Comments on: Piracy as a leading indicator of sales

One great way to determine whether your digital product is destined for greatness is how many people want to steal it. The same goes for open source.

[Spiza2]

I can personally say that this has worked for me. I download 2 seasons of Farscape before I started watching the show. I would have stopped watching lost long ago if not for downloading a handful of episodes for shows that I missed. And just this season I was told Pushing Daisies was a good show. I download the first 2 eps and now I've watched every show. If the streams on their websites weren't so crappy, I would watch the shows from there as well, but I'm now addicted to HD content.

[ZeTron57]

I can say that because of the ability to download I became hooked on both Dexter Season 1 and Heroes Season 1. Then followed season 2 on TV for each. If I missed a show then I would download it and watch it on my time (f tivo). If this was not an ability, I know that I would have not bothered to watch either show as it is important to watch every episode.... Also, I like Dexter so much that I am probably going to buy the DVD for special features... If companies jam pack a DVD for a show with heavy illegal downloads and skimp with the special features on light downloaded programs they will save tons of cash in production.

[tektaktyks]

Why they don't give it all away for free,with commercials ,but include a different set of them,targeting more tech-savvy consumers?duh?

[dondarko]

They should have known this since Napster. DUH!!!

[digitalshaman]

random thoughts pretending to care ...

informatiuon cannot be stolen in a zero knowledge sense ... entropy is positive ... encouraging disclousre and discussion is the sole competitive advantage in an age when the information being sold is easily copied without attribution ... good or bad ...

the american system foir portecting and attributing value to the individual, the iconoclast, the reardon, the entrepreneur, is unique but highly misunderstood -- very unfortunate since it is vbecoiming unclear who is responsible for information that causes damage to your property ... [[http://a side notes, there are NO more submarine patents 20 year statutory limit from date of file -- versus copyright which is 50 plus years tagged to the end of the copyright "creator" and all patent filings are disclosed publicly within 18 months of filing ...]|http://a side notes, there are NO more submarine patents 20 year statutory limit from date of file -- versus copyright which is 50 plus years tagged to the end of the copyright "creator" and all patent filings are disclosed publicly within 18 months of filing ...]]

hoiwever, the great equalizer :: business (huge, big, small, tiny) must compete for people's attention and determine a willingness to pay, which with trust is the real limited resource, time is exhausted not the information being sold ... and, nothing is more authentic than the real thing baby ...

now about that balance between piracy and privacy (which incidently are different saides of the same coin) -- an equitable accounting syste,m for attributing value and apportioning the revenue according to that equitable distribution isbecoming possible because of the radioheads, madonnas, a-rods, kobe bryants, et al ... they get paid for their time ... what is the value of your time?

moma said : it all comes down to identifying who pays you how much they pay you and when exactly payment is received ...

[mcd0234]

Its about time. As the above comment said, I wouldn't even mind an odd commercial if they'd finally embrace it and let us download and watch what and when we want easily which bitTorrent is the only way to do conveniently now - even with all the spoof's and tracking. I just have so little sympathy for these idiots still going to war with their own customers this many years after the digital/broadband huge changes. Like NBC fighting with Apple, whats up with that and then iTunes giving in and the studio's charging $15 per movie when there is no manufacturing/shelf space/plastic and all the other things that go into a movie you buy at Best Buy etc which is often cheaper than $15 anyway, what delusional state are they in.

I will also add since I'm currently living in the UK, while I suppose the above is technically true on the surface, only the BBC is funded that way and they only have 4 tv channels if you include the 2 on cable/satellite. My satellite package includes 597 channels and 593 are supported via advertising or the movie channels are premium and you pay upfront like HBO. It is weird though needing a 'license' for tv whether you want BBC or not, especially since they are so not needed anymore for their original purpose with so much choice but I suppose they do have good news coverage. ITV,4 & 5 are also free over the air national broadcasters (like NBC, CBS etc) are they all have to support themselves with ads.

[Travis Ernst]

I've said this before due to my distaste for some of the adds. The industry is going to have to go to product placement more and more in the shows to bring in revenue. I TiVO my shows (different product, but same idea) and when I watch, I jump ahead and cut out all the adds before viewing. Why? Why should I sit through almost 20 minutes of company products in my face when all I want to see is the show.

I can't tell you the current movies coming out, or the "deal busters" they are showing on TV. And I could care less. As for show distribution, I am careful and avoid that. I record broadcasts for my own use and my drive is smaller that I'd like to have. So end of season I wipe out the seasons episodes, keep a few movies on, and prepare for the next seasons run.

At 2 gig/hour it eats up space pretty fast. Edit out commercials and it's down to 1.3g/episode (42 minutes).

[hawkeyeaz1]

Of course, they can also track your IP and sue you as RIAA and MPAA are so keen on doing, so for all we know it could be a fishing expedition.

Yes, I'm a cynic, but not due to fear rather observation.

[FrankTurd]

This doesn't work in all industries.

Take, for example, Anime. Anime is being killed off by piracy (fan-subbing). Because of fan-subbing (piracy), REAL people are loosing jobs, companies are closing or scaling production and distribution back. Piracy as a leading indicator doesn't always translate into sales. Sometimes, it translates into pink slips, unemployment and death. ~ Mr. Turd

[micheal676]

as regards to anime, the current system is outdated. fans in the u.s. and else where want the shows soon after they air in japan, they don't want to wait a year or two for it to maybe come out on dvd. then when is does come the pricing scheme is very different from what the u.s. market is used to for one season of a show. you can easily pay several times what you would be used to. plus as for the quality of the subs a lot of time when they are professionally subbed they put what they think you would understand the easiest not straight translations at least imho.
i would glad pay a subscription fee to watch an anime a few days to a week after it originally airs, with ads even, but as with most of my generation and those younger, we don't have to the patience to wait years for an overpriced mediocre subbed product.