Hollywood, et al, shake their booty
p2pnet.net News:- Oh! what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.
It’s an old proverb and now it’s coming back to bite the entertainment and software cartels squarely on the ass, not to put too fine a point on it.
For years they’ve been claiming they’re being ruined, decimated and/or devastated, depending on whether you’re talking to the MPAA, RIAA or BSA, the so-called trade organizations representing the corporate movie, music and software cartels.
However, “Hollywood, the music labels and other major players in the copyright industry shook their collective economic booty Tuesday, trumpeting a report about their increasing contributions and importance to U.S. gross domestic product,” says Variety.
But, “Representatives of the core industries bristled at the suggestion that the rising numbers and overall glowing trends contradict the industries’ oft-heard claims that piracy is severely damaging their revenues.,” says the story, going on:
“Yes, we’re doing well,” said Doug Lowenstein, outgoing head of the Entertainment Software Assn. “But we can’t ignore piracy. We ought to be growing more than we are.”
“Too much product sold around the world is illegal product,” said Recording Industry Assn. of America prexy-chief Mitch Bainwol. “Piracy threatens investment in new artists.”
Motion Picture Assn. of America topper Dan Glickman argued that in many foreign countries, intellectual-property laws are under “serious challenge,” making real the threat of even more piracy.
Glickman said the report, while not intended to generate or motivate any immediate legislation, is “a lobbying tool” that will let lawmakers know how important the copyright industries are to the U.S. economy. “It could be the foundation for some future legislative or enforcement action,” he said.
Glickman also stars in another purely movie industry farce in which he says he’s grappling with Hollywood’s vexing tax problems.
Also See:
Variety – Copyright biz grows in economic impact, January 30, 2007
movie industry farce – Does Dan’s MPAA crown rest easy?, February 6, 2007
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February 6th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
“‘Yes, we’re doing well,’ said Doug Lowenstein, outgoing head of the Entertainment Software Assn. ‘But we can’t ignore piracy. We ought to be growing more than we are.’”
Oh. So you’re not growing as fast as you’d like, but you’re still getting profits? Get over it. I’ll bet most businesses barely make the break-even point. I’m sure that many actually LOSE money because expenses are greater than income. It will be a cold day in hell when I start caring for a business that profits, but not as much as they would like, especially one as heartless as the entertainment industry.
“‘Too much product sold around the world is illegal product,’ said Recording Industry Assn. of America prexy-chief Mitch Bainwol. ‘Piracy threatens investment in new artists.’”
If by “new artists” you mean “new Billboard Top 100 artists,” then I’m completely fine with that. Only a select few Top 100 artists are worth listening to. All of the rest are talentless hacks. In fact, if piracy is destroying “pop” music, then by all means we should be doing MORE of it.
“Motion Picture Assn. of America topper Dan Glickman argued that in many foreign countries, intellectual-property laws are under ’serious challenge,’ making real the threat of even more piracy.”
Oh really? Every WTO country has to agree with the TRIPS agreement, which, regardless of whether or not that country adopted the Berne Convention, requires it to enforce that convention’s laws anyway. That’s why Russia can’t get into the WTO. A look at all of the WTO countries suggests that this “serious challenge” is almost non-existent (although I wish that weren’t so, as I hate the Berne Convention and the TRIPS Agreement).
February 7th, 2007 at 12:17 am
Well, lets’ see. Hollydud got it’s start on piracy. Namely they didn’t want to pay Edison’s patent fees and moved to what is now Hollydud to escape them. So now that they’re a big corporation respectably is desired and of course the more profit the better.
I’ve no sympathy for them. No tears to cry for their proclaimed fictional loss. Like the music cartels, they’ve managed to rape everything in sight and now their bemoaning the idea, “We could have made more”.
Sue’em alls have seriously damaged the customer good will. Endless ripoffs, churning out dud output, and then overhyping it till the customers expectations are they are going to watch the next potential oscar winner, only to find they’ve been taken has also damaged the customer relationship. If you promise something and don’t deliver on that promise the customer walks away unsatisfied. Next time around they aren’t so easily taken in. Multiply that by several years of duds and they no longer want the rip-off experience provided by the theater.
Not giving the customer what they pay for has it’s effects with the business of lock down also. What good is some product overprotected to where the customer that should be rewarding for faithful patronage is instead the criminal for purchasing that product and in turn is denied the use of it how they wish to use it after paying for it? In customer relations, the media cartels could learn something from the competition that supplies these very things at only the cost of bandwidth.
Speaking of bandwidth, there’s some mistaken idea that on-line sales of vaporware in the form of movies is value for the dollar. Even more hilarious is the idea it’s worth just as much as a physical product held in the hand. Helloooooo, is anyone at home in these greedy corporations that has the idea that the exchange of money is for valuable products and not some idea of smokeware?