On Mar 10, 1:26=A0am, Giovanni Wassen <exta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Troy Heagy <electrict...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > First off, that's disappointing. =A0Very disappointing. =A0I speak-out
> > vocally about the damage caused by pirating television shows, but
> > typically that just leads to my banning from the forum. =A0They don't
> > want to hear it. =A0If you have no intent of buying some trashy show, n=
o
> > big deal, but if you enjoy the show (like Babylon 5 or Crusade) then
> > you should go BUY it and support the actors, writers, and other
> > workers behind the scene. =A0To download a television show, burn it to
> > DVD, and stick it on your shelf is stealing, pure and simple.
>
> I download a television show, watch it, toss the file away and buy the DV=
D
> afterwards, when available. Does that make me a 'thief'? I know it's not
> 'proper', but I don't feel like I'm stealing it.
>
> Another example: I like anime and most anime is fansubbed by guys all ove=
r
> the world. I download them the day they are available, watch them and tos=
s
> them away. If it's a good show I'll buy it (when licensed), but some show=
s
> don't get licensed at all and will never be available to me except if I
> learn Japanese. Does that make me a 'thief'? They don't lose a sale but
> they might gain one if some US based company (finally) licenses it.
>
> --


You're missing the point. Several, actually.

First, having talked to distributors, I can tell you straight up that
if a show has had too much online exposure and too many downloads, if
it's too much out there, they won't distribute it because the market
that would want to see it already has. So you're helping to destroy
any chance of a show getting picked up. The logic of "well if I watch
it that'll help to create a market for that show" is a convenient
untruth downloaders tell themselves that has not once ever been
validated. It just never happens. It's just a justification.

Second, when you download a show (and most of the shows that are
downloaded don't fall into the category of "there's no other way to
get it," they're downloads of popular shows and movies, so lets
dispense with THAT bit of nonsense right off the bat...it's not just
that you're denying the producers/distributors of that movie or TV
show the "price" of the DVD (or the commercials not watched). You're
also having a direct impact on the creative people who made that show,
and taking from them as well.

Actors, writers and directors get paid a fee to make a project, and
then they get residuals, which are not a bonus, they are deferred
compensation. If the show does well, they share in that; if the show
tanks, they share the risk. When shows are downloaded free, those
creative people get nothing.

Why should this matter? Residuals are what keeps actors and writers
and directors able to survive the lean periods between jobs, and those
are legion. Those periods can last a year or two sometimes, during
which your ONLY source of revenue is residuals. They help to insure
that the talent pool is available when needed and not out working day
jobs to make ends meet.

Free downloading ultimately destroys the financial structure for
artists of all kinds, and will, if left unchecked, eventually make it
impossible for any artist to make a living doing what they do.

Downloaders think there's no difference between data and
entertainment, that everything should be free. Great, it's free to
YOU. Now, how do you propose paying the people who produce these
shows at the costs of millions of dollars, and the people who need to
put food on the plate when they are getting nothing in return?

It's theft. Sorry. Color it any way you want, it's stealing: by the
law, and by the ethics involved. Everything else you've said is just
justification to cover bad behavior.

jms