- "Come, friends, who plough the sea
Truce to navigation
Take another station
Let's vary piracy
With a little burglary!"
- The Pirates of Penzance
New Zealand has introduced a "three strikes" law against so-called "illegal" downloading online. It is a hot topic among my friends, many of whom work in the computing industry and are aware of the issues and pitfalls surrounding the new laws.
Our laws (the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill) are similar to those introduced in France, Britain and elsewhere.
The anti-piracy video that is unskippable and on most purchased DVDs these days. But maybe it's a crime to charge people $30 for an unreturnable DVD that breaks after one viewing?
The laws are part of a worldwide move to clamp down on services that make it very easy for home computer owners to download the latest TV show or movie for free from just about anywhere, from almost the moment that show or movie is released.
Interestingly, the introduction of New Zealand's laws have coincided with an automatic, unrequested doubling of download data allowance on virtually all internet plans.
Our data allowance was doubled last week - and we never asked for it. Everyone I know has had the same thing happen.
I can't help but wonder if this is some thinly-veiled attempt to open up wide nets with which to catch the suspected "evil pirates"?
The laws were rushed through using the new "urgency law" system in parliament implemented and designed to help the people of Christchurch after the earthquakes.
This is seen as an abuse by many Kiwis of laws designed to help people in dire need, and it is not popular.
My view is that the new laws won't work. I want to discuss why.
Why do people download online?
Downloaders fall into a few categories and, against what the propaganda suggests, most people who download do not do so to get a "free lunch".
They are not criminals, do not steal, and are not evil. They are just ordinary people using the net in the way it works best - to share information, ideas and entertainment.
People download for some of the reasons below:
Availability: Much of the content that is downloaded in New Zealand is not available in the shops or on TV, or via any legal channel. Downloading content is the only way to view it.
The net means we're aware of more content than ever before, but if it is not available to us by any other means, no wonder people download it!
Spoilage: A good example of spoilage is the Doctor Who TV series. New Zealand gets the series (which is available for free, legal online viewing in the UK) many weeks after the rest of the world.
This is a problem, because online forums and chat groups about the series are full of spoilers and series tell-alls immediately after the show is screened in the UK.
So yes, you eventually get to watch Doctor Who in New Zealand on TV - but you can be pretty sure that by the time you do, if you're online at all you already know what happened, who has lived and who has died, and pretty much all plot thrills.
Kind of takes the fun out of watching.
Poor quality legally-bought DVDs: People are downloading copies of DVDs they own that have broken or failed to work after just one or two screenings.
An example is my own copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. I paid to see the movie - twice. Then I paid to get a DVD of the movie - legally.
One viewing later, and my DVD (a legal copy!) was failing to play properly, and flicking through scenes. Now I can't watch it at all. Can you blame similar viewers - who have now forked out over $30 in cinema costs and another $30 for a crud DVD - if they decide to download a copy of the movie they already paid for three or more times?
Returning faulty DVDs is not an option these days. No shop will accept faulty DVDs. So in my case, I've paid $30 for merchandise which is useless.
Would you pay another $30 for another DVD copy if you were me?
Cost: I am also going to mention the thorny issue of cost. This is the issue that the manufacturers and movie-makers don't want to touch. They don't want to admit that maybe, just maybe, people are downloading because the movie makers are ripping us off!
The truth is, the cost of DVDs is outrageous.
I buy a LOT of kids DVDs for our children. They are priced from $9.99 (at the cheap end) through to $20.00 and upwards for the more expensive ones.
New release movies can cost you $35. Blu Ray discs seem to cost even more - no wonder they're not catching on!
A plain blank DVD disc costs about a dollar. My guess is that my Harry Potter DVD probably cost about 80c to make in China - if that! We're getting fleeced, and we know it.
So the fact is, DVDs are just ridiculously overpriced. Most people are honest, and prefer to do the right thing, but when the legal version is so insanely priced, people simply can't / won't pay. And who can blame them?
A system that works
In the USA, Netflix is making huge amounts of money.
For a subscription fee, you can get direct streaming movies online. It's cheap, and people (more than 25 million of them at last count) are happy to pay for something they see as good value.
But other options are available.
One option I can think of is production channels like the BBC, CBS, NBC and so on creating membership clubs. Once again, pay a small membership fee, and download whatever you want, whenever you want.
How to make it desirable? Include forums, old episodes not available, interviews with actors, you name it. Many fans of various TV series would love to join, if the price were reasonable.
Had something similar been around when we were waiting months for every new "Buffy" episode a few years back, we'd have loved for something like this to be available!
People are sick of being shafted
People are sick of being shafted. They want quality viewing, and they want it at a fair price.
It seems to me that downloading and piracy is rampant not because people are criminals, but because the movie-makers and TV makers and TV channel operators are not respecting their clients - us!
They've forgotten who they're supposed to be serving, in their rush for more and more profits. And now people are bucking the system and refusing to play along, the companies are crying Thief! and hoping to keep playing an unfair game on a playing field that is anything but level.
If piracy is a problem, maybe it is time to ask why, rather than simply attempting to close everything down.
Big Brother tactics never work - or they work for a while, until they're outsmarted. A few years ago, Napster was closed down, but that legal dumpage didn't change a thing. Downloading is more pervasive than ever.
Likewise, I'm convinced these new laws won't change a thing. Legally attacking a few families or individuals will just engender bad feeling, and create a truckload of bad press. And the downloading technology will evolve, and become harder than ever to track.
So - what do you think?
Have a lovely day!
6 comments:
Agree, agree, agree!!!! And if thats not enough.....
AGREE!
:)
Happy spring,
viv
I totally agree. I don't download much. But I do have heaps of bought dvds in the lounge that I have watched a couple of times, put them on for other people to watch and they have been scratched. If you want people to pay, then charge what the product is worth!
I have to disagree with your arguments about cost. DVDs may well be overpriced, but the cost involved in producing the dvd is more than the cost of physically creating the disc. Like many things which come in electronic format, you're paying for the intellectual property of the director, screenwriter, actors, art production, etc. Those things should be taken into account, rather than saying that a DVD only costs $1 to make, when a film may have had a $50M budget to produce, and they want to make that money back.
As for legal channels to download, there really are none in this part of the world! I've tried looking for legal ways to stream my tv shows, but they don't exist in Australia! Even if I wait until the episodes air here, it doesn't mean they come up on iTunes right away. Most digital media providers in Australia have a pitifully small collection available. There is no equivalent for Hulu either, and the promised Australian release isn't coming any time soon. If something simply is not legally available, is it any wonder people are going the illegal route?
Hi Viv - Everyone who has talked about these laws in New Zealand seems to think they're idiotic, and won't work. So you're not alone.
It will be interesting to see how it all comes out in the wash.
Hi Michelle - I get really annoyed at the quality of DVDs, too. It seems they're getting worse and worse.
I remember when DVDs first came in, we were sold on how robust they would be, and how they would last practically forever etc. Yet I have several DVDs that didn't even work on the first viewing :-(
I'm not criminally-minded, and will happily pay a fair price for a product (as evidenced by our HUGE DVD collection!), but I'm starting to think I'm an idiot for even contemplating buying ANY DVDs when we're sold such shoddy trash.
Hi Pennie - I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.
My view on DVDs and the "DVD run" on movies is that if a movie cannot budget to make money at the cinema, it should perhaps have reconsidered its budget before filming began.
There is NO reason to make a $300 MILLION dollar movie, and it seems that more and more a big budget is the replacement in Hollywood for a good script, acting and skill in other areas e.g. a believable premise! Maybe if the movie industry can't make money without charging people so much for DVDs the question should be asked (which I didn't discuss in my post) whether the blockbuster movie industry (at least) is actually truly viable if managed honestly and fairly to its consumers / viewers.
Depending on fleecing people $30 for shoddy plastic DVDs that don't work properly is criminal, IMO.
You have to ask - who is the crim? The person ripping off millions of people with a product that doesn't work and isn't replaceable, or the person who just wants a fair product for a fair price?
Just one view of the argument. And I have probably fifty DVDs in my bookcase that don't work properly to support it :-(
Great post. I totally agree with you! Grrrr
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