I could not agree with a lot of the posts here more-

I still buy DVD's but only if they are under $15. I haven't bought a CD in over a decade. For $15 I get 2 hours of video and audio with a DVD. For $20 I get 1 hour of audio only with a CD. One of those two prices does not make sense.

Some day someone is going to figure out that if you throw up DRM free mp3's for 50 cents that people will gobble them up and you will still make a ton of money. Even then I do not think I would buy music simply because of the way the RIAA screws the artists but maybe that's just me.

Piracy is an economic issue. It should be fought economically. Give people prices that make stealing music a stupid idea. The same for video.

Get into the 21st Century. Physical media is dying. Media centers and digital devices are the way of the future. Trying to stop them is like trying to stop the tides- a pointless endeavour. Ebrace them and make more money.

In short- the RIAA and the MPAA need to get a clue.

The best solution I see is for everyone to continue pirating content, yet send the money you would've paid for it to the people who've actually earned it, and not the money grubbing publishing industries.


Write letters to your arists, actors, or production companies enclosed with checks, saying "I choose not to support the industry, and as such, I choose not to give them a portion the hard earned money you work for".

For example, instead of giving money to Microsoft, go out and get a pirated copy of Halo 2 and send the money to Bungie.

HOW ARE ROYALTIES CALCULATED?

Royalties are determined and divided according to their type and source. They are calculated and divided as follows:

Mechanical Royalties: Record companies pay the publisher mechanicals based on the amount of phonorecords sold. Sales of sound recordings are determined by the record companies through Sound Scan and other sales reporting systems. Unlike most countries, which base mechanical royalties on percentages, US mechanical royalties are calculated on a penny (¢) basis per song. Record companies pay the recording artist either a current minimum statutory penny rate, or a "reduced" penny rate. The current statutory rate for a U.S. copyright is 7.1¢ per song. This minimum rate is effective until January 1, 2000, after which it will go up every two years until 2006, at which time it will remain at 9.1¢ per song until changed.

However, recording artists rarely get maximum (statutory) rates from their US record companies. This is because most of their the domestic recording or production contacts usually contain a standard "controlled composition" clause which allows the record company to pay the artist and/or music publisher less than the minimum rate for songs written or "controlled" in whole or in part by the recording artist. This negotiated or "reduced" mechanical royalty rate is generally a percentage of the minimum compulsory license rate, up to a maximum number of songs. A common example is 75% (of 7.1¢) per song, with a cap of 10 songs, no matter how many songs are recorded and released on the album. This negotiated "min stat x 10 rate" is collected by the music publisher, which then pays the residual to the recording artist per their publishing agreement.

Before the artist/songwriter eventually receives their "reduced" US mechanical royalties, there are numerous withholdings by the recording company pursuant to the artist’s recording contract. There are frequently several clauses that give away "freebies" and eat away at the artist’s basic royalty rate (e.g., getting paid on less than 100% of units sold, receiving no royalties for "free goods" or promotional CDs, or for "non-controlled" songs, getting a lower royalty rate for CD’s, cassettes, and record club or budget records, giving free licenses for promotional music videos, etc).

There are also other provisions in the recording contract that delay and reduce payment of royalties. For example, most record companies pay mechanicals on a quarterly basis, i.e., 60 to 90 days after each quarter. Moreover, a certain percentage of the reduced royalty rate is withheld by the record companies in "reserve against returns",.i.e. in case of over shipment and returns.

I'll just say I was planning to support the industry and buy this disk, eager to see T2 in HD; but as it doesn't look like I'll be able to play it even if I ligitimately purchase the product, I doubt I will purchase the product.

Shame - I don't think this version is released in the UK, and even if it was, I'm not a fan of NTSC-PAL conversions, so I wouldthe NTSC version anyway.

Oh well... ^^

Sigh, where to start, I guess with the FACT that piracy will NEVER be stopped in any form no matter how big or small, a point well made by everyone. Fact is they will do or charge whatever people are willing to pay or put up with until it becomes unprofitable to do so.
It’s basic economics, the law of supply vs. demand and frankly, people on average are just too stupid to know better then to buy things they can’t use. Even if they are told DRM is present, they won’t know what that means anyway.

Ok I just read everything even the comma crap (eyes hurt) but I wanted to bring this point up if no-one else had already, I work nights, odd hours, yet I still like to watch TV shows IE Veronica Mars, Nova, Frontline, (gasp) Star Trek. Scorn for my choice in viewing aside, I am not at home when any of these shows are on, so I RECORD them, as do some of my co-workers. If they start using things like DRM for TV shows, which they already do on digital cable as I understand it, they will prevent me and everyone else who isn’t home 24 hours a day from watching their shows and more importantly their commercials. EVEN the cleverly inserted “direct product placements” and little pop-up adds with the current time and weather at the bottom of the screen. If this half-baked notion of total control of content on TV is realized half their demographic will disappear, *poof*.

Ok in summary:
- Piracy will live forever.
- People aren’t going to stay home all the time just to watch TV.

Cable Sattelite broadcasters already think they are "special", as evidenced by their logos present on the lower corner of the screen during the entire program. Even covering up some of the captions on some shows. They think they are freakin' fashion designers or what. Don't worry about your shows , they will be kind enough to offer you a descrambler for recording at a nominal fee, along with a per show recording royalty fee that they will pocket. Like the travelocity type sites getting sued this week by the city of Los Angeles for pocketing the hotel tax fees. In 10 years we will all be used to paying for internet browsing on top of the ISP charges. Like they said back in my day, in the '60s, "gas, ass or grass, nobody rides for free".

Network channels do that also, I don't have cable myself just going off some notes in the manual of my DVD-Recorder about copy guarded shows.

The WB doesn't just cover up the show with their logo but also places adds in the bottom left corner of the screen that are alot bigger then the normal logos. It's like pop-up adds for your TV.

LOL I forgot about TV Pop-ups.A bunch of the cable channels do that too. With audio playing over the top of the programming!

After thirty years of successful and satisfying recording of the New Year's Day Concert from Vienna, the 2006 edition was marred by alternating black & white/sepia-toned colour rendition and audio artifacts. This broadcast was carried by PBS stations in the USA, produced by ORF. I assume ORF included DRM components that interfered with my DVD Recorder.

If this is not a case for hacking, show me a better one! Who do these broadcast executives think they are fooling?

My ire is directed at the entertainment industry who now will force me to do what I have done for years; that is, I now must buy their DVD or CD products where I was doing so because I wanted to own the Laser Disk, CD or Beta VHS tape in the past to complement my own recordings.

And PBS carried this altered production, a network dependant upon subscriber contribution.

In my opinion, they (the entertainment industry) have collectively killed the goose.

PV