Comments on: Downloading pirated films is stealing

By: Downloading pirated films is stealing « Moosbett

Downloading pirated films is stealing « Moosbett — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:10:23 +0000

[...] pirated films is stealing Dieser Blogeintrag spricht mir aus der Seele. Ich habe mir frisch Juno auf DVD geholt – und was darf ich mir jedesmal [...]

By: igor

igor — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:05:59 +0000

so lets get to the bottom line…hollywood and the “stars” make millions out of every film..they are not going hungry..I was recently given a pirated movie on dvd and it ran fine on my computer..now..out of the blue I am no longer allowed to watch it..all I get is the piracy warning clip and that is that..I’ve tried wmp, wmp classic,zoomplayer,vlc,nero..noe work…what gives..?

By: Bob Jones

Bob Jones — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 05:41:38 +0000

I totally agree, that bloody “You wouldn’t steal a car ..” is absolute rubbish.

No I wouldn’t steal a car, why? Because I didn’t even pirate this DVD, thats why I’m watching your idiotic message!

It would be nice once in a while to put a DVD I paid for into my player and be greated with “Congratulations on buying” or “Thanks for buying this” instead of their dross.

Fox is the worst at it.

By: Wayfarer

Wayfarer — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:11:31 +0000

What all the anti-piracy adverts try to steer us away from is the simple – but accurate – conclusion that the biggest single cause of media piracy is corporate greed.

Here in the UK in the early 80s, VHS tapes were 70-quid a go – and piracy was rife. A decade later, VHS movies were 10 pounds each, and piracy was hardly worth the trouble.

I buy a lot of DVDs – but never until they’re at half the normal price or less – I wouldn’t pay 20 pounds for a movie if I never saw one again. I don’t need to copy them – most are handed on when I’ve watched them (though I’m sure the industry begrudges me even that).

The latest tactic in the UK is adverts and posters trying to link DVD piracy with everything from terrorism to paedophilia – and in the process all the industry do is make a laughing stock of themselves.

By: Stefan

Stefan — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 22:46:05 +0000

Industries which treat their customers as criminals are run by idiots. I guess we have to live with it.

By: D3

D3 — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:40:05 +0000

I dont mind those FBI warnings and Copyright laws screens so much(although, yes, I could do w/o them), they give me time to go to the bathroom or prepare some food b4 the movie starts ;)

By: DaveA

DaveA — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:40:45 +0000

Thought exactly the same myself last night when forced to see the same message for the 6th time on a set of House DVDs. Two minutes of my life I will not get back.

If I buy a book there is a copyright notice at the beginning, which I can read or not as I choose. If I don’t, I am still liable in court if I somehow duplicated the book.

Why should a DVD be any different? Let me press the chapter skip button. Let me take the risk of missing information I already know through other means.

If the publishers want to educate buyers then put some kind of goody at the end of the propaganda and make sure that people know it’s there. Those most likely to download pirated material are probably bored enough to watch.

By: m--s

m--s — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:58:44 +0000

Have you seen The IT Crowd? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTbX1aMajow

As a side note, the opensource VLC Player does not show DVD advertisements at all…

By: Seb

Seb — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 17:19:51 +0000

Well, I found a great version of basically what you said at the beginning of your post here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/heilemann/412376956/
It’s basically an edited anti piracy poster- quite amusing really!
Absolutely agree with you though!

By: JohnDoe

JohnDoe — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:33:41 +0000

The key word here is ADOCTRINATION.
They don’t care about the hassle on the legal user. They want to change the core beliefs of the viewer… “piracy” = inmoral
The mandatory adoctrination video at the beginning of the last DVD I rented featured two children who confronted their father about the fact that he’s watching a pirated movie. That’s the ultimate goal here.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:22:00 +0000

I’m also in heavy agreement. If I spend money on a film, especially if I spend on something like Windows, I want to be free of annoyances.

I hate that damn commercial about downloading is stealing. It makes me sympathize with everyone except the film makes and film companies.

On that note, I want to say that I have bought many films I have downloaded. Equalibrium was a film that I loved so much I bought it. So was Lord Of The Rings (although I saw that in the cinema). For me movies are things I will buy if I like it enough. So the lesson is, make good movies and I may download them, but I will ALSO buy them.

By: Jerusalem Joe

Jerusalem Joe — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:12:08 +0000

I agree – it kills me that I have a better experience watching a downloaded movie than from the DVD I bought.I really hate that I buy something and years later it is still being controlled by someone else.

Also, in some cases the downloaded version is far better quality than the DVD itself, especially if you buy older stuff from the eighties and early nineties.

By: Troels Bjerre

Troels Bjerre — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:09:35 +0000

You’re not entirely right. Nice people would up a full DVD – so the torrentpeople suffer too.

By: Fedorov

Fedorov — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 13:42:32 +0000

Bought High School Musical 2 DVD for the kids at Xmas, can’t believe how many Disney adverts, DVD and Cinema trailers it forces you to watch before you eventually are able to reach the Main Menu to play the movie or watch the extras that they like to watch over and over again.

I will most certainly rip my original to produce a copy that is child-friendly for them to use.

By: Me

Me — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:46:26 +0000

Martin,

There must be at least one who read the announcement before rippring the DVD.
If there is one, my honor is safe. If not, I will pirate one DVD to save it.
By the way, I agree, this is boring and irritating for legal users.

By: Fips

Fips — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:00:00 +0000

Couldn’t agree more. I suffered a similar gripe when my purchased copy of MS Vista claimed after a few days that my hardware profile had changed and I needed to buy a new license in order to activate it. There is no foolproof protection system, and those which exist to the detriment of the genuine buyer’s experience are certainly no solution. Copyright messages like the one you described can only feed piracy, not stem it.

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:35:10 +0000

Me: The ripper is not seeing this because he is ripping the movie, not watching it. He starts a software, selects the parts of the DVD that he wants to have and that’s it if he is doing a DVD copy.

If he rips the movies he is also only ripping the movie and not the other stuff on the DVD.

By: Me

Me — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:25:15 +0000

Hi Martin,

If you don’t mind, I have an answer. The DVDs that are illegally distributed on the internet are DVD rips. So, the pirate, the bad guy who put it on the internet, must have seen the announcement.
It is there for him… in case he didn’t know.

By: Jojo

Jojo — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:00:13 +0000

Ha Martin. You missed the subliminal whispers throughout the DVD saying “piracy is stealing, piracy is stealing, piracy is stealing…” :)

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 10:11:55 +0000

On a sidenote, they could also run ads on Torrent websites, it could be effective depending on the ads that they would show there. But that would also mean that they would feed the dragon..