The Movie Studios Have A Great Idea To Ramp Up Piracy.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/14/the-movie-studios-have-a-great-idea-to-ramp-up-piracy-and-blockbuster-wants-to-help/

by edw519 • 17 years ago

32 9 17 years ago

techcrunch.com

tetsuo13• 17 years ago

This paragraph summed it all up:

If the studios are allowing some places like Blockbuster stores to rent movies on day one, but limit Netflix from doing the same, how many of the millions of Netflix users are going to drive to a Blockbuster store to get that movie? Some certainly will, but a lot will also turn to the web and simply download the movie. And some who have never done that before will learn how to get around such a ridiculous restriction.

Not sure if it's a scheme to grant Blockbuster exclusive rights to DVD rentals for the first 30 days but it sure seems that way.

In the war on "piracy" it always seems that the studios make things increasingly more difficult for their customers and driving them toward other means. It seems they won't be happy until no one can have their product but must pay for it anyway.

chrischen• 17 years ago

If the person is willing to download the movie from the internet (illegally), why would they even pay for Netflix in the first place. And once they do start downloading they'll start questioning why they have to pay. It seems like this 30 day thing wouldn't really change things, or that it would screw Netflix too.

lutorm• 17 years ago

Netflix might be convenient enough to make people not bother trying to find torrents (and worrying about getting sued). I think in many cases it's not the price that's the deterrent, it's the hassle of having to actually go to the store.

cschep• 17 years ago

Maybe Netflix with all the latest content is good enough, but 30 day delayed Netflix isn't. This is such bullshit. The only thing unhappy Netflix users can do is cancel their membership, which is (I'm sure) nothing but good news to the movie studios. Boo!

sofal• 17 years ago

For some people (not sure how many) there is just a small barrier to downloading movies illegally. You have to dip just below the 'honesty' layer and search for links in slightly questionable places. There's that feeling of being subversive and opening up yourself to a little risk (however minimal). This barrier can be just big enough in order to prefer things like Redbox or Netflix over it, but not big enough to make people go back to spending $5 to watch a movie at home.

missile• 17 years ago

It's a fallacy to say that people are either illegal downloaders or not. There's a large segment of the population that won't download media illegally if they feel that they're being well served by the marketplace. If on the other hand, the industry conspires to limit consumer options out of greed and stupidity, that same segment of the population will feel that it has a right to seek redress, and won't feel bad about illegal downloads.

Dilpil• 17 years ago

The CEOs best bet for making money is to a) prolong the death of blockbuster as long as possible and more importantly b) chump it up with other board members and executives in the entertainment to hopefully land another high paying job when this all fails. He looks to be on track for success.

apgwoz• 17 years ago

The thing is, we arleady wait months for new releases, what's another 30 days? Are we really that pathetic?

The Movie Studios Have A Great Idea To Ramp Up Piracy.

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