They're Just Encouraging Piracy

[batguy]

Before about the mid-1980s, people had very little control over what they watched. About 5-10 channels on TV. No home video players of any kind. Most of the local movie theaters only had a couple of screens and you were at the mercy of what they were showing.

The concept of everybody having personal TV/movie collections is only a few decades old. It's not a god-given right. If the big media corps start seeing a significant profit motive to take it away then we are in trouble.


No, it's not gonna happen because the wrong political party wins an election and forces their evil agenda on everyone. Calm down.

The real threat is that media corps will only offer "licensing agreements" and never "purchases." Then they legally retain control over it. The latest crappy remake of a franchise is in theaters this month, so the studio decides to temporarily yank the original version off the streaming services. Or the studio decides to make 'special edition' type changes to reflect their new corporate PR policies and they won't allow access to the old version anymore. Etc.

 

[Cephus]

I haven’t watched them in a long time. I love those guys.

Can’t stand the three stooges though.

I have all of those too. The only things I'm missing are some of the Marx Brothers movies.

 

[Darth Lars]

Even games you download, as long as they are still on your harddrive would usually still be playable.

There have been many games distributed even on physical discs that have required an Internet connection to contact a "copy protection" server to start, and which have become unplayable after the server has been shut down. Even single-player games.
To play these today, getting a pirated copy with the "copy protection" removed would be the only option.

I don't play X-box but I've heard that the industry practice is used on that platform even today, as it is on the PC.

 

[HeartBlade]

Before about the mid-1980s, people had very little control over what they watched. About 5-10 channels on TV. No home video players of any kind. Most of the local movie theaters only had a couple of screens and you were at the mercy of what they were showing.

The concept of everybody having personal TV/movie collections is only a few decades old. It's not a god-given right. If the big media corps start seeing a significant profit motive to take it away then we are in trouble.


No, it's not gonna happen because the wrong political party wins an election and forces their evil agenda on everyone. Calm down.

The real threat is that media corps will only offer "licensing agreements" and never "purchases." Then they legally retain control over it. The latest crappy remake of a franchise is in theaters this month, so the studio decides to temporarily yank the original version off the streaming services. Or the studio decides to make 'special edition' type changes to reflect their new corporate PR policies and they won't allow access to the old version anymore. Etc.

They already have done this very successfully in the PC video game industry and are moving toward it in the console industry.

Steam owns 75% of the PC video game market and every game sold is a license and not the game itself with DRM which means if the store ever shuts down, you are out of luck with your library. The company in the past has stated there are "measures in place" to ensure people can still access their games should the company shut down but these measures arnt spelled out or codified in a contract in any way.

Console, you can still buy discs and I dont think that will change for AAA games although it is harder to buy indie games on some physical release. With the rise of subscription services, I do expect devs to put more pressure on making games digital only which is bad for the consumer.

There was also the case with the PT demo. Although people didnt pay money for the demo so its removal isnt an issue, the demo was removed from Sony's library and downloadable section so players need to have a working version downloaded onto their console if they want to play the demo.

 

[Cephus]

I refuse to use Steam. I want a physical copy of any game that I play. I will never digitally download anything.

 

[bwayne64]

It's a good thing they're not making much these days, that I would need a physical copy of. With the exception of the new Top Gun movie, which I haven't seen yet. Who knows if they'll ever make anything good enough to buy again. I have 100s of DVDs and Blu Rays of some of the best movies and TV since 1950. Got some crap too, but inherited most of that. I was happy to discover that the Interlibrary loan program has most DVDs and Blu-rays of any recent stuff. I won't say never, but I most likely won't buy anything that requires the cloud. I keep my rain in clouds, not my media, ; )

 

[Ron]

It's a good thing they're not making much these days, that I would need a physical copy of. With the exception of the new Top Gun movie, which I haven't seen yet. Who knows if they'll ever make anything good enough to buy again. I have 100s of DVDs and Blu Rays of some of the best movies and TV since 1950. Got some crap too, but inherited most of that. I was happy to discover that the Interlibrary loan program has most DVDs and Blu-rays of any recent stuff. I won't say never, but I most likely won't buy anything that requires the cloud. I keep my rain in clouds, not my media, ; )

Go see Top Gun before it's out of theaters. It has to be watched on the big screen, preferably IMAX which I still see it pop in now and then.

 

[bwayne64]

Go see Top Gun before it's out of theaters. It has to be watched on the big screen, preferably IMAX which I still see it pop in now and then.

I definitely want to see it on the big screen. It's one of those movies that's best in the theater. I haven't felt up to going there for a while, but hopefully I'll get there before it leaves. It might have already left, I'll have to check.

 

[Cephus]

I used to put 30-50 new DVDs and Blu-rays on my list every year. This year, I think I've added 2. One of them was Maverick, I don't remember the other one, but there's so little coming out anymore worth seeing that I've just started focusing on getting old shows. What's the point when Hollywood sucks these days?

 

[robstyle]

Media itself changes format rendering the prior format obsolete. The same with the hardware that media needs to operate. My mom never understood how to operate a CD player even though the controls were the same as a cassette player. She also had a cell phone, which was always powered off. Technology leaps beyond the mental grasp of some where others refuse to move forward. There are still people who hang onto the Beta VS VHS battle. Reality is digital media is the current crop. Once the physical media ownership hold outs are no longer around...

Either way it all revolves around profits. There is only so far profits will rise before they endlessly fall when technology is in question. Either adapt and overcome, advance and create or get passed up.

 

[bwayne64]

I used to put 30-50 new DVDs and Blu-rays on my list every year. This year, I think I've added 2. One of them was Maverick, I don't remember the other one, but there's so little coming out anymore worth seeing that I've just started focusing on getting old shows. What's the point when Hollywood sucks these days?

I used to ask for a DVD or movie for Christmas for many years. But the last few years I tell my family, just get me an Amazon card, I'll buy something I need. I'll probably buy Maverick also, but I may have to borrow a projector. That way I can get a semi theater effect..

 

[Cephus]

I used to ask for a DVD or movie for Christmas for many years. But the last few years I tell my family, just get me an Amazon card, I'll buy something I need. I'll probably buy Maverick also, but I may have to borrow a projector. That way I can get a semi theater effect..

We used to have what we called "DVD Christmas" because everyone got a ton of DVDs. That doesn't happen anymore. Maverick comes out on DVD on November 1.

 

[bwayne64]

We used to have what we called "DVD Christmas" because everyone got a ton of DVDs. That doesn't happen anymore. Maverick comes out on DVD on November 1.

Awesome, I hope I get to the theater to see it. But I still will get the blu-ray. I want to have a home theater some day. That way if anyone kicks my seat I can take them to the woodshed, ; )

 

[Joek3rr]

Same.....

 

[Joek3rr]

One thing I don’t like is when some movies make you use a specific streaming service for the digital download.

I bought into the spider-Verse (Awesome movie)

I got the DVD and it came with a digital download. ONLY through Vudu!

It is the only movie I have on that service.

I mostly download to Amazon when I have options between that and Google play.

Look up Movie Anywhere.

 

[batguy]

The whole issue (ownership vs "licensing agreements") is shaping up to be a much larger battle in the culture.

US farmers recently fought a legal battle against John Deere for the right to repair their tractors. JD's modern software locks them out of the machinery and forces them to use JD's overpriced repair centers.

In the next few decades this stuff will go mainstream. Appliances that you can't legally modify. Stuff being programmed to quit working if you don't pay the ongoing "update" or "repair" ransom fees. Etc. Personal phones, computers, cars & trucks, TVs, washing machines, all of it. The public is gonna have to demand ownership rights in a big far-reaching way.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

The whole issue (ownership vs "licensing agreements") is shaping up to be a much larger battle in the culture.

US farmers recently fought a legal battle against John Deere for the right to repair their tractors. JD's modern software locks them out of the machinery and forces them to use JD's overpriced repair centers.

In the next few decades this stuff will go mainstream. Appliances that you can't legally modify. Stuff being programmed to quit working if you don't pay the ongoing "update" or "repair" ransom fees. Etc. Personal phones, computers, cars & trucks, TVs, washing machines, all of it. The public is gonna have to demand ownership rights in a big far-reaching way.

My first girlfriend left me for a tractor repair man. She wrote me a John Deere letter.

 

[HeartBlade]

I refuse to use Steam. I want a physical copy of any game that I play. I will never digitally download anything.

GOG crowd? GOG isnt optimal either but it is DRM-free which is close to physical in the PC world. Its a shame because PC was supposed to be the "optimal system" for games, ensuring backward compatibility and the largest library. With steam (which is the largest market that has successfully destroyed the physical market with psychical versions just selling steam keys now), PC gamers are completely dependent on steam. I guess the rationale is when steam fails, the games are old so its not a big deal to lose them but given that old games are timeless, its sad to see them go imo.

The whole issue (ownership vs "licensing agreements") is shaping up to be a much larger battle in the culture.

US farmers recently fought a legal battle against John Deere for the right to repair their tractors. JD's modern software locks them out of the machinery and forces them to use JD's overpriced repair centers.

In the next few decades this stuff will go mainstream. Appliances that you can't legally modify. Stuff being programmed to quit working if you don't pay the ongoing "update" or "repair" ransom fees. Etc. Personal phones, computers, cars & trucks, TVs, washing machines, all of it. The public is gonna have to demand ownership rights in a big far-reaching way.

There is a desire by companies to limit ownership as much as they can get away with so they can make more money. Subscription services provide repeated business instead of a one-off payment that allows the consumer to own the media.

 

[jkno]

If there is a movie, a show or a documentary I like, I buy the DVD or at least find a physical copy of it. I don't trust "the cloud" to keep my stuff unaltered. As for books and music, I already have about 1500 original CD's as well as a family library with about 2500 books.

 

[Joek3rr]

I don't trust "the cloud" to keep my stuff unaltered.

Like when my digital copies of Star Wars suddenly got "upgraded." Though it turns out I had downloaded them before that. Just need to figure out to get the DRM off so I'm not stuck playing them on iTunes.