Free newly released movies on your computer
- Thread starter Crazynuff
- Start date
miguy1957
Expert Expediter
Last edited:
Falligator
Expert Expediter
Not working for me. My Cable internet seems to be working like dial up tonight. Even EO is sloooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww.
Detmike208
Seasoned Expediter
Okay, at the risk of sounding "holier than thou" (which I certainly am not), hasn't it occurred to you that someone owns the copyright to these movies and when we download them for free, we are, in effect, stealing? I'm the first to admit I like getting free stuff but what would your reaction be if your company just decided to use YOUR services and not pay you for them...forcing you to take them to court or some other avenue of arbitration? It's really the same thing. Sorry....it's really just not right.
No, it's not right, then again, are they really losing money if I download a movie instead of not seeing it at the theater? No, they're not, not really. That doesn't make it right, I know, but they aren't being damaged by it, either. It's when people re-sell these movies for a profit that the MPAA gets particularly bent out of shape.
The MPAA has a long Internet history of speaking out of both sides of their mouths and trying to present two faces to the world. They'll come out with some statement about how the Internet is costing them millions in revenue, then the next day there will be a report showing record ticket and rental figures.
There is even a correlation with how many times a movie is downloaded and how well it does at the box office, much to the chagrin of the MPAA. Sometimes that correlation is simply a matter of how popular a movie is, but one especially stiking example was "The Rookie" that first hit the net with a really low quality CAM version, which was not downloaded very much on the net, and it did pretty bad at the theater. Three weeks later a much higher quality DVD Screener hit the net, it was downloaded, uhm, more than a few times, and the theater ticket sales took an immediate 400% jump. That never happens three weeks into a theatrical release.
There have been cases where the producer has "leaked" a high quality version of his movie to the net either just prior to or just after the theatrical release. One in particular I had foreknowledge of and even played a small role in. That one garnered an Oscar for one of its actors (of which, of course, I take full responsibility.
)
When the first Spiderman hit the net two weeks before the theatrical release, the MPAA and the producers very publicly predicted dismal ticket sales. Whoops. Set a record for ticket sales. Same thing when the last Star Wars hit, and then X-Men, whoops again. Well then, non-existant DVD rentals. Whoops, whoops, whoops.
The MPAA finally figured out that, just like the unofficial fan sites for actors and movies, many of the movie downloads turn out to be some of the best free advertising they could hope for. They won't admit that, of course, but it's true. They will go after peddlers of pirated movies, as they should. For-profit Web sites get shut down very quickly, but most others are left alone for the most part.
TV networks will let you watch complete episodes online. Sites like Hulu are supported by the networks, and some movie studios. They realize that they will not be able to beat the Internet, so they might as well going 'em.
Interesting what happened with music, the RIAA and Napster, and what is still happening. The RIAA is still trying to go after people for downloading songs, because to them it's a matter of cutting off their node to spite their face, they wanna win. If you plot a chart showing the rise in popularity of Napster (when it was a free, totally pirated thing) to a chart showing the rise in global music CD sales, the charts are identical. The RIAA succeeded in shutting Napster down, the chart dropped like a brick, and the CD chart dropped right along with it. Music CD sales took a 40% hit from which they have never recovered, and they blame the net for that.
Napster is back, but it's controlled by the RIAA in the form of strict royalty payments, and CD sales has not recovered. It has recovered slightly, but then again the popularity of P2P and torrents has risen, as well. Go figure.
Microsoft admitted that one of the key factors in its early success of Windows was the rampant piracy of the OS. They're not too keen on it now, tho, which is understandable.
Incidentally, stealing WiFi from a motel, Panera Bread, etc., is also illegal. It's the unauthorized use of a computer network. Personally, I feel that if you won't want people to steal your WiFi then you should take the brain-dead easy steps to click the button that enables security on the AP router, but that's me. But secured or not, it's still illegal. So be aware.
The MPAA has a long Internet history of speaking out of both sides of their mouths and trying to present two faces to the world. They'll come out with some statement about how the Internet is costing them millions in revenue, then the next day there will be a report showing record ticket and rental figures.
There is even a correlation with how many times a movie is downloaded and how well it does at the box office, much to the chagrin of the MPAA. Sometimes that correlation is simply a matter of how popular a movie is, but one especially stiking example was "The Rookie" that first hit the net with a really low quality CAM version, which was not downloaded very much on the net, and it did pretty bad at the theater. Three weeks later a much higher quality DVD Screener hit the net, it was downloaded, uhm, more than a few times, and the theater ticket sales took an immediate 400% jump. That never happens three weeks into a theatrical release.
There have been cases where the producer has "leaked" a high quality version of his movie to the net either just prior to or just after the theatrical release. One in particular I had foreknowledge of and even played a small role in. That one garnered an Oscar for one of its actors (of which, of course, I take full responsibility.
)When the first Spiderman hit the net two weeks before the theatrical release, the MPAA and the producers very publicly predicted dismal ticket sales. Whoops. Set a record for ticket sales. Same thing when the last Star Wars hit, and then X-Men, whoops again. Well then, non-existant DVD rentals. Whoops, whoops, whoops.
The MPAA finally figured out that, just like the unofficial fan sites for actors and movies, many of the movie downloads turn out to be some of the best free advertising they could hope for. They won't admit that, of course, but it's true. They will go after peddlers of pirated movies, as they should. For-profit Web sites get shut down very quickly, but most others are left alone for the most part.
TV networks will let you watch complete episodes online. Sites like Hulu are supported by the networks, and some movie studios. They realize that they will not be able to beat the Internet, so they might as well going 'em.
Interesting what happened with music, the RIAA and Napster, and what is still happening. The RIAA is still trying to go after people for downloading songs, because to them it's a matter of cutting off their node to spite their face, they wanna win. If you plot a chart showing the rise in popularity of Napster (when it was a free, totally pirated thing) to a chart showing the rise in global music CD sales, the charts are identical. The RIAA succeeded in shutting Napster down, the chart dropped like a brick, and the CD chart dropped right along with it. Music CD sales took a 40% hit from which they have never recovered, and they blame the net for that.
Napster is back, but it's controlled by the RIAA in the form of strict royalty payments, and CD sales has not recovered. It has recovered slightly, but then again the popularity of P2P and torrents has risen, as well. Go figure.
Microsoft admitted that one of the key factors in its early success of Windows was the rampant piracy of the OS. They're not too keen on it now, tho, which is understandable.
Incidentally, stealing WiFi from a motel, Panera Bread, etc., is also illegal. It's the unauthorized use of a computer network. Personally, I feel that if you won't want people to steal your WiFi then you should take the brain-dead easy steps to click the button that enables security on the AP router, but that's me. But secured or not, it's still illegal. So be aware.
Detmike208
Seasoned Expediter
No, it's not right, then again, are they really losing money if I download a movie instead of not seeing it at the theater? No, they're not, not really. That doesn't make it right, I know, but they aren't being damaged by it, either. It's when people re-sell these movies for a profit that the MPAA gets particularly bent out of shape.
The MPAA has a long Internet history of speaking out of both sides of their mouths and trying to present two faces to the world. They'll come out with some statement about how the Internet is costing them millions in revenue, then the next day there will be a report showing record ticket and rental figures.
There is even a correlation with how many times a movie is downloaded and how well it does at the box office, much to the chagrin of the MPAA. Sometimes that correlation is simply a matter of how popular a movie is, but one especially stiking example was "The Rookie" that first hit the net with a really low quality CAM version, which was not downloaded very much on the net, and it did pretty bad at the theater. Three weeks later a much higher quality DVD Screener hit the net, it was downloaded, uhm, more than a few times, and the theater ticket sales took an immediate 400% jump. That never happens three weeks into a theatrical release.
There have been cases where the producer has "leaked" a high quality version of his movie to the net either just prior to or just after the theatrical release. One in particular I had foreknowledge of and even played a small role in. That one garnered an Oscar for one of its actors (of which, of course, I take full responsibility.
When the first Spiderman hit the net two weeks before the theatrical release, the MPAA and the producers very publicly predicted dismal ticket sales. Whoops. Set a record for ticket sales. Same thing when the last Star Wars hit, and then X-Men, whoops again. Well then, non-existant DVD rentals. Whoops, whoops, whoops.
The MPAA finally figured out that, just like the unofficial fan sites for actors and movies, many of the movie downloads turn out to be some of the best free advertising they could hope for. They won't admit that, of course, but it's true. They will go after peddlers of pirated movies, as they should. For-profit Web sites get shut down very quickly, but most others are left alone for the most part.
TV networks will let you watch complete episodes online. Sites like Hulu are supported by the networks, and some movie studios. They realize that they will not be able to beat the Internet, so they might as well going 'em.
Interesting what happened with music, the RIAA and Napster, and what is still happening. The RIAA is still trying to go after people for downloading songs, because to them it's a matter of cutting off their node to spite their face, they wanna win. If you plot a chart showing the rise in popularity of Napster (when it was a free, totally pirated thing) to a chart showing the rise in global music CD sales, the charts are identical. The RIAA succeeded in shutting Napster down, the chart dropped like a brick, and the CD chart dropped right along with it. Music CD sales took a 40% hit from which they have never recovered, and they blame the net for that.
Napster is back, but it's controlled by the RIAA in the form of strict royalty payments, and CD sales has not recovered. It has recovered slightly, but then again the popularity of P2P and torrents has risen, as well. Go figure.
Microsoft admitted that one of the key factors in its early success of Windows was the rampant piracy of the OS. They're not too keen on it now, tho, which is understandable.
Incidentally, stealing WiFi from a motel, Panera Bread, etc., is also illegal. It's the unauthorized use of a computer network. Personally, I feel that if you won't want people to steal your WiFi then you should take the brain-dead easy steps to click the button that enables security on the AP router, but that's me. But secured or not, it's still illegal. So be aware.
Okay, I read your post TWICE and despite the fact that you made numerous cogent points, I have absolutely NO IDEA of which side of the fence you're on. Regardless, your posts are always humorous, informative, and best of all usually right on the money.
I believe the Shelled One was saying, download and watch on your computer from the comfort of the sleeper, good. Download and burn copies to sell for 5 bucks a pop, bad. And I couldn't agree more. I'm sure the new Deniro/Pacino movie, which I saw today and while it didn't totally suck, I'd hoped for something better, is already available in assorted truckstop parking lots.
Yep, the spirit of true warez is not to steal it and then sell it, which is scummy and slimy in the extreme, but to share it. Started with software, then MP3's, then movies and TV.
For many years I operated a rather large, very secure, private FTP site that contained, uhm, let's see, delicately put, software of questionable origin that was available for evaluation by other fellow software evaluation engineers.
The MP3 format and the ability to RIP a music CD to the hard drive, incidentally, was invented in the first place by small group of software pirates specifically for the reduced filesize transport of music files via the Internet, Usenet and FTP. Broadband was not widespread as cable Internet was in its infancy, DSL was rather rare even, so file sizes needed to be kept small for easy transport. The RIAA had a cow when the first portable hardware MP3 player was about to hit the market, since its sole purpose was to play back pirated music. But it was a storm surge they had no hope of holding back. The time frame from the invention of the format to the widespread acceptance and use of portable hardware MP3 players was a matter of a few months. It still amazes me how fast all that happened.
The ability that many take for granted today of being able to take a CD or DVD and copy it to their hard drive, then burn it back to a recordable disc, thereby producing a bit-for-bit copy indistiguishable from the original manufacturer pressed disc, was first invented and codified by another small group of software pirates (uhm, software evaluation engineers). Now almost all burning software incorporates this ability, and does so using the same exact methods we first devised for ABCDI and Usenet more than 10 years ago as the first consumner 1X CD burners were hitting the market. Anyone familiar with ABCDI will understand.
Video quickly followed, and methods and procedures were developed for easy copying, stripping and re-encoding, all of which have been incorporated by point-n-click off the shelf software today.
For software, in the true warez tradition, if you try it and like it and use it, then buy it, especially if you rely on it, or if it's for business purposes. If you're just playing around with it, it's not that big a deal if you don't pay for it 'cause you wouldn't go out and buy it in the first place, which is my stance. In any case it allows you to evaluate software and then be in a position to recomend it to others who have a need for it. In some cases you can even provide tech support for it if you so choose.
Same with movies. There are lots of movies I download that I would never go to a theater and see. Some I download, watch, and then go to the theater and see it again, as there is no substitute for the Big Screen exprience. It also allows me to recommend movies to others, regardless of whether I see it at the theater or not.
I just had the unexpected pleasure of attending the final day of the Toronto Film Festival. I got a Happy Birthday call yesterday morning (from someone I alluded to earlier), only to discover that me and the caller were both in Toronto, me sitting and waiting on a load after criss-crossing beautiful downtown Toronto during Friday night rush hour (something Leo has a fondness for) only to have it dry run, and she attending the Festival, and she invited me to the final day and ending festivities. And dinner, which was great.
I saw three excellent movies, "The Wrestler", a surprisingly really, really good movie about an over-the-hill professional wrestler, staring Mickey Rourke, "What Doesn't Kill You", about a couple of lifelong friends, part-time mobsters in Boston, pretty good and really intense, and "Lovely, Still" (an Indy due to be released early in 09) staring Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn, it's won't be a blockbuster, but it'll be a hit in the art house circles. It's very good.
I also came away with 4 screener DVD's, which are already floating around the aethernet. Most of the movies that have debuted at the Festival were on the net the next day, even though many aren't scheduled for theatrical release for weeks or months.
These goofballs that sell pirated movies at the truck stops, even if it's a movie I'd like to see, I wouldn't give them a dime for any of it.
For many years I operated a rather large, very secure, private FTP site that contained, uhm, let's see, delicately put, software of questionable origin that was available for evaluation by other fellow software evaluation engineers.
The MP3 format and the ability to RIP a music CD to the hard drive, incidentally, was invented in the first place by small group of software pirates specifically for the reduced filesize transport of music files via the Internet, Usenet and FTP. Broadband was not widespread as cable Internet was in its infancy, DSL was rather rare even, so file sizes needed to be kept small for easy transport. The RIAA had a cow when the first portable hardware MP3 player was about to hit the market, since its sole purpose was to play back pirated music. But it was a storm surge they had no hope of holding back. The time frame from the invention of the format to the widespread acceptance and use of portable hardware MP3 players was a matter of a few months. It still amazes me how fast all that happened.
The ability that many take for granted today of being able to take a CD or DVD and copy it to their hard drive, then burn it back to a recordable disc, thereby producing a bit-for-bit copy indistiguishable from the original manufacturer pressed disc, was first invented and codified by another small group of software pirates (uhm, software evaluation engineers). Now almost all burning software incorporates this ability, and does so using the same exact methods we first devised for ABCDI and Usenet more than 10 years ago as the first consumner 1X CD burners were hitting the market. Anyone familiar with ABCDI will understand.
Video quickly followed, and methods and procedures were developed for easy copying, stripping and re-encoding, all of which have been incorporated by point-n-click off the shelf software today.
For software, in the true warez tradition, if you try it and like it and use it, then buy it, especially if you rely on it, or if it's for business purposes. If you're just playing around with it, it's not that big a deal if you don't pay for it 'cause you wouldn't go out and buy it in the first place, which is my stance. In any case it allows you to evaluate software and then be in a position to recomend it to others who have a need for it. In some cases you can even provide tech support for it if you so choose.
Same with movies. There are lots of movies I download that I would never go to a theater and see. Some I download, watch, and then go to the theater and see it again, as there is no substitute for the Big Screen exprience. It also allows me to recommend movies to others, regardless of whether I see it at the theater or not.
I just had the unexpected pleasure of attending the final day of the Toronto Film Festival. I got a Happy Birthday call yesterday morning (from someone I alluded to earlier), only to discover that me and the caller were both in Toronto, me sitting and waiting on a load after criss-crossing beautiful downtown Toronto during Friday night rush hour (something Leo has a fondness for) only to have it dry run, and she attending the Festival, and she invited me to the final day and ending festivities. And dinner, which was great.
I saw three excellent movies, "The Wrestler", a surprisingly really, really good movie about an over-the-hill professional wrestler, staring Mickey Rourke, "What Doesn't Kill You", about a couple of lifelong friends, part-time mobsters in Boston, pretty good and really intense, and "Lovely, Still" (an Indy due to be released early in 09) staring Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn, it's won't be a blockbuster, but it'll be a hit in the art house circles. It's very good.
I also came away with 4 screener DVD's, which are already floating around the aethernet. Most of the movies that have debuted at the Festival were on the net the next day, even though many aren't scheduled for theatrical release for weeks or months.
These goofballs that sell pirated movies at the truck stops, even if it's a movie I'd like to see, I wouldn't give them a dime for any of it.
Detmike208
Seasoned Expediter
I'm not worried though, my wife has agreed to read all your posts in the future and paraphrase same on a level more suited to her ill-educated husband. I've had an easier time with Finnegan's Wake.
Back on the subject, We too were in Toronto during the Film Festival but all we could do was follow in the newspapers...made me wonder though, with all the crying up there about corporate sponsorship, can the festival survive? It's nice to see that complaining just for the sake of hearing one's own voice isn't limited to the States.
Honestly, I haven't seen any pirated video sales at any of the truck stops or parking lots and I must admit that I've become a big fan of Flex play which , I can only hope, will expand it's selection of films...$4.99 is pretty reasonable for a new release. As a rule, I don't care to own films, just to watch them.
Well, gotta go...my wife says that I have to turn over the computer to her if I want to get her report on Turtle's last submission by next Friday.
Back on the subject, We too were in Toronto during the Film Festival but all we could do was follow in the newspapers...made me wonder though, with all the crying up there about corporate sponsorship, can the festival survive? It's nice to see that complaining just for the sake of hearing one's own voice isn't limited to the States.
Honestly, I haven't seen any pirated video sales at any of the truck stops or parking lots and I must admit that I've become a big fan of Flex play which , I can only hope, will expand it's selection of films...$4.99 is pretty reasonable for a new release. As a rule, I don't care to own films, just to watch them.
Well, gotta go...my wife says that I have to turn over the computer to her if I want to get her report on Turtle's last submission by next Friday.
