Sony CEO Pleads Poverty But The Movie Industry is Loaded
Written by enigmax on October 27, 2009In a piece today in The Times, Sony boss Michael Lynton yet again champions 3 strikes for alleged pirates and states that combating piracy could add millions to the economy. He also says that due to piracy, in 2008 Hollywood made the lowest number of movies in the last decade. So where did its record earnings go?
Michael Lynton, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, is becoming a confusing guy. Back in May this year, millions of people looked on in disbelief as he labeled one of the world’s greatest technological and communications achievements – the Internet – as a mechanism from which nothing good had come, period.
Then, a little later, Lynton hit back at his critics. He pointed to the leak of an unfinished copy of Wolverine, which appeared on the Internet (from a movie studio source who has never been identified) a month before its official release. As Techdirt pointed out, none of this hurt the movie.
Despite terrible reviews and this “devastating” leak, Wolverine still did very well at the box office, taking $35 million on its first day, beating both X:Men ($20.8m) and X2: X-Men United ($31.2m).
In a guest piece in The Times today, Lynton is complaining again. “Internet piracy means less money to make movies,” warns the headline.
Lynton begins by plugging Sony’s launch tomorrow of Michael Jackson’s This Is It, noting the importance of releasing it simultaneously worldwide.
“If Sony released it only in the US on Wednesday, by late Thursday it would be camcorded, uploaded on to the internet and available free to anyone with a broadband connection,” he said.
While absolutely correct, everyone also knows that the following is also true. The quality would be absolutely dire, Jackson’s singing would be punctuated by the rattling of candy packets and accompanied by a myriad of noisy cinema-goers singing their own version of his songs, probably all in D-Minor. The video would undoubtedly bring a whole new dimension to Black or White. People download this garbage but no-one enjoys it, and for good movies sales are not affected – but I digress.
“Online theft siphons billions of dollars out of the marketplace. That means less money to make movies. Projects get scaled back and others dropped. Some potential blockbusters won’t get made. Some new writers, actors and film-makers won’t get discovered,” writes Lynton, adding;
“Last year the leading Hollywood studios made 162 films — more than 40 fewer than in 2006, and the lowest number in a decade.”
But of course, just counting the “leading” studios doesn’t give the full picture. Even the MPAA’s own stats reveal a slightly different picture;
“The total number of films released domestically in 2008 was up 1.8%, to 610 films.”
So, if one casts the net slightly wider (yes, there is a world outside Universal, Warner, Paramount, Sony and Twentieth Century Fox), things look slightly different.
2004 Total Movies Released: 567 Total Combined Gross: $9,327,315,935
2005 Total Movies Released: 594 Total Combined Gross: $8,825,324,278
2006 Total Movies Released: 808 Total Combined Gross: $9,225,689,414
2007 Total Movies Released: 1022 Total Combined Gross: $9,665,661,126
2008 Total Movies Released: 1037 Total Combined Gross: $9,705,677,862
2009 Total Movies Released: 1177 Total Combined Gross: $7,596,626,766
(2009 figures incomplete, total movies scheduled to be released, gross to date)
Admittedly less money seems to be being made per movie, but that hasn’t resulted in less being made – movie releases are set to almost double from 2004 to 2009.
But in the end, Lynton is arguing that more piracy means that less money goes into the studios’ pockets. But in an Ars Technica piece ‘What piracy crisis? MPAA touts record box office for 2007‘, the stats speak for themselves;
“..data that shows the US box office doing its biggest year of business ever in 2007, growing 5.4 percent over 2006 and bringing in $9.63 billion.”
So maybe 2008 was a disaster? Not quite. In another Ars piece ‘What piracy? Movie biz sees record box office in 2008‘, the stats also speak loud and clear;
“Domestic film box offices broke multiple records this year [2008], grossing an estimated $9.78 billion.”
Even the MPAA’s own stats reveal that the “Worldwide box office reached another all-time high in 2008 at $28.1 billion, an increase of 5.2% over 2007.”
I’m absolutely no statistician, but I simply find Lynton’s claims confusing. I can’t imagine that I’m on my own.
Previously: TaffyBox Shut Down by BTjunkie for Leeching Resources
Next: Anti Piracy Laws and Lawsuits Fail to Change Social Norms
143 Responses
Calling a cam a pirated copy is like calling a home-recorded cover version of a song an exact copy.
While it is very slightly true, no one really cares.
Poor little rich boy Mikey can’t buy a new yacht this year. Makes me so sad!
Combating piracy does NOT make more money – for that, the studios need to sell more! If they treat me like a criminal or take my rights away I am less inclined to buy their product!
Give me MORE rights, give me MORE things I can do with the product, give me MORE reasons to buy – and I will. (Although it will take them a few years before they earn my trust back – I have not bought a Sony product since they infected my computer with their rootkit)
Oh – and 3rd & 4th ;)
Yes I do believe that the “double dipping” going on (hit the public up for cash on the release for movies – and then sue them on top of that) seems fairly profitable.
I do believe they are whining about secondary sales (DVD’s/BluRay) declining.
I don’t know about you all , but I tire of collecting a mass of circular plactic garbage to collect dust in my living room. I simple don’t have the need to store all those.
oh about 450+ of which fit neatly on one WD passport 500gb drive widely available for 90 bucks (which is cheaper and portable and doesn’t take up 450 dvd packages or disks to fumble through.
Why buy/store dvd’s that take up 500 times the room when I can browse my 2.5″ hdd?
Cinema’s need to be more pro-active in stopping fraudulent copying
“In a piece today in The Times”
i bet the times had a strong bias in the other direction, id like to read that can anyone find the link?
Cinema’s need to take a more pro-active role in preventing fraudulent copies
*ahem* Fuck you, Michael Lynton. You, Sony Pictures and the rest of the MAFIAA.
There’s still no clear evidence proving The Internets is hurting the film industry, and yet the whining is relentless. Why the *nudge* LONG face, Michael?
He thinks he is on the moral high ground whilst blatantly cashing in on the death of someone famous?
Banning me & my family from interwebs will cost the economy more than it saves,That is so obvious,cant they see.
We live in a age of corporatism.They tell the goverment’s of this world what we the people should & should’nt have or do!
They dived into this digital revolution blinkered by profit & greed.The only reason he thinks the interwebs is evil is because they have yet to create a model for making vast profit’s for as little money as possible whilst retaining the current value of there mediocre product!
peace out.
@8 why? it’s just free publicity / advertising.
People are more willing to spend money if they know the product is good from people that know them.
Profits go up when people see movies, grab their friends to see em in theaters and buy the dvd.
You can’t make someone want to buy a work they’ve never seen.
Does these morons understand that the money we don’t give ‘em we give to “others” for HARDWARE things (including to… Sony !), not mere 0s and 1s, so the “economy” (an oxymoron btw since it’s mostly waste) is quite happy like that.
#7 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/business/media/25sony.html
@11
/agree
If I added up all the money I’ve wasted on DVD’s and games I never play twice I could afford the $1500 52″ screen I’ve been wanting.
the new york times always reports a strong bias against filesharing, for factual reports stick to the bbc least they can stay objective and report facts
“You know those people with money? More money than we could possibly spend in our lifetimes? Well, these people need MORE money. That’s why were here”
I think that they’re complaining about all the money they’re dumping into anti-piracy and seeing absolutely no return on investment there. So yes, they’re seeing less profit because they’re spending tons on lawyers worldwide to browbeat everyone into thinking their right.
amount of product down – prob due to the crap hollywood writting, there seems to be a huge amount of recycled crap going around or prequels or parts 1 to 5
“Due to piracy… Hollywood made the lowest number of movies for a decade”. Excuse me but I seem to remember last year, the studios were cancelling potential movie projects for lack of venture capital to fund them until they could hit the cinemas and start making money. They said it was something to do with a recession, or financial crisis or something. I know it was caused by the appalling greed of corporate bankers. Whoops, did I misspell that last word?
“LYNTON BEGINS BY PLUGGING Sony’s launch tomorrow of Michael Jackson’t This is It noting the importance of releasing it simultaneously worldwide”
Hate to break it to you Lynton but this video has been available for a while now in perfect quality. The music albums have also been available. I even double checked. So much for the “worldwide release”. It is mirrored & redundant as for sharing is all about redundancy so it is more available. Also how does 1gb per second sound for your bittorrent download? Do you think you can get it fast enough? I guess if the Sony Ceo kept up with what is going on, then perhaps he would be more aware of its actual release and not the planned release as for it seems the worldwide distribution has already taken place. Pirates 1, Sony 0
@15
dude just* spent 60 million on the michel jackson tapes, to leech more money out of consumers.
Entertainment should never be at the expense of food & tangables.
When I walk out of a theater I am neither kept warm like a jacket, or learned how to build a better building, or feed my family.
Entertainment is a leech on society, it’s not like we can so across the street and see the same movie for 1/2 price – it’s a monopoly that needs to be broken.
HEY SONY:::
I am not buying any of your damn rootkit frakken krap products.think you can treat me like i am scum well you wont ever get me buying a piece of your hardware.
nor will i ever buy a new movie from you.i buy my movies used only so hollywood made zilch off me last year.
what a piece of poo…..
Can these guys read their own articles before giving a speech ???
http://Pirlog.com
All his stats based on a report by Oxford economics,See here http://www.oef.com/Free/pdfs/AVPiracy.pdf
Paid for by the movie industry i note.
If i paid them to do a report on my masterbating whilst listening to death metal at 180 decibels every day because i thought it won’t make me blind & deaf they would tell me want i wanted to hear as long as i paid them some serious cash.
They waste more cash in this futile fight than it would cost to feed the starving people of this earth.
Why would I spend my money on movies? I prefer to save my money for weed.
As a note, the actual article this is quoting from is http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6891166.ece , -not- the NY Times.
Paranormal activity beats Saw VI at the box office with a budget of 15 000 $ to do the movie, just make a great movie and you’ll get my money, not with shitty franchise movie. Sony is the biggest douche in electronic, they make Sony-shit just for Sony, ARW format that ony fuckin work on Windows, MemoryStick that cost the double of MicroSD and it not better. Fuck Sony!
can reasoned-mongrel and neowanker please stand up? of course their nowhere to be found…
I would like to point out that ticket prices go up each year so most likely gross for a movies will go up.
I suggest the movie industry to count tickets not $ to get a more accurate count on how well things are.
“Sony boss Michael Lynton states that combating piracy could add millions to the economy.”
-economy+his wallet
We live in an age where those old tricks will not work anymore.
It is getting harder to dupe the public with choosen numbers to prove a point. Everybody have a spreadsheet today.
thanks #26
man all that money for being pathetic evil bastards.. imagine if they actuley gave a rats ass and tried..
ah well i really dont care.. i have more reasons to pirate than i can fit in a torrent.. yet i still somehow manage to give them money..
haha stupid douchebags
Everything has lost its credibility; Music studios, Movie studios, they trick you with commercials thinking your getting quality but really ur getting half ass non-innovating garbage, that is just a clone of all the other garbage out there.
Anything that’s really something came from underground.
“Online theft siphons billions of dollars out of the marketplace. That means less money to make movies. Projects get scaled back and others dropped. Some potential blockbusters won’t get made. Some new writers, actors and film-makers won’t get discovered,” writes Lynton…
these billions would just go into other fields of the economy… nothing wrong with this. i will not support hollywoodan alike in any way. blockbuster is not busting, omg… new actors in the quality of bradpit(bull), no thanks. writers like Steven King, Ken Follet, and alike (no thanks)…
Sony is a bunch of crap saying piracy hurts. First of all I have a family of 4 which on a good day costs us about 28 to 30 bucks if we go to the movies. If the movie is crappy say like the move were the wild things, we would have just wasted money. In this economy how can people with families even afford to go to movies?
The cost is just to much. I would rather save my money for the dvd to come out or read about it before then to see if it’s really worth the money. Sure I may even torrent the movie before hand. If the movie is worthy of my money I should purchase it. People any more want the quality of movies and music if this is not there then both industries movie and music need to step up there game. It’s kind of like reading a book, you want to get the readers attention and keep it. If not then the reader simply is board with the subject or book.
Who cares? There are tons of crappy visual-effects movies released every year and most of the people go to cinemas to see some robots or monsters.
With more and better effects who’d enjoy a bad camrip?
LOL, is anyone actually surprised by this? I mean really.
Jess
http://www.anonymous.ua.tc
Go watch some asian movies instead of that hollywood crap. Why do you think everyone wants to copy them? Because they’re good.
Ring (Ringu)? Grudge (Ju-on)? Speed Racer? and the list goes on and on.
Unbelievable! Well, of course the movies make less money; they are pumping out twice as many in 2009 compared to 2004. Which movie-goer do you know who has the time and budget to double his movie-going… and in the face of ever increasing competition from other sources of entertainment/amusement (video games, smart-phones, Internet…).
If they are losing anything it’s more likely due to the “quality” of the crap they are producing…
Trying to get more $$ for less quality may reflect a slight decline in profits… Sony-Deal with it
Produce something that is indeed worth the prices you have generically attached(across the board) to them and then take your stats..
Piracy isnt costing you a friggin dime, quit blaming others for your own issues, the sooner you figure it out the happier *everyone will be.
“I’m absolutely no statistician, but I simply find Lynton’s claims confusing. I can’t imagine that I’m on my own.”
Well don’t feel to bad about it! Michael Lynton isn’t a statistician too… those numbers just prove that filesharing has almost irrelevant impact on their money making scheme…
it is mental the money involved. i will for ever torrent dvd rips as long as iso hunt, piratebay etc go for. I’m all for more films being made.. but if the age of corperate millions and spoilt over paid A-list comes to an end.. will be even better!!! wouln’t you still wana be a movie star or the next arnie if you could… even if it paid thousands and not millions
I’d put the headline this way: “Piracy Serves a Coup de Grace to an Industry Plagued with Overproduction”.
@28
i don’t seem to get what you’re saying
it’s contradictory…;)
is it just me who noticed?
if prices are higher,where would be the point in counting the tickets…just the money would talk for itself…: more expensive tickets= LESS tickets sold( maybe) but MORE money.
counting tickets would mean ( in your opinion) more tickets sold?
so if more tickets sold + more expensive tickets = NO NEED TO ARGUE BECAUSE MORE MONEY COMING INTO THE BUSINESS!!!
stupid argumentation!!!
and if they count the tickets (who have gone up in price)then there will be a drop in the sales which would show a probable loss in profit…are YOU working for them or WHAT????
Perhaps the movie-industry should start cutting down on the million dollar salaries payed out to some of the leading actors !!
It is GREED that hurts the industry, NOT piracy !!
forgot to mention:
why buy crap when you can try it before you waste your money?
peace.
The simple reason is that CEO and most of the industry are lying through their teeth about internet piracy. By and large the majority of the people take what is being said in the media at face value without even questioning it. Not realizing that journalistic integrity has been mostly bought and sold to Big Business who don’t want the truth to be revealed. They don’t want the public to know how they can manipulate and corrupt governments to do their will. They don’t want the public to know that they are making money hand over fist while people starve and are homeless in G8 nations. And so on.
Big Business has bought journalist integrity and are now using it as a propaganda / PR tool
To see the movie industry STILL doing very well, is a shock to me.
With products like Xbox 360, PS3, World of Warcraft and the fleshlight, you’d think that they’d take a much smaller part of the publics media-money cake.
Stupid even if his financial claims were correct we are in a recession so I’m sorry if folks that are losing their homes in record numbers aren’t spending the over inflated amounts to go to the local cinema to view your films. Every industry has taken a hit and to be honest I’m surprised your registering profits at all because your far from an essential service. Piracy seems to be the entertainment industries “gunman on the grassy knoll” used to explain all the short comings in their own business model. It is unfortunate they have way to much money to throw at this issue when it would be better served adapting to the technology involved.
“..a myriad of noisy cinema-goers singing their own version of his songs, probably all in D-Minor.”
That made me laugh out loud :D
If the movie industry is losing money it’s because they are not being innovative enough. This is usually the fault of the CEOs. They don’t understand that fancy internet so they don’t want to adapt to it. People should no longer have to go to the movie theater in order to watch a new movie. Why can’t the just spend their $11.00 to download it and stay at home?
To state that the internet “is a mechanism from which nothing good had come” is like saying that electricity is evil and should be banned by the church.What a ignorant fool!I simply believe that nobody have to pay attention whatever he says,to this jerk.
yes yes, more of that ‘the printing press is killing hand copied bible sales!’ hooey that we’ve been hearing since the fourteenth century. Yawn.
Those stats on gross profits might be going down, but have you seen some of the crap that’s been released? I rented 3 movies lately(i can only remember “Lies & Illusions”) and that was among one of the worst I’ve ever seen.
Lynton is a stunned rats cunt.
I’m sure he takes those same alarmist lies to the lawmakers while he wines and dines them. The bleeding heart lies and the glitter and dazzle of celebrity and wealthy have a much higher impact on lawmakers instead of something more serious like child poverty.
The industries seem to be doing remarkably well while were still in this worldwide recession, people are still losing their jobs and homes, relying on welfare and food stamps to survive, and those that can afford entertainment are spending time in front of a WII, XBox 360 and Playstation 3. Dare I mention the millions playing World of Warcraft, including the nearly one billion people that are playing online games? Guess what…Sony Fatcat? They’re not buying movies. People are finding others ways of entertaining themselves and would continue to be entertained with movie, and the much worse off can recorded pirate movies.
There Reasoned Tard/neo.tard go report this back to your bosses.
* entertained without movies, and the much worse camcorded pirate movies *
Damn itouch with autocorrect!!!!!!
@56 Still doesn’t give you the right to steal movies. Regardless how how much Sont/WB/Dreamworks et al make
You canh call it \sharing torrenting whatever. You are still breaking copyright law and therefore commiting a civil crime.
You have a computer, OK if I share some of your bandwidth from outside your house and dlowad some movies? It’s only 1s and 0s right? You obviously wouldn’t call the police as you believe in hsaring sorry I mean stealing
The movie industry makes more money than every nation in the world except for the USA, and they complain? I guess it’s no wonder why the governments of the world capitulate to them, though, huh? Money talks.
“and states that combating piracy could add millions to the economy.”
Classic Broken Window Fallacy argument. All those millions he says will be “added” to the economy is money that would have been spent on other things anyway.
The only two ways to increase aggregate wealth are 1) to add to capital infrastructure and 2) to increase the division of labor. The efficiencies introduced by using the internet accomplish this, not anti-piracy laws which just transfer wealth from one pocket to another.
maybe if the movie studios put out good movies, more people would watch them. Hollywood has a major lack of creativity. Also they blame everything on piracy, which is a bunch of B.S!! Hey Micheal I want actually evidence that shows a movie studio seized X amount of pirated movies which = lost revenue. You can’t quantify lost revenue from a movie leaked from your own people on the internet. Yes I use to work for your company and other movie studios and you are all full of BS.
@58 hi reasoned mongrel and neo wanker|nvDX we know its just you again under another name ;) hollywood totally deserves what is happening to them its their own doing.
perhaps if they stopped remaking the same god damn movie over and over every 5 years, and focused on some good movies, they would make more money.
I’d feel more sympathy if they weren’t stealing from the consumers for year. If I don’t like their product I’m stuck with it. That is the only industry I can think of where that is the case. Anything else if it isn’t to my liking I can return it for a refund or exchange. entertainment Industry I have no recourse. Don’t like the DVD to bad. You’ll have fun dusting a box until you get tired and throw it out. Want to put it on your HTPC because it is more convenient then all the bloody shelves full of disks, sorry DRM will stop you from doing that. CD only has 1 song on it you like, better luck next time. You bought a game and would like to play it with friends, sorry you need to buy it repeatedly to do that. You’ve all but killed offline coop and human interaction in favour of your profit margins. Sell multiple copies of the games, XBL memberships so you can play the game you already paid for once to sit at home yelling about lag at your TV into a mike with no one around. That of course is if your lucky enough to have purchased a title that isn’t utter crap which I’m sad to say the majority are.
It is plain and simple, big business has forgot about the old adage the customer is always right.
Epic fail “Anonymous” @ 62
I neither know of care for Reasoned mind or neo|styles whatever.
The plain fact you can’t stomach is that you are breaking the law no matter how you dress it up, try to justify it,
Fine if Hollywood doesn’t make any decent films why torrent them>? (i.e. STEAL THEM)
If they make crap movies, no cinema audiences, no DVD or BLU RAY sales they go bust Hooray. I’d welcome it if it got rid of the over paid “so called” Celebs I hate also. To hell with them as well as overpaid sports stars. I’ve cancelled my Sky subscription to Sports and Movies in disgust at their overpaid unjustified salaries, that is my right in a democratic capitalist society – BUT that doesn’t then give me the right to STEAL their crappy movies or “borrow” sport or software or Music from the internet on the premise that if I like it I’ll buy it, (Yeah riiiight) Again no matter how you dress it up, how much Sony profits each year you are still commiting a criminal act. Just admit it you are a theif (HAIL TO THE THEIF) and stop trying to justify it… you can’t.
HAHAHA IGNORE THAT I SUCK SOCKS
What I ACTUALLY meant to say was that in a few countries (actually, quite a small percentage), distribution of so-called “pirated” movies is actually illegal. In the rest of the world- particularly in countries with higher GDP- such laws simply do not exist.
To TorrentzBeak
Q,if Hollywood doesn’t make any decent films why torrent them
A,because most of the films are worth about what i pay for them
Q,democratic capitalist society
A,You’re joking right.The politicians are told what to do by their party’s,Who are told what to do by ?
I will let you work that one out for yourself.
Q,STEAL their crappy movies.
A,Nothing is stolen.
Q,commiting a criminal act.
A,nor is it a criminal act.
I only have to justify it to myself just like corp’s do when they steamroller the little man in there quest for massive profit’s.
You have alot to learn my friend,This is far from a fair world we live in & you have to play them at their own game or they will furk you over everytime.
@65 Oct 27, 2009 at 20:40 by TorrentzBeak:
Why you keep saying “the law” when you don’t really understand “the law”?
Copyright infringement is not a criminal offense it is a civil one and that is why you can’t send people to jail for it just ask for reparation.
Copyright infringement doesn’t negate a market(see how artists are faring in this recession) to someone it doesn’t deprive someone from something(again see how artists are faring during this recession) so it is not “stealing” and that is why they have a expression just for it stop trying to paint people as criminals when they are not. The real criminals are the ones trying to weaken civil rights for profits.
Fileshares are not making money out of it so there is no way to prove loss or even quantify it which is different when someone try something commercial and it is using it to make money, then you can quantify and prove harm, otherwise this whole think is just scared people playing chicken little with the public to hide their real intentions.
Besides “the law” changes. In this case it was changed to reflect the desires of a few not the public. It is not a reflection of society, it is a reflection of individual greed trying to force people to respect absurd laws that can’t be enforced or even be taken seriously for any sane person. Those people are invading the privacy of billions of people, normal citizens that otherwise have done nothing wrong, people download so much that it is impossible to burn everything on a CD or DVD or keep buying 1 terabytes HDDs every year. No what most people do is listen to free radio and TV. You want the better analogy here it is, filesharing is the new TV and radio and as people didn’t pay for it before they are not going to start now. That analogy is as good as any, so why it can be the one?
Because you don’t like it?
Though I don’t care and millions don’t care about what you think either LOL
Some people are really out of touch of reality. Sony should sack this person for being an idiot.
Sony themselves make money off of piracy, after all don’t they sell game copy protection software to software developers?
I think everyone should pirate that piece of crap Michael Jackson video and stream it to their PS3 then cam yourself watching it and upload it to youtube.
You care enough to write sentences of dreary dialogue to justify “civil offences” that can see you fined? LOLz
– my rant on this–
poverty huh? The American dollar is practically worthless and this guys provides us with shitty entertainment. Fuck you Michael Lynton. You can tell your stockholders whatever you have to and we are gonna keep doing what we do. People go and see movies when they are good. Why is it so hard to make a good movie. These guys spend hundreds of millions of dollars to make movies that suck.
Yes Bill you certainly are a hick, I’ve learnt nothing from you, except pirates steal movies, copyright law exists to allow creators to receive payment for their creations you create what? except illicit CDs and DVDs?
TorrentzBeak, do you work for Michael Lynton or for sony or something, you seem to be defending these corp. money mongers pretty hard, why don’t you(TorrentzBeak) and sony(and every other money hungry corp out there) just shove it where the sun don’t shine.
We the people have spoken, its time the companies and governments actually started listening to WE THE PEOPLE!!!!!
When the politicians finally lose what is left of their minds and the nukes start flying, all that will be left to show what our civilization was like will be in the hands of pirates. A can a beans and reruns reruns reruns.
LOL. This guy is a moron.
@ TorrentzBeak
And were supposed to give a damn because you said so? Good luck with that!
Maybe it isn’t piracy that is causing a loss in sales per movie.
Maybe they’re just losing business in the old fashioned way, but blaming it on piracy.
Have you seen how much it costs to buy a movie ticket or even to rent a movie from the video store?
Its outrageous!
N1 James
You’re right The costs of CDs DVDs & cinema tickets are outrageous and by not buying / going is a protest & hits them hard.
Doesn’t allow circumnavigating the law if you do wish to watch but contribute nothing.
@lmaO COULN’T Give a lmao(sorry toss) if you care? You still can’t justify stealing
Carlos the only staement you can make without any reason argument is “this guy is a moron”, You sir are displaying moronic tendencies(look it up in your dictionary)
$8 and $5 with a student ID. Next time say you don’t like watching a movie with other people who won’t shut up, it’s a better argument than how much it costs…
Stats show allot of the movie studios are up over their heads in debt. MGM is close to 4 Billion and the others would probably have a few billion debt as well. Crappy movies are to blame not piracy.
@ TorrentzBeak
Wow realy who the hell said i was justifying myself? I said i could care less what you have to say. It won’t stop me form pirating, hmm you know what? I feel like i’l go and rip House M.D seasone 5 from my friends dvds and upload the original dvd source untampered with to The Pirate Bay. Sure it will be 70 gigs but hell we got 1T upload & download speed’s it wont take long and i think a full dvdrip will piss of the fat cat’s more then a sh1ty encoded dvdrip don’t ya think ?
-End of Rant-
I doubt you need a lot of money to make a good movie. To make a good movie you need a good script to be written, you need good actors and a good director. Organizing this requires normal amount of money, not some bizillion sum.
You need a large sum for paying for video effects and actors which get million of dollars for doing work that costs much less.
Nobody is forcing people to become musicians, artists or directors. You do not feel you are up to it? You feel you need a special incentive to do a movie? Then go do something else! Do not stand in the way of people who really have something to say and who have the best incentive there is – talent that speaks out, a gift of music, word or artistry. Those people will focus on making art, not sales. You want sales – you go work into the market, not the music hall.
Lolz @80
So Lol
Wow realy who the hell said i was justifying myself? I said i could care less what you have to say.
Do you mean “I said I COULDN’T care less,
I laughed so much I couldn’t type the whole comment before posting
@ TorrentzBeak
Why is it “So Lol” because you know there’s nothing you can do to stop it? Piracy is here to stay live with it! If you don’t like it close your eys and think happy thoughts that will make it go away.
@ TorrentzBeak
learn english moron, there’s no need to put the N’T the sentence is already negative in itself.
“In a piece today in The Times, Sony boss Michael Lynton yet again champions 3 strikes for alleged pirates and states that combating piracy could add millions to the economy.”
The MPAA has it all wrong. “Combating piracy” will not add “millions to the economy”. It will take money from the economy because it costs alot to combat piracy. If it adds millions of dollars to anything, it would be the pockets of the MPAA for what they will ultimately get in judgemnts from lawsuits. And even then they won’t see the money as people can’t afford to pay. Bottom line: It will inevitably TAKE millions from the economy.
Lynton made some very valid points.
If you people keep this up, I will be out of a job. Maybe I should take some acting classes…
@ TorrentzBeak
To add your probably one of those illiterate a$$holes that try to correct every one, but at the same time use words like “irregardless” and “all of the sudden”.
@lmao and TorrentzBeak:
How about you two go to lang-8 and start correcting other people over there.
Seriously, that is paradise for grammar nazi people and people actually will thank anybody who corrects them LoL
LMAO @ that lmao
c’mon there’s only one way to sort this
FIGHT!
P.S. No, I don’t work for Sony. I have an excellent Sony TV. But their Rootkit was pure EVIL.
Still, that was disgraceful.
Neither anyone on here or myself has the right to steal anything.
You can make all the personal attacks on me all you like, but explain this to me , how is theft not a civil case of lawbreaking. The fact that most of you resort to personal insults either to the president of Sony or me shows that you cannot justify stealing, no matter what excuse you dream up or how it’s all done to show people power. Win a million £s or $s on the lottery tomorrow and see how much you let people steal from you just beacause you have bucket loads of cash
Wait on second thought its okay to file share. Im really sorry guys reasoned mind and neostyles brainwashed me into spouting pro copyright propaganda. I tried torrents today and found that they were actually pretty cool and that there was no way in hell it could actually be stealing seeing as I didnt actually take anything away :). I feel so stupid for misleading everyone so I feel that I must pay my dues *pokes self in forehead*. I promise ill never let reasoned-neo brainwash me again.
TorrentzBeak is a payed riaa troll to advocate the stupid shit riaa believes in. hey TorrentzBeak get a effing map and find your way home dude. Stealing with all caps. i can see a pps presentation with slides that explain the effects of the word on a tested group of mall shoppers;) Rework your money making scheme and do something. something else. lame
@92 yes he is a troll and he is very wrong hes has to make his way somehow
@TorrentzBeak
you cant steal something by copying it that makes no sense at all unless of course you were profiting off of it then that would be a different matter.
@94 ANon
Well the Police & Courts take a different view
$1.92m fines are completely out of order I agree. But theft is THEFT.
Completely copy any form of technology and argue in court you haven’t stolen, even with an unbiased judge
Both police and the country’s spy services, MI5 and MI6, are concerned that the proposal will mean more criminals will begin encrypting their traffic to escape detection by copyright holders, thereby making their job much, much more difficult
Anon you can make statements all you like, I’m just an ordinary person, who disgarres with your view of stealing via torrents.You don’t like Nazi RIAA, (neither do I the way they steal from Artists. The difference is I support Artists, you just freeload all your media) Yet you can’t abide anyone with an opposing view to yourself, so you act like the very people you despise!
PS it’s PAID not payed.. And you dare to call me a moron>?
@90 Oct 28, 2009 at 01:28 by TorrentzBeak:
I for one don’t condone theft, but sharing is not stealing LoL
Even the U.S. supreme court agrees with that :)
@95 Oct 28, 2009 at 01:52 by TorrentzBeak:
Ya see now. They are upset because it will add so much noise(innocent people) to the fringe that they will not be able to function efficiently LoL
@96 Oct 28, 2009 at 01:57 by TorrentzBeak:
Baloney! what you are doing is judging others not disagreeing in a civil manner otherwise you would have left people alone a long time ago.
You want people to accept your point of view. It ain’t happening dude LOL
Sharing is not stealing, OK I’ll share your WiFi bandwidth, Share your car with you. I’ll drive it around for a year, let you have it back for a day a year./ That’s OK with you? as we are just sharing right?
You fill it with Petrol/DERV and pay at the pumps, I’ll share that petrol with you, by driving your car all year, you’ll get it for one day a year so you still have the car, you still own it, |I’m just sharing it with you. And if I like it I might just buy it. Mind you, it’s probably crap, so it’s worth nothing, so I wont bother. I’ll sleep on the day you have it so I wont miss anything
Good times , yes I agree sharing IS good and not theft..how wrong I was…Off to Torrent pennance for me
@94 Oops you made a booboo xD.You do know the legal system has been corrupted by the content industry
So I disagree by leaving you alone. Only post on this board if you disregard the law and pirate 5Gigs a day. otherwise let people get on with illicitly obtaining media, oh I get it, very democratic, one view state eh? Just like you so vehemently oppose?
The legal system corrupted how? when? your proof? you will be taking them to court, obviously, with such strong evidence.
Oh I get it, it’s all corrupt, so I’ll be corrupt, so you do exactly what you accuse “the man” of doing…and that make you right,. how?
Copying is as much theft as looking at another girl is cheating.
I recon this whole thing is about power rather than anything else seeing as Piracy allows us to discover all kinds of things that the monopoly don’t want us to see.
I have X$ to spend every month and I sure spend it. Just because I don’t go see a movie by Warner Brothers doesn’t mean I won’t by anime from Japan.
The problem is that once they (let’s call em Hollywood) were the one and only retailer and now there are more who don’t even have to make commercials in order to sell their stuff.
Problem isn’t that people don’t buy things it’s that they don’t necessarily buy THEIR things.
For now there’s only one ruling party in China, it’s great, everyone who doesn’t know better probably think it’s acceptable.
Now, let’s pretend that we add another 50 parties to choose from…
Think the current rulers would like that?
@102 Oct 28, 2009 at 02:11 by TorrentzBeak:
Hmmm…your arguments finished? you couldn’t make anything more up? LoL
If your only argument is that sharing is stealing then point us where in the law anywhere says that? LoL
Where in the law is written that copyright infringement is theft?
Because if you can’t do that, then all that talk about following the law doesn’t really mean anything to you does it now? since you only want to call the law when you think is in favor of your opinion LoL
Please show us where in the letter of the law is written that sharing is thieving LoL
@94 Oops you made a booboo xD. The legal system has been compromised by the content industry you know that right? That is why TPB has yet to have an unbiased trial. You can try and try to convice me and everyone else here that were “stealing” but its not. I know what I am and im not a “thief” because I share files. Just because there is a law does not mean that it is a good law. I have no problem paying for things [bet you didnt see that comming eh?] but I refuse to support greedy corporations that are run by thugs, produce trash that isnt worth buying, and who arent happy with what they have. I am still not convinced that me or any other filesharers here are “theives”.
dont mind that first post @101 it submitted without my authority pleas e see #106
@103 so beaky buzzard did you run out of things to say to us yet?
If the issue were merely one of following the law we would all be happy. Sadly, (Disney & Mickey Mouse are a classic case in point) when the law looks to limit the profits of a corp cash cow, the laws get changed to protect the cow & not the public.
Most movies are ‘based on’ others works (i.e. intellectual theft/plagiarism) and yet the purveyors of these movies want us to respect their ‘rights’ as they disregard others rights? Sorry, but I don’t pay the GM assembly worker every time I hop into my car & there is no way I’ll be paying some bloated Hollywood leech for marginal quality ‘product’.
I will pay for original, good quality material though.
@TorrentzBeak
You are seriously delusional if you think any hater of the MPAA is ever gonna listen to your crap.
I hope you enjoy wasting your time. Good for you. If anything your idiocy just turns people off even more and pushes them further from ever buying a movie ever again.
@TorrentzBeak
I personally love your comparison of sharing to say, using my WiFi bandwidth without my permission or driving my car and using my gasoline without my permission.
I’m going to try and make this very simple for you to understand. When I download (make a copy) of a piece of software, the original still exists, and is in the hands of the actual owner. No theft has occured.
When you use my bandwidth without my permission, the bandwidth you are using is no longer mine, it’s not there for use on my PC, gaming console etc. It has been stolen. When you take my car….it’s no longer then, it’s been stolen. Same for my gasoline. If you somehow managed to make a “copy” of my car that was a perfect replica in every way imaginable, and drove THAT around, it wouldn’t be stolen, since I would still have my vehicle.
That being said, you, sir, are an idiot.
well there is no doubt that piracy does carry negative effects to the economy. At the same time things like 3 strikes for piracy is a little insane.
The problem isn’t people pirating stuff , the problem is it’s way too easy for people to pirate stuff.
If you give humans a easy way to get something for free, they will do it. Don’t punish the humans, fix the technology somehow so it’s hard for them to do so.
“2004 Total Movies Released: 567 Total Combined Gross: $9,327,315,935
2005 Total Movies Released: 594 Total Combined Gross: $8,825,324,278
2006 Total Movies Released: 808 Total Combined Gross: $9,225,689,414
2007 Total Movies Released: 1022 Total Combined Gross: $9,665,661,126
2008 Total Movies Released: 1037 Total Combined Gross: $9,705,677,862″
To me that only looks like they are making more and more bad movies every year and the money still comes from the same amount of “good” movies they manage to make every year.
“In a piece today in The Times, Sony boss Michael Lynton yet again champions 3 strikes for alleged pirates and states that combating piracy could add millions to the economy.”
Well, he thinks it might add millions to his economy.
In reality, of course, freeing up all the excessive profit and wasted investment from the bloated narcissistic entertainment industry will allow it to be spent elsewhere. The overall ‘economy’ will not suffer one little bit.
Wish I could live a delusional fantasy land world like top CEOs, and get paid a shirtload for it, even when I get sacked for wrecking the company.
You don’t understand what intellectual property is. All those copies (because they were derived from that one original copy) are the property of the respective studio. They aren’t yours to handout whenever you feel like it. All that’s being sold of ANYTHING is copies. Just because they are not the one who created the copy, doesn’t dissolve it’s ownership. Because people are content with their pilfered copy, people have no incentive to actually pay for what they enjoy, and thus the creators lose money. Is that simple enough for you?
You are stealing their intellectual property. Physical stealing isn’t a requisite for theft, since copying is inherent to the digital medium (you can’t steal a physical copy over the internet.)
Are we talking about removing personl accountability. For the record, it is not easy. They have to create the software, buy the servers, maintian them, pay the legal fees etc. It is a lot of work. They made their decision to ignore the law and pretend like they live in a world where they are entitled to everything and money doesn’t exist.
Do you really need the law to tell you that taking things without giving back to their creator is wrong? What’s the matter with you?
Oh, and you’re really one to talk about the law I guess. Copyright IS a law. When you violate it, you break the law. No matter how you try to dress it up, it’s illegal.
So if file so good, then why do the victims of it have a right to ask for compensation for said damages (reperation)?
For your information, copyright violation in excess of $2000 is a criminal offense.
You honestly believe that millions of people stealing things as opposed to paying for them makes no difference?
Do you actually believe any of this? Do you actually think that people profiting from their own work is absurd? Im sure, no one wants to work to buy money for food either, so does that mean we should just start handing out free money to satiate the “majority”?
Earth to josh. There are plenty of legal places for getting movies. Itunes, XBOX live, netflix, etc. But pirates don’t use them.. why? Because they don’t know what paying for things is.
Then how are they supposed to make money or grow as a business? Do you even know anything about the econamy. Consumer contributions are a huge part. That’s what makes the business cycle possible. Creators create and consumers give back to them, helping them create more and sustain themselves.
What makes you think that you are entitled to enjoying the fruits of the entertainment industry and yet they shouldn’t benefit from this? Hm?
“In a piece today in The Times, Sony boss Michael Lynton yet again champions 3 strikes for alleged pirates and states that combating piracy could add millions to the economy.”
What does he think pirates do with the money that they don’t spend on movies? Burn it? No, they spend it on other things, like their net connection, or computer gear, or food. The same amount of money goes into the economy, just not into HIS economy.
“Lynton begins by plugging Sony’s launch tomorrow of Michael Jackson’s This Is It, noting the importance of releasing it simultaneously worldwide.”
All movies should be released simultaneously worldwide. Releasing a movie in one country, then waiting 6 months to release it in others is for the birds.
““Online theft siphons billions of dollars out of the marketplace. That means less money to make movies. Projects get scaled back and others dropped. Some potential blockbusters won’t get made. Some new writers, actors and film-makers won’t get discovered,” writes Lynton, adding;”
And the fact that “stars” get paid 5-20 million per movie has absolutely nothing to do with it…
@TorrentzBeak sorry english is one of 4 languages i speak so i am not the native speller that you ought to be to get your checks for writting on forums like this one ;)
@116
I guess beaky got their paycheque and will be back when they want more lol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting
@Reasoned mind
I went to take my 3 kids to watch the new animated movie called Fantasic Mr Fox when i got there we went to buy our tickets and my kids we going to be frisked to make sure they had no sweets or anything i was shocked and there was no way in hell i was going to let anyone touch my kids like that.
I am a paying to watch a movie and they want to do that anyways i said to them we going in and not only me left a good 20+ people walked out too in disgust.
My kids had no coats they was in T-shirts and skirts.
Now why in the hell should i have to put up with that crap?
I now refuse point blank to ever go to another cinema again i would rather wait for it to come on pay per view or on british television.
I also dont listen to music i could not even tell you who was in the charts now infact the last CD i got was queens greatest hits years ago.
My kids dont listen to music they save their pocket money for games and if you ask me that is what is killing the industry kids dont listen to music much and films they ignore most kids play games and if i am not wrong games make more money then music/movie industry combined.
so why should i have to put up with searches and invasion of privacy just so they can say your clean i feel like i am the criminal and i have done nothing wrong at all
I have bought a couple of sony products both are expensive when i took one of the product gone kaput after the warranty sony asked 70%
of the product price as repair charges.I ditched sony sonyh can go to hell
Liar, liar! Pants on fire!
To put it bluntly, Michael Lynton is a liar.
“…potential blockbusters might not be made…”
Yeah, right. Does anyone seriously believe that a film likely to do well will be shelved because internet piracy exists? Hor$e$hit. The major studios would pimp their grandmother on the corner if there’s a potential dollar in it for them.
As for the fiddling of numbers, enigmax correctly points out that the total number of films produced and released has increased each year. The major studios DO technically make fewer films nowadays, but the reason has nothing to do with piracy. It just makes better business sense for them to have independent production companies be the producer of record and then the majors distribute them. It’s nothing but an accounting decision. And smoke and mirrors by Michael Lynton.
Don’t believe the hype. Because Michael Lynton is a liar.
Awwwwwww, come on now, pass the hat round for the movie industry please folks… the asshat AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!
No I went to bed Anon, so cause you cant win or debate an argument you revert to type and only have recourse to personal insults..well when your internet is cut off after 2 warnings you’ll have no WjFi to share will you. You are engaging in semantics. I’m glad you agree if I share your unused WiFi whilst you are not using the full bandwith of your wireless signal I’m stealing it, just like you are with Movies, music and software
@Torrentzbeak
You’re still daft, the key difference is still there, you simply refuse to accept that.
Comparison to theft
Further information: Dowling v. United States (1985)
Copyright infringement is often equated with theft, for instance in the title of the No Electronic Theft Act of 1997, but differs in certain respects.
Courts have distinguished between copyright infringement and theft, holding, for instance, in the United States Supreme Court case Dowling v. United States (1985) that bootleg phonorecords did not (for the purpose of the case) constitute stolen property, and writing:
interference with copyright does not easily equate with theft, conversion, or fraud. The Copyright Act even employs a separate term of art to define one who misappropriates a copyright: … ‘an infringer of the copyright.’ …
The infringer invades a statutorily defined province guaranteed to the copyright holder alone. But he does not assume physical control over the copyright; nor does he wholly deprive its owner of its use. While one may colloquially link infringement with some general notion of wrongful appropriation, infringement plainly implicates a more complex set of property interests than does run-of-the-mill theft, conversion, or fraud.
—Dowling v. United States, 473 U.S. 207, pp. 217–218
The key distinction generally drawn, as indicated above, is that while copyright infringement may (or may not) cause economic loss to the copyright holder, as theft does, it does not appropriate a physical object, nor deprive the copyright holder of the use of the copyright. That information can be replicated without destroying an original is an old observation,[57] and a cornerstone of intellectual property law. In economic terms, information is not a rival good; this has led some to argue that it is very different in character, and that laws for physical property and intellectual property should be very different.[58]
As for your, “when you get 2 warnings” bull, it will never happen. Your assumption that anyone who posts in a board regarding this topic is a pirate is moronic. I do not pirate anything, however, since sony’s rootkit stupidity, I’ve taken a distinct interest in matters concerning my civil rights. The music and Recording industry are attempting to trample them. Therefore I no longer partake of their goods.
Furthermore, there is no U.S. 3 strikes rule, and infact many american ISP’s are fighting tooth and nail against such measures. I assume you are an American, as for the most part only americans are as narrow minded as you are, and people like you make me ashamed to be one.
Go chew on that, and next time you decide to equate copyright infringement to theft, do try and have at least a passing knowledge of law.
@124
Amen to that. Sorry torrentzbeak but hes right. ^=^
Lies. If the total revenue fell this year it’s obviously due to thousands of people losing their jobs. If you check the other years it is clear that the revenue has been maintained. Which amazes me when I look at the prices.
He’s just a spoiled child that doesn’t want to see his share of the pie shrinking. If he was intelligent he’d be working with the millions that would buy if the prices were lower and then maybe he wouldn’t need to worry about the piece of the pie getting smaller since he’d bring more pie into the pie… if u got my point… ;D
Are you all fucking stupid??or dont just understand math?? Look at the fucking table.. More movies being made..more money being spend..but the returns remain the same..Meaning less profit every passing year, and less profit from each movie..eg:
2004 – $16450292 return per movie(return includes both capital and profit)
2008 – $9359380 return per movie. But cost of production has gone way way up..Less than half the profits that were normal 5 years ago…Now, if you dont understand that, it simply means that y’all are just completely oblivious to the real world.. and maybe even highschool math and common sense..lol..
it’s people like @Torrentzbeak that are a perfect example of absolute close mindedness… i mean you HAVE to work for these a*holes in one form or another, you CANNOT just be a consumer that WANTS them to make more money….. are you??
well if you are that’s just plain sad… you side with the bully and help them support keeping all the little people being beaten down… pathetic… if you’re not one of them especially
I used to buy a CD or DVD here and there to “do my part” in contribution, but in the last few years it’s been simply disgusting what the RIAA/MPAA are doing to the little man… and trampling on rights that prevent them from making the same insane profit margin they had for years…
but NOW i support piracy 100%… piracy is OUR WEAPON against these greedy bastards… i have been an extremist and don’t pay for any music or movies any more THAT COME FROM A MAJOR STUDIO…. they make enough money, and if they don’t — then their crap is not worth our hard-earned $$$ how can i justify my hard-earned $20 to be split
90% to the fat cats and 5% to the artists… i can’t and now we have a choice and we won’t
now I pay for what deserves to be paid for from the major studios, but do buy a LOT MORE from the little studios and indies…
i don’t have to justify my piracy to closed minded ignorant fat cat supporters like you… times of millions made in hollywood are over… like someone said here: “wouldn’t you want to be a star even if you got paid thousands instead of millions”
hell yes
it simply pisses all the top dogs off that we have a choice now… and look how much they’re lying to protect their kingdom of greed…
PS: i realize that as it is above, I have contradicted myself… what I meant to say is
I do not pay for any Major Studio Movies that are GARBAGE (which most of them are sadly, amazing how more money does not make better movies) but i will go see a good movie in the theatres still…
if i add up all the crappy hollywood movies i have seen for FREE (in nice HD x264 quality with DTS 5.1 sound) I realize that if I paid for all of them I would be out thousands of dollars for sh*t that does not deserve a penny for it…
i’m sorry but me being able to eat more is more imporant than me helping paying for some bad actor’s car or sony’s douchebag’s new yacht
cheesy but: FIGHT THE POWER
Don’t forget Disney, they are as big in movies as Paramount.
@133
That could easily be argued as the effects of competition from smaller Indie film makers. Only an idiot would believe that income would move in a linear scale with the number of movies. Here’s some basic “math” for ya. Movie production in 2008 is 80 some odd percent higher then it was in 2004, while income has increased by only 4% give or take. In order for the profit per movie to stay the say, people would be required to spend 80% more on movies then they did 4 years ago. Name me ONE person you know of…ever…that’s received raises over the course of 4 years that boosted their income by 80%…a 4-5% increase in spending is keeping in line with the average persons increase of income.inflation etc.
…so Sony is saying that the global recession is NOT the reason for the movie industry losses for 2009???!!!
It figures they would completely ignore the obvious.
@Rooney: “…ompletely oblivious to the real world.. and maybe even highschool math and common sense…”
Here’s what I learned in high school maths m8:
Correlation does not equal causation.
So it appears your education is lower than highschool. Touche you fcukwit. Next time you think of opening your stupid, ignorant mouth, let me know first… I want to be there to p!ss myself laughing again.
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In all honesty, before I started to get the DVD-Rips from aXXo or FxG, I would go to the theater 1-4 times a year. I now go to the theater 1-3 times a year, and download movies. I do not think it is because of my pirating, it is just because I have been downloading so many foreign films, and their writers and actors are so many times better it is a slap in the face to Hollywood. One of the most notable was Quarantine, this movie was not well acted and thought out. The Spanish and Original version of Quarantine was REC and in my opinion it was much well acted and better played out. I am getting tired of being bombarded with horrible films.
This is the lesson that Hollywood should learn. A good movie is not decided on how much money you spend on a film or the most famous actor you get to star in your film, but how well you write your script or how well your actors act.
One of the most recent films I saw in theaters with a low-budget and unknown actors was, Paranormal Activity. Although many feel that it was not scary, you must look at the bigger picture. This film was low-budget and the actors were not paid millions. These actors played their role so well so many people who exited the theater thought the film was “REAL”. These kind of films I would not mind paying 5-10 dollars a ticket.
Now for music… Theoretical dollars lost. That is complete bullshit. I have only bought an album 5 times in my life. I have have been downloading pirated music, for like 5 years. I am older than most so please do not add false numbers. Just because I download your music does not mean that I would have bought the album if I didn’t. I wouldn’t. I would never pay the outrages amount of 20 dollars an album just to hear one good song. I say to the RIAA, FUCK YOU!
This whining leaves me absolutely cold.
During last few years I have been in movies ~3..5x a year. It’s not even because I download movies from the net.
Once in 2..3 months I “discover” that I have not downloaded anything, then go and see what’s hot and well.. maybe find 1 or 2 movies that catch my eye. Usually one of them is total waste of anybody’s time, meaning if I would have seen it in the movies I would have felt totally ripped off (Like I felt with Surrogates), and would feel totally ok downloading movies again until I find one that I like.
So I don’t think pumping out crap and complaining about people not paying full price to see it is in any means justified business plan.
You know what? The world is dying because of our crap, so there are more important things out there than making “blockbuster” movies over and over. Downloading has given me a new appreciation for not giving a shit about your industry that wastes so many physical resources to pump out propaganda garbage for the military like Transformers.
So they can’t make as many movies? Who cares? Who needs to waste life plugged into our DVD players or wasting money at a theater, or a piece of plastic on your coffee table that cost you $30?
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