I am sometimes forced to be a criminal. Let me try to explain. I love TV, movies and music (as well as games, but I have never pirated a game before) and those most of the time entertain me for hours on end. But I dislike the RIAA and the MPAA for forcing me into their model of thinking. Dislike is a strong work...it’s more like I hate them.
With the invention of the MP3, I am now able to go out there and buy any song I want from any CD, as long as it’s available. When it’s not available, then normally I would be out of luck. The same goes for movies, and TV shows. I love the show IT Crowd, but all three seasons are not available in the US for purchase. So, what do I have to do? I have to pirate all the episodes off a Torrent. If it wasn’t for that, I would have to wait for the meager showings on TV (one show a week and they are shown in no particular order). They aren’t offered on Netflix and forget about it on Hulu. The only way to get them: download them from a torrent (of be like me and get a friend get it for me...Thanks to “you know who you are”).
Music was one of those big problems in the past. If I wanted a song, I would have had to download them from iTunes, and then I would get a copy that would have DRM on it and I wouldn’t be able to play it on my Zune. In that instance, I would have to find a way to strip the DRM from it, and then I would be set. Now, though, that problem has been solved with Amazon and iTunes have gone DRM free. Now, I can do everything legally when it comes to music.
Movies and TV shows, though, also follow that old model. Now DVD’s sometimes come with a digital copy, but they are HEAVILY DRM’d and can only be used on your PC, which means that you can’t take it with you on a trip, unless you take your laptop. That means NO Zune or iPod. What good is that? What legal solution do we have?
I guess what I am trying to say is that I will gladly pay good money for a movie or TV show if you give it to me in a way that I want: a portable and transferable version, no DRM, a quality version and a smallish size. So, here is a message to the MPAA and RIAA: I will buy from you if you give it to me the way I want! Is that too much to ask for?
Episode 153: Hot As Balls
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Episode 153: Hot As Balls – In the post-E3 show, we recap one of the most
boring E3’s in the history of MAHG. We then talk about the wonderful
Wonder Woma...
8 years ago
I used to watch Star Trek Enterprise via torrent, because I'd always forget to watch it when it was on, I didn't have a TiVo, and only had one partially functioning VCR in the house that probably wouldn't record it if I tried.
ReplyDeleteThese days, I still buy music on CD for the most part (I only buy maybe two a year, anyway), and movies still come into my house on shiny discs (I have yet to see a digital download that has captions, director's commentary, or even a frackin' chapter menu, let alone can be moved from home entertainment center to bedroom to PC to laptop to minivan at will).
About the only thing I buy digitally (aside from the occasional Xbox Live Arcade title) are audiobooks from Audible.com. Because my MP3 player is not a "supported" device, though, every book I buy has to be converted from Audible DRM-crippled format to standard MP3 if I want to actually listen to it without being tied to either my PC or having to pick from a limited list of portable MP3 players. (Granted, they have a decent list, but mine is not on it, and why should I have to go buy something else?)