Horror Story because I missed it and I'm so far behind the episodes aren't up on Hulu anymore, I haven't stolen anything. Nothing is missing. I already missed the live airing so I'm not counting in the ratings anyway and whether I watch it six weeks later will have no impact on their ad sales. But if I have the chance to go ahead and watch it by downloading it? I might end up buying it when it comes out on DVD. I certainly won't buy it sight unseen, that's for damn sure. I don't know why they can't see this fact. It's not that hard to figure out.
(I have been thinking countless iterations of this rant since last week. Reading that article finally put me over the edge.)
No. What it does is force new alternatives. Napster gives way to Kazaa that gives way to Limewire that gives way to torrents and from there to Megaupload and its ilk, and now that the direct download sites are under attack, something new will pop up. Why?
BECAUSE I DO NOT BUY SHIT IF I DON'T KNOW IF I LIKE IT OR NOT. I don't know why this is so hard for these people to understand. I am not just going to buy a DVD or a CD without having seen or heard it first. I don't have the money to throw around on a whim, and most other people don't, either. I've purchased things I never would have without downloading them first, because I never would have known those things existed. When was the last time you heard Gogol Bordello on the radio? Exactly. But I have four of their CDs and have gone to two concerts, and I guarantee you I never would have even known about them at all if I hadn't been exposed to their music online.
Also, I rarely buy books. I read them for free from the library. How come no one's shutting down the libraries? What's the difference, really?
If I had to actually purchase all the media I consume then I simply wouldn't consume much at all. That's what these imbeciles don't get. I have a finite amount of money. I'm not just going to magically have more because you shut off my access to popular culture. If the only way I can listen to that song that I'm so-so on is to buy it then I just won't buy it. I don't download movies, so if something comes out and it doesn't excite me enough to go out to the theaters, then I just fucking wait till I can watch it for free when the library buys the DVD. The end. I don't even Redbox that shit. BECAUSE I CANNOT AFFORD TO BUY ALL MY ENTERTAINMENT. Sorry, media. Sorry, studio execs and producers and everyone else. That's just the way it is.
They act like it's a zero-sum game and it's not. If I download an episode of American Horror Story because I missed it and I'm so far behind the episodes aren't up on Hulu anymore, I haven't stolen anything. Nothing is missing. I already missed the live airing so I'm not counting in the ratings anyway and whether I watch it six weeks later will have no impact on their ad sales. But if I have the chance to go ahead and watch it by downloading it? I might end up buying it when it comes out on DVD. I certainly won't buy it sight unseen, that's for damn sure. I don't know why they can't see this fact. It's not that hard to figure out.
(I have been thinking countless iterations of this rant since last week. Reading that article finally put me over the edge.)
no subject
Yep. I started watching B5 by checking it out at the library. I had heard it was a good show, and I decided to try it out. It never would have occurred to me to just buy the first season without knowing if I would like it or not. If I hadn't had free access to the show, I never would have watched it.
Of course, I have gone on to buy all five seasons and most of the movies. YET ANOTHER CASE IN POINT.
And the reality is, a lot of people I know end up buying the shows they've downloaded...even if they've downloaded them in full. Because they love them so much and want to rewatch them away from their computer or they want the bonus features or what have you. If people like stuff, they're going to buy it. But for a lot of things, there's no way to know if you like it until you download it.
Exactly! It just seems so obvious, I don't know why they can't understand this. Go after the people who put up all the movies and make money off of it, fine, whatever, but the average person who downloads an episode of TV or the occasional song? Please.
From a television standpoint, what they need to do is make everything available, globally, immediately. This bullshit about airing some things in the UK six months before the US (Downton Abbey, I'm looking at you), and some things in the US six months to a year before the rest of the world (pretty much our entire exported lineup) is ridiculous. People will find a way to watch these shows the day they air in their respective countries. Stop making things available online in country-specific sites; make it global. Stop making things available the day after or the week after; make it immediate. And if you offer it for a relatively cheap subscription - or even stick Hulu-type ads within it - people will go there to get their entertainment cheaply and easily.
OMG, I know. Like, sorry, but we downloaded Sherlock, because we didn't want to wait till May to see it. It was out there, and waiting five months is ridiculous. Will we buy it as soon as the DVD is available? Of course we will. In the meantime, we want to at least see it. If the episodes had been made freely available, I still would end up buying it. If the BBC wanted to put up a website where you could subscribe to all their programs for a flat rate, I'd hit that shit like nobody's business. But no one wants to change their distribution model. They act like it's still a couple decades ago or something. The internet has changed everything - EVERYTHING - and the horse is so long out of the barn at this point that TPTB are a bunch of idiots bleating about closing the door.