Great Read if your concerned about pirated content
 

Beverly Hills, Calif.,-based Big Champagne has collected data on file-sharing and sold it to media companies for almost 10 years. Garland's company has survived all that time, even while making the same sad pitch. He tells the music labels and film studios they are going to be chopped down at the knees by the Internet and online piracy--but that doesn't mean they can't survive.

What makes Garland an important speaker on this subject is that despite his gloomy message, he's bullish on both the Internet and movies. His interests and Hollywood's are aligned, he says, because if the studios don't survive then he loses customers. He wants them to do well but he just doesn't think that telling them what they want to hear, the "bedtime stories" as he calls it, is going to help.

In his interview with CNET, Garland predicted that the film business is in for a period of downsizing and cost cutting; that Hollywood's digital evolution will likely be similar to the music industry's but will unfold much faster; and that great wealth will still flow into the sector.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-10...dStoriesArea.1

Very interesting. Thanks for the link.

i like the bullish view, pretty inspiring

Q: Because they want to sell me past seasons on DVD, right?
Garland: Yes, but Surfthechannel.com, (an online site where users can find links to a plethora of unauthorized shows and films) doesn't care about that. They're happy to serve up current and past episodes of "24." And just like music, Hollywood's first reaction to that will be "Well, that's just not fair. That's jumping the turnstile, that's breaking the rules. We have to shut that down, because if you remove that option then people will be more patient." You won't remove that option, and you're losing valuable time if you focus on removing that option at the expense of improving that option and bettering that option, beating that option.

How do you get someone to pay for something that they can get for free? You can't change human nature.

The only thing that stops the average person from walking into Macy's and leaving with a trash bag full of clothes is the jail deterrent.

People take digital stuff because they know they can get away with it. You can't arrest everyone that steals digital content, but you can at least educate that their theft will not perpetuate the creation of new content they supposedly love so much. I don't think most poeople are just scummy thieves, but I'll bet they never just stop for a moment to ponder the ripple effect their harmless download has on the movie/music/TV/software industry.

I've had my share of free downloads, but I've been getting out my wallet for the last few years, so I don't contribute to the problem.

Interesting read. Thanks for posting. :thumbsup

:thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup

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interesting read

according to that deeply flawed logic... no one would ever pay for porn.

:2 cents: