Re: [DMCForum] Copyright

[Ryan Wright <ryanpwright@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 1/12/06, Jon Heese <dmcforum@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Oh, come on, Ryan.  You know what I'm saying.

Sure, I know what you're saying, but I am under no obligation to watch
commercials. The studios base their revenue stream on assumptions, I
don't fit into their assumptions, and they don't like that but: Tough
for them. That's what they get for giving their product away and
banking on the sale of advertising.

> Actively skipping commercials by leaving the room or hitting ffwd on a
> TiVo or VCR is different from passively having them already removed from
> a Torrented capture.

Bah; I disagree. Tivo skips them instantly. The only difference is I
have to hit a button. It's the same thing.

> I'm not presuming that you *watch* the commercials on over-the-air TV,
> but you must admit that at least they have a chance to get you to buy
> Tide or whatever when the commercials exist.  Once you edit the
> commercials out, their sponsors' advertising dollars become wasted (at
> least the small portion spent to sway you).

Again, that's just too darn bad for them. When they broadcast a radio
signal intending for the public to freely receive it, I'll do whatever
I want with the material they send. If that includes skipping the
commercials or editing them out alltogether, that's my business. And
if someone else does the work for me and saves me the time, all the
better.

In the end, the product is the same: I watch a TV show. I don't watch
the commercials.

> Don't get me wrong: 80% of the TV shows I watch are downloaded and 19%
> are via TiVo.  But I do recognize why TV studios consider downloading
> "free" TV shows illegal.  Surely you don't really think they're giving
> them away for free...

But that's exactly what they're doing (giving them away for free).
They broadcast the content on the open airwaves and you can watch it
without cost. It's free. Having commercials included doesn't change
that. If I handed you a Happy Meal and inside there was a flier
advertising some business, would you say the Happy Meal wasn't free?

Of course they're trying to make a profit. It just so happens their
business model is based on giving away free material. They hope that
you'll watch the commercials but you are under no obligation
whatsoever to do so. Eventually this business model will fail due to
advances in modern technology and they'll have to come up with
something else.

The reason they consider downloading their TV shows illegal actually
has to do with copyright law as it relates to distribution. The
copyright owner has the sole right to distribution so when you let
other people download it from you, you're violating their distribution
rights. They'd nail you even if you left the commercials in.

-Ryan

---

YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS

•  Visit your group "DMCForum" on the web.
   
•  To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
   DMCForum-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
   
•  Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

---