321 vs Hollywood
p2pnet.net News Opinion:- Anyone who copies a CD, DVD or piece of software he or she legally owns is a probable criminal.
That’s the premise behind the legal barrage launched by the major movie studios through their MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and which ended in the annihilation of a US company with a product that challenged the concept.
Bob Moore’s 321 Studios was marketing software that allowed users to break through Hollywood’s consumer control Copy Protection applications so they – the customers – could make back-ups of their discs.
So the studios stomped 321.
A number of criticisms were aimed at the company – its support network was pitiful, say many complaints, among other things – but whether it was great or not isn’t the point.
Hollywood forced it out of business because it didn’t like its product – a product Hollywood itself will inevitably start marketing sooner or later; and probably sooner.
But Hollywood’s presumption that the majority of people will copy CDs and/or DVDs and then sell them is grotesque, even by Hollywood standards.
Yes, there are criminals out there who counterfeit and duplicate software, music and movies and sell the results on blackmarkets around the world. But they’re mostly professional hoods – not moms-and-pops and their kids who just want back-ups of the ‘product’ they paid good money for.
People have every right to make copies. The entertainment industry has no right to stop them.
August 11th, 2004 at 4:25 pm
Agreed, fuck hollywood.
August 11th, 2004 at 4:27 pm
I agree, if you buy a CD or DVD you have the right to make a copy; especially since their is no guarantee provided by the suplier as to the quality or longevity of the CD or DVD. Does the supplier guarantee that the product will provide a high quality sound or video recording for a prescribed length of time – NO. In fact the implied quality is that the product will provide a high quality rendition indefinitely. The reality is that the product does degrade over time (much quicker than previuosly thought) and the rate differs between suppliers.
August 11th, 2004 at 4:28 pm
I like this sentence the most
“People have every right to make copies. The entertainment industry has no right to stop them.”
August 11th, 2004 at 4:30 pm
First I had 45’s then I had to buy 33’s then 8 tracks, then 33’s the CD’s; with this thought in mind I can’t help thinking the all the greedy bastards have made enough money on me.
August 11th, 2004 at 4:33 pm
Give me a break for crying out loud. First the record industry and now the movie industry. This is totally ridiculous. It’s pretty pathetic when a company is put out of business because an association doesn’t like something they make. Just they have more money to burn on lawyers should not give them the right to put a company out of business. I guess the law doesn’t apply providing you have enough money to drag something like this on for a long enough period of time. Eventually the little companies will have no choice but to back down from the wealthy goliaths as they don’t have the financial backing as the giants. What a wonderful system we have here. Maybe, just maybe is they didn’t charge so much for the movies in the first place this problem would not have escalated to what it has. Prime example was audio CDs. The companies raped the consumer for years saying it costs more to produce a CD than it did a cassette or and LP. What a crock! I just hope others don’t get put pushed out of the game by the bullies.
August 11th, 2004 at 4:45 pm
Although I don’t agree with Hollywood and its tactics, I also don’t agree with the hypocritical people who slam the hell out of the movie industry and then don’t back up what they say.
If you people are really interested in putting it to Hollywood, why not boycott the next big movie that comes out?
The same people who complain about how money hungry and unfair the movie industry is are going to go shell out $10 to go see a movie, or rent a video this weekend. Instead of doing that, why not simply boycott the industry for a 3 month period?
I am willing to bet that there are at least 50,000 people out there who have complained about not being able to back up their movies. If each of those people skipped going to one movie in the next three months, the industry would lose at least half a million dollars.
Even though that doesn’t sound like a lot when you look at a movie that makes a hundred million dollars, just think about the pressure that the theatres are going to put on the movie industry.
I say we begin an official boycott starting September 1st 2004. Everyone who has ever complained about not being able to backup their own movies, do NOT go to movies, or rent them, buy them as gifts, or even order them on pay per view from September 1st 2004 until December 31 2004. Do NOT purchase any product that is produced by the movie industry.
Lets see what happens.
August 11th, 2004 at 4:46 pm
Anyone who has children under the age of 5 and has seen CDs and DVDs mis-handled by them to the point of unusability definitely has the right to protect their investment. I have tried several times to get a damaged product replaced however the companies simply state “we don’t replace products that are damaged by mis-handling”.
Now my old 650Mhz has new use as my “media center” of my kids movies, which are safely tucked away in a CD wallet, I have to keep the original sleeves out so my kids can pick which movie they want to watch then fire up the old box and play on my ancient ATI all-in-wonder (which still has excellent TV out capability).
I think it is appaling to think what I am doing is considered criminal, simply protecting my investment. How are they loosing money? Because I will refuse to re-purchase products I already own? Absurd.
August 11th, 2004 at 4:50 pm
It is to bad that 321 had to shut down but on the bright side there are other ways to copy your dvd’s without their software.
Get on line and do your homework and you will find rippers that will do just fine.
As far as those jugheads in hollywood and these bought and paid for judges its to late.
The cat is out of the bag and file shareing and burning copies of your dvd’s will continue.
After all if they arrest all of us who will be left to buy the junk shit they produce.
TAKE ME TO JAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 11th, 2004 at 5:12 pm
“TAKE ME TO JAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Empty words. You talk the talk, but you don’t walk the walk.
Why don’t you post your full name, coward.
August 11th, 2004 at 6:43 pm
The problem with this is that they will simply claim the movie didn’t do well because of P2P. The Major news media will never mention a Boycott. The only folks that will know there IS a boycott are the ones visiting these sites. They will use the poor performance in a media blitz against copying. Media will play along, since they are owned by hollywood and the recording industry.
How many people really know about the RIAA boycott ??
With the Boycott happening, Sales ARE dropping, but it simply has become more “proof” the P2P hurts sales.
August 11th, 2004 at 7:36 pm
I agree, there are plenty of “freeware” copy programs out there that Hollywood can’t stop!
August 11th, 2004 at 11:52 pm
Anyone who knows their stuff will simply use DVD Shrink anyway, which is free, untraceable and a superior transcoder-and they can’t be “shut down”.
August 11th, 2004 at 11:52 pm
Anyone who knows their stuff will simply use DVD Shrink anyway, which is free, untraceable and a superior transcoder-and they can’t be “shut down”.
August 11th, 2004 at 11:52 pm
Anyone who knows their stuff will simply use DVD Shrink anyway, which is free, untraceable and a superior transcoder-and they can’t be “shut down”.
August 11th, 2004 at 11:52 pm
Anyone who knows their stuff will simply use DVD Shrink anyway, which is free, untraceable and a superior transcoder-and they can’t be “shut down”.
August 11th, 2004 at 11:52 pm
Anyone who knows their stuff will simply use DVD Shrink anyway, which is free, untraceable and a superior transcoder-and they can’t be “shut down”.
August 11th, 2004 at 11:52 pm
Anyone who knows their stuff will simply use DVD Shrink anyway, which is free, untraceable and a superior transcoder-and they can’t be “shut down”.
August 11th, 2004 at 11:52 pm
Anyone who knows their stuff will simply use DVD Shrink anyway, which is free, untraceable and a superior transcoder-and they can’t be “shut down”.
August 11th, 2004 at 11:52 pm
Anyone who knows their stuff will simply use DVD Shrink anyway, which is free, untraceable and a superior transcoder-and they can’t be “shut down”.
August 11th, 2004 at 11:52 pm
Anyone who knows their stuff will simply use DVD Shrink anyway, which is free, untraceable and a superior transcoder-and they can’t be “shut down”.
August 11th, 2004 at 11:52 pm
Anyone who knows their stuff will simply use DVD Shrink anyway, which is free, untraceable and a superior transcoder-and they can’t be “shut down”.
August 12th, 2004 at 3:38 pm
dipshits, you have NO right to do anything to any DVD other than to pay the price asked. In furthuring your transaction to purchase the DVD, you are implicitly agreeing to whatever terms they decide to put on the transaction. If they feel that you should hang your DVD on your rear view mirror in your car, and they state that in the purchase agreement, then by purchasing the DVD, that is what you agree to do. If you violate that, then they will sue you until they find a court that agrees with them. If they cannot find a court that agrees with them, then they will throw money at incumbent House of Representative members seeking reelection until they get enough votes to pass a new law that will force all courts to interpret in their favor, that in fact, you had better hang the DVD from your rear-view mirror.
If you do not like the agreement, then you can go fuck yourself. If you violate the agreement, then you can go get yourself fucked by your cell block neighbors. As far as I am concerned, Hollywood can go fuck themselves.
August 12th, 2004 at 4:36 pm
Very brave words!! You must be one of the jugheads or a bought and paid for judge.
Let me guess you support John Kerry.
Tough words but no substance or backbone.
Where is your name?
I’ll sign it for you.
ASSHOLE
August 14th, 2004 at 3:42 am
It really don’t take a genius to to know why 321 studios got run out of business.
Robert moore the ceo of 321 studios ran HIMSELF out of business.
He blantantly ignored the us civil code that defined copyright and patent and intellectual property issues.
Whether people like it or not the issue of copyright and intellectual property ownership is on the property owner’s side.
The concept of fairuse is a fuzzy legal concept that was not really codified in the federal legal code.
The betamax ruling was NOT a clear set legal ruling that made it completely legal to copy intellectual property.
It was just a fuzzy legal concept.
To make this technically legal the laws concerning copyright and patent law would have to either be repealed or revised.
This would never happen considering the rampant amount of corruption in the united states congress.
It don’t take a genius a lot of people in congress take kickbacks and bribes from the entertainment industry.
Revising the copyright laws would never happen under the current political climate.
As it stands today if you buy a computer program you really don’t own even if you buy it outright.
If you can’t copy it, it is not yours.
You don’t own it.
That is almost the case with cds and dvds.
The company that sold you this software is merely issuing a end users license for it’s use.
for what it’s worth the last reform of the copyright law before the dmca was the copyright act of 1976.
The mpaa uses this law and the provisions of the dmca for the basis of their lawsuits which they have every right to do.
That law stated even then stated then that copying of intellectual property was illegal.
The dmca extented this legal precept into the digital age.
Actually fairuse rights have been dead for almost thirty years even with the beta max ruling.
Even burning a cd is technically illegal.
So,in light of this,robert moore of 321 studios tried to buck the almighty mpaa and the congress of the united states and various copyright and patent laws that have been on the books for years.
I must admit these laws are older than dirt and are in DESPERATE need of reform.
I really don’t feel sorry for the son of a bitch.
it has always been the case when big business interests like the entertainment industry feels threatened by upstarts like 321 studios, they will go to congress and lobby congress from relief from business competition with kickbacks and bribes and they will run upstarts like robert moore out of business.
The entertainment industry did their homework years ago.
Fairuse rights are dead. R.I.P. 321 studios gone forever more.R.I.P.
I have just concluded business 101 and welcome to the capitalistic pig corporate america.
December 20th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
yep.. Bought n paid for. Here comes blu-ray—-Due to the obscene copyright protection, and the ability to shut off all analog output in the future, your’e better off letting the hi-def tv go if you don’t have one, and just get a laptop with a blu-ray burner and dodgy software. Hollywood can’t claim they lost money, because there would be no point in going to blu-ray with your old setup.