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List Of False Studio Claims Over The Years

11K views 304 replies 42 participants last post by  thehun 
#1 ·
Not sure if this is the proper forum for this thread, but has anyone ever compiled a concise list of the absurdly false claims the big studios have claimed over the years to show the MPAA pattern of behavior?


Here are a couple:

1. Jack Valenti-"I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone."

2. RIAA-"Home Taping is Killing Music" - Analog tape recorders.

3. RIAA-Jason Berman "DAT poses the most significant technological threat the American music industry has ever faced."

4. RIAA-Hilary Rosen-"Diamond's product Rio was destined to undermine the creation of a legitimate digital distribution marketplace" MP3 players


What about DVR's, HDTV, Analog Sunsets, Encrypting Basic Cable Tiers, Selectable Output Controls, blah-blah-blah.


Feel free to add others you are aware of.....I am sure there is much, much more out there you guys remember hearing coming out of the studios. Have fun with this thread assuming it doesnt get locked/deleted.


Maybe we could author a short paper compiling the lies the studios have foisted upon their politicians and send a copy to each of the members who will vote on the latest abomination called SOPA?


Note: 1-4 lifted from "100 years of Big Content fearing technology—in its own words"
 
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#3 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by qz3fwd /forum/post/21497386


Maybe we could author a short paper compiling the lies the studios have foisted upon their politicians and send a copy to each of the members who will vote on the latest abomination called SOPA?


Note: 1-4 lifted from "100 years of Big Content fearing technology—in its own words"

Before you get too carried away, please state what actual legislation (i.e. law) that was passed that prohibited "us" from watching video or listening to music in some form. The only things I'm aware of are "policies" adopted by manufacturers. If you really want to get back at the movie studios stop paying money to see the crap they produce.



larry
 
#4 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by rezzy /forum/post/21504806


I remember studios getting their panties in a bunch over Toshiba's announcement of their 480p-output SD-DVD player 10 years ago. No way possible for DVDs to be perfect (bit for bit) copies.

Oh yeah... Progressive Scan players were kept from the market for a short time due to studio pressure. Looking back, it's comical.
 
#9 ·
I find it hilarious that, when one of the most massive waves of theft of product in history is going on, that all everyone ever does is talk about how horrible the music and movie industry is. As though any of the above remotely is in the same ballpark as the massive damage being done to IP industries by theft by consumers. It's just ridiculous.


The only reasons that the movie industry isn't in as bad shape as the music industry is that it's not quite as convenient to download movies as music and they do still at least have other outlets for their product besides direct sales to the consumer. And of course direct sales to the consumer is still one of the ways they make actual profit, since often that doesn't occur in the theaters.


The internet is just overflowing with people who condemn the music and movies industries for things that, though you may not agree with them, are not remotely illegal. You are not guaranteed by law to have access to media in any form you want it. It's not a natural right. And of course they have consistently provided better and better formats for their content, which then is used as an excuse to steal from them as well. Those bastards think I'm paying for a blu-ray after I already bought a DVD.


The whole thing is a joke, where huge numbers of people who are stealing content from these companies on a regular basis get together to convince themselves that they are the real heros, sticking it to the man, instead of just common place theives. Maybe we can also have a list of BS rationalizations for stealing? THat list will probably be a lot longer.


Now of course this thread will get closed, because someone stood up for the victims, instead of cheered for the people committing the real crime.
 
#10 ·
Dean, that is the exact mindset behind SOPA\\PIPA. It is scary that stubborn old people want to blanket an entire evolution of art & media culture as "plain theft", rather than evolve themselves, to the point that they will send us back into the stone age.


I believe we covered this in a previous thread at one point, but the truth is not as cut and dry as you make it out to be. Antiquated business practices (combined with timeless studio greed) and copyright laws have forced the industry into stagnation while society has progressed. Piracy is not theft, in and of itself, any more than sampling in electronic music is theft. Copyright infringement is not theft, it is copyright infringement (which begs a whole new discussion of the vast reform our current copyright laws require). Plenty of [NON RIAA or MPAA endorsed] studies have shown that a pirated view of a movie does not equate to a lost ticket sale or DVD purchase. Not to mention all the data that shows that even while piracy is increasing, so is retail media sales and the movie box office.


You know what is theft though? Criminal prosecution of "pirates" on the taxpayer's dime while seeking exorbitant, grossly exaggerated compensation.
 
#11 ·
I do not know a single person who purchases Blu-Rays or DVD's now, other than one single solitary freind who loves on the other side of the country. Everyone I know either has netflix and streams OR they download illegally.


No doubt illegal downloads is killing DVD and BD sales. It's sad and Hollywood has got to find a way to adjust or there will be no more content in years to come.
 
#12 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by lwright84 /forum/post/21507877


Dean, that is the exact mindset behind SOPA\\PIPA. It is scary that stubborn old people want to blanket an entire evolution of art & media culture as "plain theft", rather than evolve themselves, to the point that they will send us back into the stone age.

This is just silliness. There is absolutely nothing 'old' about the concept that if you take what someone else has worked to create, without compensating them or getting permission, that you are doing wrong. It's fundamental to our entire society. It's only now that people can steal intellectual property that they want to somehow convince themselves that this isn't true, but only when it's them whom gain, they won't ever apply that grand new vision to themselves. None of them are going to their bosses and asking to work for free so that others can benefit from their work.

Quote:
Antiquated business practices (combined with timeless studio greed) and copyright laws have forced the industry into stagnation while society has progressed.

A completely meaningless statement straight out of the downloader's handbook. It sounds like it means something but it doesn't.

Quote:
Piracy is not theft, in and of itself, any more than sampling in electronic music is theft. Copyright infringement is not theft, it is copyright infringement (which begs a whole new discussion of the vast reform our current copyright laws require). Plenty of [NON RIAA or MPAA endorsed] studies have shown that a pirated view of a movie does not equate to a lost ticket sale or DVD purchase.

This is another standard downloader's rationalization. Look, when 10% of people steal, then you can argue that a download doesn't equate to a loss of sale. It's easy to understand that there are probably 10% of people who are hard core and won't buy something. But we are way, way beyond that. We are now into a situatoin where large numbers of downloads ARE absolutely lost sales, period. People aren't buying because it's trivial and consequence free to do otherwise. Else, they would be purchasing, because they do want to have it.


Instead that money goes to companies with non-stealable products, so it's not just loss of sales but in large part it's a redirection of sales to other companies, and also of course to companies that you pay to get access to all that stuff you want to steal.

Quote:
Not to mention all the data that shows that even while piracy is increasing, so is retail media sales and the movie box office.

Not true. The music industry has imploded. Sales is far lower than it was in 1999 when downloading hit the public consciousness. The amount of music stolen is vast. And of course movie box office has NOTHING to do with direct sales. Wether it is up or down in no way justifies allowing wide spread theft of the saleable product.

Quote:
You know what is theft though? Criminal prosecution of "pirates" on the taxpayer's dime while seeking exorbitant, grossly exaggerated compensation.

Are you joking? I can tell a mile away that you have a hard drive full of stolen content, and you need some way to convince yourself that you are just getting back for those horrible people who actually would like to have the same protections as the entire rest of the world to have people who steal from them prosecuted.


And, BTW, the *lawsuits* against individual downloaders has not been on the taxpayer's dime. The industries involved are paying large amounts of money to undertake them, because they are civil lawsuits. The government only gets involved when there is criminal copyright infringement, so you should get your rationalizations straight.


However, we DO need to make copyright infringement a criminal offense now. There's no other way it will work anymore. The original copyright law assumed that any infringement that could be really damaging was for profit, large scale piracy. But that's no longer the case. Far more damage is now being done by individuals in aggregate. So there's no way that law suits can ever work to provide IP creators their *constitutionally guaranteed rights*. This situation must be changed. You steal a $1.98 something or other from a grocery store and you can get a ride in a police car (at tax payer's expense.) But you steal thousands of dollars worth of intellectual property and someone has to spend a hundred thousand or more of their own money to sue you, which makes it completely useless as an enforcement mechanism. And then, on top of that, they'll be condemned by the pro-piracy lobby on the internet as greedy scum who are abusing innocent people.
 
#13 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt_Stevens /forum/post/21507901


I do not know a single person who purchases Blu-Rays or DVD's now, other than one single solitary freind who loves on the other side of the country.

Thanx for the shout-out.



Quote:
Everyone I know either has netflix and streams OR they download illegally.

Seriously, you don't know anyone who buys?

Kinda says something about the company you keep....
 
#15 ·
Here is the fundamental fallacy of the pro-downloader position. It's a completely obvious ad absurdium argument that is undeniable, and it shows why such a position is untenable.


1. If you don't have to pay for it, why do I? Am I expected to subsidize your use of the product for free, so that you can have the product AND go get something else with the money you saved?

2. Clearly if you believe you don't have to, then I don't have to pay for it either, and now we are even. But if both you and I don't have to pay for it, then why does anyone? Clearly no one does under such a belief system, unless your belief system is that you get it for free and other people have to pay.

3. So now we have a situation in which we've rationalized the fact that NO ONE has to pay for the product. Any other situation is unfair, because some people are paying in order for a larger number of others to get it for free.

4. Hence there is are ever shrinking revenues available to incentivize anyone to create the products, because it ain't gonna happen for free. It's not even going to happen for break even or slightly above break even. It doesn't work that way.



So, ultimately, there are only two outcomes. Some of us continue to pay (and continue to pay more as the legal market shrinks and so the price has to go up to keep it viable) so that others can get it for free. OR, there are ever fewer products other than weekend warriors creating stuff for fun. Those are the only two possible outcomes from the "it's not wrong to steal IP" position.


The former situation completely encourages more people to move from being paying customers to getting it for free. They see everyone else doing it and suffering no consequences. They see people all over the internet talking about how horrible these companies are and why they deserve to die. Each new generation of kids is born into a world where all the other kids they know steal all their music, movies and software, so why wouldn't they? It's impossible to argue that the folks who are still paying for the product must continue to do so, when it's clearly obvious that many more are not and the government does nothing in response.


Also, as a consequence, quality drops, more expensive and ambitious movie projects don't get the green light unless it's extremely likely to recoup and make sufficient profit in the theatrical run. Music companies stop investing in more marginal artists and stick to the most sellable mainstream artists, which has already happened. No one can afford to put a lot of money behind an artist that isn't totally pushing all the buttons, unless it's a small indie label that puts a very small amount of money into it (relative to the amount required for real success.)
 
#16 ·
Dean - I appreciate your persistence in presenting the case against illegal downloading of content. For some, I'm sure you come off as a broken record, but the message you provide is sound and needs to be heard.


I also know it won't have much, if any, impact on those that refuse to pay for their entertainment, although the lengths they go to justify their moral and ethical (not to mention criminal) failures is somewhat entertaining.


I saw a cartoon today which showed someone saying to (apparently) a musician (paraphrasing), I just downloaded your latest song from the Internet. The musician responds, I just downloaded your credit card information from the Internet.


Thanks again Dean.
 
#17 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean Roddey /forum/post/21508183


And a lot of folks using Netflix are just ripping them and keeping them, which is completely illegal for obvious reasons. So that's not a lot better than downloading them.

I do use NF and I do buy (blind and not).


Basically, I use NF to preview and influence my buying decisions.


I have never copied a DVD or BD.

Could I?

Sure, I could...but I won't.

In life, I try to walk the talk.
 
#18 ·
Sheesh, there was one new mainstream movie I saw in 2011 that warrants a purchase. Only one I can see watching more than once. That's pathetic.


I've paid a premium to rent movies "not in theaters yet" a handful of times & the only junk I download is OOP vhs tapes you can't even get on DVD.


I love spending money and used to buy movies all the time.

What can make me buy more? Make something I want to own.




*** just to add - after seeing that movie I immediately went home and downloaded the soundtrack from iTunes.
 
#19 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by oink /forum/post/21508424


I do use NF and I do buy (blind and not).


Basically, I use NF to preview and influence my buying decisions.


I have never copied a DVD or BD.

Could I?

Sure, I could...but I won't.

In life, I try to walk the talk.

If everyone else were the same, we'd not be having this conversation probably, but unfortunately that's not the case.
 
#20 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean Roddey /forum/post/21507938


This is just silliness. There is absolutely nothing 'old' about the concept that if you take what someone else has worked to create, without compensating them or getting permission, that you are doing wrong. It's fundamental to our entire society. It's only now that people can steal intellectual property that they want to somehow convince themselves that this isn't true, but only when it's them whom gain, they won't ever apply that grand new vision to themselves. None of them are going to their bosses and asking to work for free so that others can benefit from their work.

You're right, that was silliness. It isn't "only now" that these stick-in-the-mud attitudes have surfaced to combat cultural and technological advancements. The same greedy, delusional industry execs spouted the same baseless, reactionary nonsense when two-head VCRs came out, for example. CD burners too. And again, it has been shown that a pirated view of a movie or listen of a track\\album does NOT equate to a lost sale. It is not "taking" anything from anyone, and in fact does not cost the economy anything . It is fundamentally no different than borrowing a movie from a friend, which is technically also illegal under the same ridiculous laws and antiquated mindsets. Here is a deeper look.

Quote:
A completely meaningless statement straight out of the downloader's handbook. It sounds like it means something but it doesn't.

It means plenty, you're just too engrossed in your passionate disdain to bother considering it. When a film makes $500 million and is still technically considered a "loss" by the studio, that system and its practices are broken. When I cannot even make a copy of my own purchased media to give to a friend, that system and its practices are broken. When I can't legally include a music track in my wedding video without paying exorbitant licensing fees, that system and its practices are broken. When I can't make a digital copy of my content without having to deal with absurd DRM, that system and its practices are broken. There are a hundred similar examples, but they all mean the same thing. This isn't a new era of computers anymore... hell, this isn't even a new era of digital media anymore. There is simply no excuse for the studios to still think they can still royally screw their own customers (and artists, for that matter) and it will be taken lying down simply because there is no other alternative or recourse. In fact, there is actually evidence that the music industry's documented losses are actually directly related to their slow adoption of the digital format and delivery . There are now plenty of alternatives, and both the customers AND the artists are willingly taking advantage of them. Ultraviolet is a great step in that direction, but it may prove to be too little too late if it is too restrictive.

Quote:
This is another standard downloader's rationalization. Look, when 10% of people steal, then you can argue that a download doesn't equate to a loss of sale. It's easy to understand that there are probably 10% of people who are hard core and won't buy something. But we are way, way beyond that. We are now into a situatoin where large numbers of downloads ARE absolutely lost sales, period. People aren't buying because it's trivial and consequence free to do otherwise. Else, they would be purchasing, because they do want to have it.

Speaking of crap "straight out of a handbook", that is easily refutable nonsense straight from the RIAA and MPAA themselves. and it has been ruled so in court . It has even been admitted by companies themselves .

Quote:
Not true. The music industry has imploded. Sales is far lower than it was in 1999 when downloading hit the public consciousness. The amount of music stolen is vast. And of course movie box office has NOTHING to do with direct sales. Wether it is up or down in no way justifies allowing wide spread theft of the saleable product.

It hasn't imploded, CD sales actually rose a few years ago, but have steadily declined as digital retail sales have dramatically increased (for your sake, we won't even get into the data on iTunes and Amazon sales). It's mainly net revenue to the studios that has suffered. Meanwhile artists are continually finding new ways to increase their profits, and have done so with mostly success. Also, as an aside, there is evidence that the larger availability of music through online sharing has helped drive an increase in music instrument sales , as well as things like portable media devices.

Here is a great analysis that you should take the time to read.


Meanwhile, in movies, while DVD sales are down overall (although less than last year), Blu-ray sales are up . Not to mention the obvious which is that streaming and VOD sales are way, way up. Again, this is evidence of the consumers and artists adapting and evolving while the old bull-headed studios are busy trying to figure out ways to drag us back into the stone age where they made obscene profits and screwed over everyone involved. I mean, they just lobbied with nearly $100 million to get Congress to support SOPA\\PIPA... that should tell you where their priorities lie. Not in innovation, or serving the obvious interests and requests of their customers, but in suing people for phantom lost sales with fudged numbers for ludicrous restitution. They don't even care if you're dead. Nor do they care about other things like facts or physical possibilities.

And, of course, never mind that the entertainment industry enjoyed an over 40% growth from 1998-2008, and is expected to steadily grow over the next decade as well. Or that they RIAA and MPAA are suppressing reports that show piracy is actually helping the industry.

Quote:
Are you joking?

Not at all, it is widely documented how outrageous their restitution amounts are. If you'd do some research instead of resigning yourself to be a RIAA\\MPAA choir member, perhaps you'd already know that. But you can start here , at least.

Quote:
And, BTW, the *lawsuits* against individual downloaders has not been on the taxpayer's dime. The industries involved are paying large amounts of money to undertake them, because they are civil lawsuits. The government only gets involved when there is criminal copyright infringement, so you should get your rationalizations straight.

Actually the civil lawsuits do costs the taxpayers money as we have to fund a judge and jury for these frivolous lawsuits. But either way, the only people benefiting from this are the lawyers .
 
#21 ·
I'm not going to waste my time with another long response. I'll just state that everything you said is completely wrong, a complete demonization of people who are not in any way ripping you off, so that you can feel justified in stealing from them.


It's trivially easy to find plenty of articles on the internet that will claim anything you want against the IP industry, because almost everyone on the internet knows that that's how to make friends, and of course half of them are probably stealing content right and left as well and so they are just protecting their own source of free stuff. I would invite others to look at the reputations of some of the web sites you are referencing.


On the downs to sales thing, no one in a lawsuit against downloads has to prove squat in terms of how many downloads would have been sales. That's irrelevant. The person shared that many copies, that's that many instances of copyright violation. That's all that matters in such a law suit. And that's a VASTLY different argument from whether billions of downloads represents large numbers of lost sales, which it certainly does.


As to the 'studies that show piracy is good for sales', that is just complete BS on a stick. Only in downloader fantasy land does that compute.


As was said above, nothing I say is going to keep anyone from believing what they need to believe to make themselves comfortable being theives. I've made my points and I'll leave it at that. And, as usual, you make it all about the victim, and go to great lengths to argue why STEALING is acceptable, and never once make any effort to examine why a culture of theft is not a good thing. Because you obviously want to be able to steal stuff, simple as that.
 
#22 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by PooperScooper /forum/post/21504864


If you really want to get back at the movie studios stop paying money to see the crap they produce.



larry

If only it were that simple. People are starved for entertainment and will watch anything in the absence of quality. The bar is lowered to a point where the studio can repeat the last 40 years of content and the only people complaining are here
 
#23 ·
Though, to be fair, if it came out 25 to 40 years ago, most of the potential viewers won't have ever known that it had happened before, and most of them wouldn't ever go see the orginals either probably, even if they knew. They'd probably much prefer a modern remake. Not that I advocate such things, but it's probably the case. I'm not even a fan of sequels at all, though obviously a few have proven themselves.
 
#24 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by oink /forum/post/21508424


I do use NF and I do buy (blind and not).

Add me to that list. I try not to think of my annual expenditures of actual physical copies of BDs, DVDs (yes, I still buy those), SACDs, CDs, and LPs. I have bought HD track downloads as well, and I was one of the first downloading (and paying a fair price of my choosing) Radiohead's "In Rainbows" in 2007. I have lots of titles of movies I have bought two or three times on DVD and then again on BD (and some on HD-DVD as well, during the format wars), as well as albums on LP that I later bought on CD, and some even still I have later bought on SACD or DVD-A. I'm a shiny plastic disc whore.


I blind buy many movies, and I buy BDs of many movies I have seen in a theater or on pay TV (and plenty of catalog titles and classics as well). If I really want 'em, I buy 'em.


I'm a movie and music content junkie, and I like my hard copies. Some of them I may not watch or listen to much, but by gosh I like knowing I can whenever I want.

Quote:
Basically, I use NF to preview and influence my buying decisions.

I do some of that, but I also use it just to supplement my hard copy content, particularly with the great selection of documentaries and old TV shows available.


If I had my way, my full-time occupation would be watching films, quality TV shows and documentaries, and listening to music. If money were no object, I'd just have food delivered to me, someone do my yardwork (I already do), someone clean my house, and I'd have over close friends from time to time for good conversation and drinks, that is when I wasn't occupied with hookers and blow.


Hunter S. Thompson had a great gig at Owl Creek. People came to him for great conversation, great company, world class partying, and kooky games (drunken skeet shooting and a form of golf combined, e.g.) and he rarely had to leave home except when he really wanted to. RIP, Great American.


P.S. Yeah, I'm rambling, but gimme a break. I just took some great painkillers for my lower back pain and I'm feeling good and rambly.
 
#25 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean Roddey /forum/post/21508711


Though, to be fair, if it came out 25 to 40 years ago, most of the potential viewers won't have ever known that it had happened before, and most of them wouldn't ever go see the orginals either probably, even if they knew. They'd probably much prefer a modern remake. Not that I advocate such things, but it's probably the case. I'm not even a fan of sequels at all, though obviously a few have proven themselves.

True, but what of a new story teller. There must be a few. We still suffer from the math of guarantees and so do the new viewers.
 
#26 ·
There are two issues at work.

#1 Downloading pirated music and movies is a serious problem.

#2 Potentially putting the liability for #1 onto non-profit sites like Wikipedia, forums like this, etc. will force a segment of the Internet to go out-of-business.


Of course, the illegitimate web sites operating out of Romania, Russia, etc. will stay in business with their servers running for years to come.


The solution is NOT simple. Some type of deal has to be made with the manufacturers of the next version of players (e.g. 4k BluRay). They will have to be connected via the Internet (not an option like today) and they will have some type of two-way communication system. I don't have all the problems worked out, but it better be SIMPLE!


IMO, the digital content is too easy to defeat, but the hardware is where you can close the loop hole.
 
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