Quotes

General Academics Religion and Philosophy
41

Yup. Can’t remember when last I bought a CD, and I have never bought MP3s either. Everything I like is available for free on YouTube. Not only that, music that I have never been able to get hold of on CD (CD shops didn’t stock it and couldn’t order it) is now suddenly on the Tube, for free. And in addition to that, an entire universe of music I was never aware of before. Also for free.

I can see why record companies feel a bit paranoid, but I think it is actually still too early to tell what the effect of the new media is going to be.

42

I’m on the horns of a dilemma. I believe that musicians, authors, film makers &c. deserve to be rewarded for their work, so I will always attempt to source my stuff legally where possible. However, the distributors of creative works just don’t seem to realise that the internet is global and their distribution models are outmoded. I’m not prepared to wait up to three years for a TV show to be aired here after it has been released elsewhere. Netflix and Hulu aren’t available here unless we rent a VPN to make it look as though we are in the US, so we can’t get up-to-date content even if we are prepared to pay for it. But if I go to Kickass or Piratebay, I can download stuff minutes after it has been aired in the US. That’s what I do, and HBO, Showtime &c. get bugger all.

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I'm on the horns of a dilemma. I believe that musicians, authors, film makers &c. deserve to be rewarded for their work, so I will always attempt to source my stuff legally where possible. However, the distributors of creative works just don't seem to realise that the internet is global and their distribution models are outmoded. I'm not prepared to wait up to three years for a TV show to be aired here after it has been released elsewhere. Netflix and Hulu aren't available here unless we rent a VPN to make it look as though we are in the US, so we can't get up-to-date content even if we are prepared to pay for it. But if I go to Kickass or Piratebay, I can download stuff minutes after it has been aired in the US. That's what I do, and HBO, Showtime &c. get bugger all.
You are right. They should be paid of course, otherwise nobody will make those things. But to charge a high price for something while one can get it for free somewhere else?
45

IMHO this is their own damn fault.

I don’t think 99% of pirates would mind if they could watch a show online from the moment it aired “in the states”, even if ad-supported. Most TV stations just seem to refuse to realise they are about content, not about pumping stuff into the air via radio waves.

I don’t “have” TV in my house (I cancelled my DSTV) but I “watch” a lot of TV and most of it is NOT illegal! Youtube and the internet in general is a veritable treasure trove of legit, free content that is customized to my tastes and instantly available. Yes there are TV shows that I enjoy and yes, I download those. But that I blame squarely on the people producing it. I want it, I’m willing to pay for it (not at dstv rates though, that’s robbery), but I want it at my convenience and there is absolutely nothing stopping them from giving it to me, as witnessed by the fact that I view everything else on demand already, at “HD Ready” resolutions too! (4Mb ADSL is ample to stream 720p on demand). However they refuse. I cannot help that.

As for music, I’ve done the “here’s my album online, please donate” thing a couple of times (and donated). I really appreciate it when an artist does that instead of putting their music in a physical plastic container and slapping a R150 (IF you’re lucky) sticker on it… Some artists seem to realise that they can’t fight the times, and that there are people out there begging them to LET US pay them in our way.

This is the sad part. All they really need to do is let us pay them.

46

Yup. Most of the music I get on YT has been placed there by the musicians themselves, for free. Much of the rest is under copyright, but not commercially available anymore anyway. You may as well sue the library for lending people out-of-print books.

Yes there are TV shows that I enjoy and yes, I download those. But that I blame squarely on the people producing it. I want it, I'm willing to pay for it (not at dstv rates though, that's robbery), but I want it at my convenience and there is absolutely nothing stopping them from giving it to me, as witnessed by the fact that I view everything else on demand already, at "HD Ready" resolutions too! (4Mb ADSL is ample to stream 720p on demand). However they refuse. I cannot help that.

And sooner or later they’ll all go bankrupt and get replaced by companies that do “get it.”

I have a feeling the major threat to copyright holders is not pirates but precisely the gazillions of professionals and accomplished amateurs that upload their stuff for free to YT. It has only been in recent years that I realized just what a vast mountain of talent is out there. Up to now, a small number of big companies have been controlling it all and only allowed us to see and hear what they wanted us to see and hear.

Well, now the playing field is a bit more level. Too bad for the big guys.

The least they can do is pretend to provide better service. But go to a music shop and ask them if they can find and import a CD with, say, Renaissance lute music. They look at you like you’re insane, treat you like you’re insane, and if perchance they do agree to import the thing and phone you when it’s ready, you never hear from them again.

So why on Earth are they complaining when I eventually get what I want for free on YT, where some gifted musician has uploaded it himself (or, at least, seems not to mind if someone else does, knowing that it amounts to advertisement)?

It’s not just music either; I have run into the same problem with a shop that stocks school supplies. I was trying to get hold of, and have laminated, some maps to use in class. Well, they can’t laminate anything. And they didn’t stock what I wanted. So I ordered it, and then just never heard from them again. So I eventually went to the shop personally to hear what has happened to my order, only to be met with shrugs.

Eventually I got what I needed for free on the web.

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It’s a joke to think that anyone is one thing. We’re all such complex creatures. But if I’m going to be a poster child for anything, anger’s a gorgeous emotion. It gets a bad rap, but it can make great changes happen. - Alanis Morissette

I do hope Alanis can take a bit of lyric tampering in her stride . :slight_smile:
It’s Finally Ironic
Rigil

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What is utopianism? In some sense... medievil christianity promised people redemption after they died, while a utopian creed does the same thing except it promises it here and now.
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I had a priest stop me up in Montreal some years ago, and he came up to me and says: "Aren't you Groucho Marx?" so I says "yes", he says "may I shake your hand?", I says "Fine", and I shook hands with him. He says: "I wanna thank you, for all the joy you put into the world" and I says "I wanna thank you for all the joy you've taken out of it".