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Author Topic: May I Have A Download Please?  (Read 9437 times)

Renegade

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May I Have A Download Please?
« on: February 13, 2012, 12:07 AM »
Well, I hear about this web site with alternative films, so of course I visit.

And, oooooh~! This one looks interesting... (I love supernatural flicks!)

http://pureflix.com/...folio/the-encounter/

So I watch the trailer, and figure I'll go buy it. But what I really want is a download and not a DVD... The whole waiting a few weeks thing is just kind of like, oh so entirely 20th century and lame.

Sigh... No luck.

In other places, I've watched movies for free, then gone out and bought the DVDs simply to support the film. (e.g. The Corporation - it was available to view for free somewhere, and was so good I had to buy a copy.)

This stuff isn't that hard to do. I think I'm going to go ahead and see about creating a relatively secure "shareware" (try before you buy) downloadable movie. I've got the basics in my head already, and it shouldn't be that hard... We'll see...

But all I want is to download the movie... It's cheaper for the seller that way even!


Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

40hz

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #1 on: February 13, 2012, 08:34 AM »
Well...be careful what you wish for. The US recording industry has plans to discontinue all "hard-media" sales and only make their music "assets" available via download starting in late 2012 if they can keep it on schedule. Probably the only reason the movie industry hasn't announced similar plans is because of the size of their files. (In the US, most people are still on residential grade ADSL for their broadband so you're looking at 3+ hours per movie download.)

Of course once hard copy is gone they can go hog wild with more and more restrictive licensing and crazy DRM schemes.

Sometime not too long from now:

-------------------------------------------------
(Customer at work on his lunch break calls ToonSmith Central)

onhold2.jpg

ToonSmith: Thank you for calling ToonSmith Central, your premier music and media source. This is Customer Support, and my name is Pashmini. How may I help you today?

Customer: Yes...uh hi! I'm having a problem getting a song I recently bought to play on my home theater system.

TS: Let me transfer you to technical support...

Cust: No wait! I already spoke to technical support. I was in the queue for over 20 minutes waiting to talk to them. They transferred me over to your group and said you'd be able to help me.

TS: (skeptical) Tech support said we'd be able to help you with a playback issue?

Cust: Yes. They said it was a licensing problem and not a technical issue.

TS: (long annoyed sigh) I see... What is the problem you're having?

Cust:
Ok...I just bought a copy of 2x4's song Scrapwood on my iPhone. How do I play it on my home stereo?

TS: I thought you said you bought it for your iPhone. Does it play on your iPhone?

Cust: Yes. But that's not what I was asking.

TS: (with exaggerated patience) The song is licensed for a single device.

Cust: You mean it will only work on my phone and nowhere else?

TS: That is correct. Is there anything else I can help you with?

Cust: Yes. Can you tell me what I need to do to get it to play on my other devices?

TS: You'll need to obtain separate licenses for each.

Cust: (incredulous) By that you mean I'll need to buy and download a completely separate copy of this song for each device?

TS: That is correct.

Cust: Ok. I'm confused. I used to be able to play anything I bought on any device I owned...my home system...my phone... the mp3 player in my car...

TS: We have recently made amendments and changes in our license to the 'Allowed Usage' section. If you read it you will find these changes spelled out very clearly in Section 27 - Subsection 1-33.1.1.4 along with a relevant footnote. You indicated your acceptance of these terms when you loaded up the song. Have you read the license agreement? Or did you just click through it?

Cust: Well I...

TS: You really should read a license agreement before you accept it.

Cust: I tried. Once. But it's a 97-page long PDF. And it's in 9-point Ariel type...

TS: It's 106 pages actually. As I mentioned earlier we've, recently amended it.

Cust: So you're telling me I now need to buy a separate copy of every song for each device I want to play it on?

TS: That is correct.

Cust: I'm not very happy about this.

TS: We're very sorry you feel that way.

Cust: This quite SUCKS you know...

TS: Sir, I must inform you that if you continue raise your voice or use foul language I will be forced to terminate this phone call. (a chorus of faint giggles can now be heard in the background)

Cust: ok, ok, look...how can you possibly expect people to buy separate copies of every song they want to hear for every device they want to hear it on? People aren't going to put up with that.

TS: Actually, our industry statistics indicate that music sales are at an all time high. And furthermore, current period sales have increased at least 25% over each prior year period since February of this year. So au contraire sir, business is booming.

Cust: Really! What happened in February?

TS: February is when the amended licensing terms we were just discussing went into effect.

Cust: You know you're lucky people don't all start throwing everything up on the torrent sites.

TS: It wouldn't matter. Each downloaded media copy is individually serialized and licensed to a specific buyer identified by their credit card at the time of purchase. If a song shows up on a P2P fileshare site, we'll know who it originally belonged to and, therefor, who uploaded it.

Cust: That wouldn't prove who uploaded it.

TS: Whoever downloads a licensed media file is fully responsible for protecting it and putting reasonable safeguards in place to prevent it being copied, shared, or otherwise tampered with. So it doesn't matter if the buyer or somebody else uploaded the song. The buyer is still legally responsible for it happening.

Cust: Says who?

TS: It's all spelled out quite clearly in the license terms agreed to whenever a licensed media file is installed.

Cust: That's just your license that says that. Not the law.

TS: Actually it is the law. I assume you've heard of ACTA?

Cust: Now wait a minute. I actually happened to have read ACTA when I was in school. We studied and discussed it in class. ACTA doesn't say anything like that.

TS: The United States Congress has recently made amendments and significant changes to the original ACTA. I believe they're calling it ACTA-II now. (more giggles now in the background)

Cust: Let me guess...back in February, right?

TS: Yes sir. Is there anything else I can help you with today?

Cust: Apparently not.

TS: Very good! (with obvious faux enthusiasm and again  in a rapid rote voice - Pashmini has recited this kiss-off speech at least a a hundred times since she started her shift three hours ago) Thank you for calling ToonSmith Central, your premier music and media source -  soon to be offering ebooks for all major reading platforms! Please hold after this call to participate in a brief customer satisfaction survey...

Cust: (hangs up)




« Last Edit: February 13, 2012, 12:48 PM by 40hz »

Renegade

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2012, 09:00 AM »
40... dammit... stop ruining the moment and predicting the future! :P

All I want is to be able to reasonably download stuff and use it... I suppose that's too much to ask... sigh... :(

Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

Innuendo

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2012, 09:16 AM »
40... dammit... stop ruining the moment and predicting the future! :P

All I want is to be able to reasonably download stuff and use it... I suppose that's too much to ask... sigh... :(

Yeah....the 20th century isn't sounding so lame anymore, is it? ;)

40hz

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #4 on: February 13, 2012, 09:22 AM »
40... dammit... stop ruining the moment and predicting the future! :P

All I want is to be able to reasonably download stuff and use it... I suppose that's too much to ask... sigh... :(



From what I've been reading? Yes. It is. (Sorry) :(


mahesh2k

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #5 on: February 13, 2012, 09:24 AM »
It is already happening in Movie theaters here in India. They have this Satstream technology which airs the shows based on the number of leased plays contracted between theater and distribution channel. I'm sure you can check this technology in Imax theaters. Only thing that can stop hard media distribution is ISP's limiting the internet speed. As of now there are many countries where practical implementation of this is difficult not impossible. Even with 3G, it's hard to keep up with the streamed movies here in india. I think EU/US have much better speed and if the ISPs are not limited with data then surely this will take off. Amazon and other online movie streaming sites are selling online plays for 99 cents for sometime with limited success. I don't know how many users are watching movies that way but TV or sport events are in demand via these streaming channel. It'll be easy for pirates to telesync these movies, unless ofcourse they come up with TV with signal with customer code that is shown in tv to catch the viewers who are watching pirated copy. It's like catching a pirate from code in pdf file.


GNU Save us all from this insanity.

Renegade

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #6 on: February 13, 2012, 09:53 AM »
40... dammit... stop ruining the moment and predicting the future! :P

All I want is to be able to reasonably download stuff and use it... I suppose that's too much to ask... sigh... :(

Yeah....the 20th century isn't sounding so lame anymore, is it? ;)

Yeah... True.

GNU Save us all from this insanity.


All this stuff is simply driving me way, way into the GNU camp.


Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

40hz

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #7 on: February 13, 2012, 12:10 PM »

All this stuff is simply driving me way, way into the GNU camp.


Cool! Considering your political leanings and patience with corporate BS, we were wondering when you'd finally show up.  :Thmbsup: ;D

gnu.gif

 8)

« Last Edit: February 13, 2012, 12:18 PM by 40hz »

superboyac

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #8 on: February 13, 2012, 12:16 PM »
No joke, the recording industry is trying to figure out how to charge someone for HEARING a song played anywhere.  Let's say I go to my friend's house for a party, and he's playing some music on the stereo at the pool.  If they're going to charge per device, why stop there?  Should all the people who are hearing the music have to pay some kind of license fee for that?  What?  They just get to freeload listen?

40hz

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #9 on: February 13, 2012, 12:33 PM »
^They're already busting down on bars and local cover bands for playing unlicensed music.

I knew somebody who was part of a non-profit that had a thank-you picnic for their volunteers last summer. It was held on private property and it was by invitation. Somebody attending must have ratted them out to a buddy in the recording industry.

The local organization got a polite "reminder" a few weeks later that any public performance (which apparently includes playing a CD through a portable stereo system out on your patio) requires some sort of license in order for it to be done legally. The letter suggested that next time they hire a DJ who had already obtained the requisite performance rights in order to stay on the right side of the law.

The letter wasn't exactly a threat. It was more like a "perhaps you didn't realize you have just broken the law and could be in serious trouble had we decided to pursue it" sort of things. It was probably left at that because this was a recognized charity with some very serious money and political cachet behind it, so they wouldn't have simply rolled over and played dead if it escalated much beyond "a word in your ear."

But it wasn't a joking letter either.

Crazy. :-\

superboyac

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #10 on: February 13, 2012, 01:11 PM »
^They're already busting down on bars and local cover bands for playing unlicensed music.

I knew somebody who was part of a non-profit that had a thank-you picnic for their volunteers last summer. It was held on private property and it was by invitation. Somebody attending must have ratted them out to a buddy in the recording industry.

The local organization got a polite "reminder" a few weeks later that any public performance (which apparently includes playing a CD through a portable stereo system out on your patio) requires some sort of license in order for it to be done legally. The letter suggested that next time they hire a DJ who had already obtained the requisite performance rights in order to stay on the right side of the law.

The letter wasn't exactly a threat. It was more like a "perhaps you didn't realize you have just broken the law and could be in serious trouble had we decided to pursue it" sort of things. It was probably left at that because this was a recognized charity with some very serious money and political cachet behind it, so they wouldn't have simply rolled over and played dead if it escalated much beyond "a word in your ear."

But it wasn't a joking letter either.

Crazy. :-\
It's really a little TOO crazy.  Cover bands...it's reediculous.  All their doing is playing the music they love.  It's such a personal insult on so many levels.  What if I hum a tune?  What if I am thinking about a particular song?  If a song gets stuck in my head, do I have to pay royalties?

What's next?  Are we going to start copyrighting phrases?  Do I have to reserve in advance the sentences I want to say in my life?  Do I have to keep track of what I say, and then pay the royalties on it periodically?  If I play the blues, do I have to give money to the descendants of African American workers from the 19th century?  Did the music industry pay for those rights to the blues?  I bet I can find that 1-4-5 progression in most songs owned by the recording companies.  Shouldn't they have to pay for that to the *original* innovators?

iphigenie

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #11 on: February 13, 2012, 02:00 PM »
I am a card carryin' FSF and FSFE and read Stallman's political notes rss feed to hear of what abuse happens anywhere in the world. He watches a lot.

He's an idealist of the hippie variety, but I agree with him on an awful lot of things. I wonder what that makes me? And where he might have once appeared to have cried wolf and exagerated, this year he looks awfully prescient, so we might as well at the very least hear the questions even if we dont agree with all the answers. Cause not enough people are asking those questions.

When it comes to books and media, I only buy open and I try to only use free software or software done by small independent developers - I believe small devs won't just casually cripple their customers.

Renegade

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #12 on: February 13, 2012, 07:08 PM »

All this stuff is simply driving me way, way into the GNU camp.


Cool! Considering your political leanings and patience with corporate BS, we were wondering when you'd finally show up.  :Thmbsup: ;D
 (see attachment in previous post)
 8)



Hahahaha~! ;D


Yeah, I suppose it is about time.

Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

Edvard

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #13 on: February 13, 2012, 07:32 PM »
All this stuff is simply driving me way, way into the GNU camp.
Cool! Considering your political leanings and patience with corporate BS, we were wondering when you'd finally show up.  :Thmbsup: ;D
Hahahaha~! ;D

Yeah, I suppose it is about time.

618px-JUST_AS_PLANNED.jpg

40hz

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #14 on: February 13, 2012, 07:41 PM »
He's an idealist of the hippie variety, but I agree with him on an awful lot of things. I wonder what that makes me?

IMHO a very intelligent person.  :Thmbsup:

40hz

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #15 on: February 13, 2012, 08:26 PM »
@Edvard - now don't go giving the game away this early... ;D 8)

@Ren - this one's just for you - the Cryptic chapter from Brooke Burgess' Broken Saints



 :)

Deozaan

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #16 on: February 14, 2012, 05:01 AM »
I didn't know Broken Saints was on YouTube! :Thmbsup:

I actually own the DVD set. I should watch it again sometime soon. :-* :-* :-*
« Last Edit: February 14, 2012, 05:12 AM by Deozaan, Reason: I be gooder with the English now. »

40hz

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #17 on: February 14, 2012, 06:10 AM »
I didn't know Broken Saints was on YouTube! :Thmbsup:

I actually own the DVD set. I should watch it again sometime soon. :-* :-* :-*

Yeah. I didn't either. And it probably won't be there for long.

I've got the DVD set too. I actually like the original Flash version with that more 'colored pen' hand drawn look to the artwork over the deluxe version. The colors on the newer version were garish IMO. And the linework looked heavy and lacked the expressive subtlety of the original too. I also didn't like the actors they picked for the character voiceovers. The music was improved however.

I'm going to give it a re-watch this weekend if I have the time. I really enjoyed it even if it didn't quite work at the end. It was a noble try at least. And it was 95% there, so I'm not complaining. I've seen major motion pictures that didn't pull it off either despite $300 million budgets and 3D.
 :)
« Last Edit: February 14, 2012, 06:19 AM by 40hz »

TaoPhoenix

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Re: May I Have A Download Please?
« Reply #18 on: February 14, 2012, 12:22 PM »
I was in a discussion with an author of an ebook who claimed to want to know about how sharing copies can increase exposure and then hopefully sales. His first email was all smiley. I looked, and page 3 had one of those typical "thou shalt not copy this" notices. I figured he didn't realize it was there, so I sent him a couple of emails about logistics, including the problem of the copyright page.

No answer. I sent another one. No answer. Considering his first email was lightning fast, this was becoming suspicious.

Yesterday I went ahead and created a second Creative Commons copy of the ebook and said, "Sorry you've been busy, look at this new copy, let's go!" Bang. Half an hour later came the answer "let's not". 

I'm havin' NONE of that stuff!

"All the fun of Viral Exposure while eating the cake of a theoretical Piracy lawsuit in pocket."