A few thoughts about the whole filesharing debacle

[darkemeralds]

I read somewhere that Megaupload accounted for 4% of ALL THE TRAFFIC ON THE INTERNET, which is an incredible amount of traffic. The odds against the FBI singling any one individual out for an occasional one-off download, among 4% of the whole internet's traffic, must be astronomical.

Still, one would be kind of crazy to continue the practice. It's no longer feeling vaguely daring, or comfortably familiar. It feels like high-risk behavior, and I'm notoriously risk-averse.

Besides, speaking for myself, I can't say that most of the TV content I've consumed (ever) has enriched me very much in its own right. It's my fannish interactions with the content--fic, chatwatches, reviews, comments, conversations--that add value to my life.

I would miss that, and I wonder what might come along to replace it.



BUT! When will the content producers understand that many of us would gladly pay a buck or two per episode to enjoy their damn shows? When will they get that most of us no longer want to own a bunch of bulky, stupid DVD boxes? Or watch the soul-sucking commercials that have nothing to do with our lives?

Why can't they provide content the way I want to enjoy it--streaming, with control over start/stop/reverse/re-watch so that I can synchronize with a friend in a different time zone or a different house, and watch in virtual togetherness? Maybe capture a frame or two for my personal enjoyment or icon-making?

I don't want to steal content or put it back up online. I don't even really want to own most of it. I just want to share it--maybe once or twice--with my friends or family, the way I used to with a DVD set, or sitting together in front of the TV.

Audible.com has a pretty good model--monthly subscription fees for x-number of audiobook titles per month, and access for up to five devices. It lets me and my sister share books without buying two copies--just like with a paper book. They get a lot of money from me and return a lot of value, and it's a happy relationship.

Hollywood should do the same, instead of spending all their resources on congresscritters and stupid draconian laws designed to save a dying business model. I don't understand them at all.

Comments

[jumpuphigh]

Both cbs.com and abc.com are reliable about putting up episodes by 5 or 6 a.m. eastern the day after they show. I do get tired of the same one or two commercials over and over though. Also, they don't keep the episodes up very long so if you are like me and like to save up episodes and then just watch them all in a gorge-fest, that doesn't work. I use Hulu as well but their selection doesn't much match with what I want to watch. Then there is BravoTV which doesn't put up episodes until weeks after they've shown (although they put up clips and such which will spoil you even if you don't watch the clips and that frustrates me).

All that to say, yep, I agree with you.

[executrix]

I wish there was an on-demand facility for getting a DVD burned with episodes from a show that is never going to get a commercial release--in times of stress I wish I could pull out my "awful canceled shows starring Sean Maher" DVD for comfort viewing.