(rant) And the movie industry wonders why piracy exists

[mikeymikec]

My wife is watching a (legitimately produced and acquired) movie DVD, and there are no subtitles on it.

If I google for the movie and 'subs', I get lots of results, which I'm pretty sure means that someone unaffiliated with the movie took the time to produce the subs. If so, there are two possibilities - they produces the subs with the intention of making money out of the work in some way (ie. copyright infringement on a professional basis, so if they can make money out of it, so can the movie label), or they did it and distributed it because they wanted to (ie. for free).

I've also encountered scenarios where the 'pirate subs' are actually more accurate / descriptive than the official subtitles.

Of course, subs are not the only or even the primary reason why piracy occurs, it's just ironic that the movie labels routinely make anti-piracy ads that get in the way of the viewing pleasure of the product to tell us that making sure we get the genuine article will ensure the maximum viewing pleasure of the product (amongst other things of course).

 

[Naer]

Breaks my heart that pirates spend their whole lives following a map, when the real treasure is the friendships they build along the way.

 

[CZroe]

I've seen plenty of old DVDs that used Closed Captions instead of subs (have to enable CC on your TV). The first edition of The Big Lebowski, for example.

Also, lack of subs is FAR more often a problem for pirate movies. Are you joking by using one of the problems with piracy as a positive attribute?!

 

[olds]

I don't watch movies with subtitles. I find it too distracting. I may turn on CC if they are British, if I watch it at all. They always sound like they have a mouth full of marbles when they talk.

 

[gotsmack]

Breaks my heart that pirates spend their whole lives following a map, when the real treasure is the friendships they build along the way.

GOLD!

 

[zinfamous]

Breaks my heart that pirates spend their whole lives following a map, when the real treasure is the friendships they build along the way.

Do you ever post something that is an original thought?

https://twitter.com/JasonLastname/status/302583665035206657

which, ironically, was also stolen from Jack Handy:

http://www.quotes.net/quote/13870

shameless

 

[Kaido]

And the movie industry wonders why piracy exists

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media...l_progressive,q_80,w_636/18iy0tgziwsftpng.png

 

[Chaotic42]

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media...l_progressive,q_80,w_636/18iy0tgziwsftpng.png

Exactly. If I pay for a movie, I just want to watch the movie. It's one of the reasons I wait for things to show up on Netflix. It's like they go out of their way to make going to the theater or buying a DVD not worth it.

 

[GobBluth]

Do you ever post something that is an original thought?

https://twitter.com/JasonLastname/status/302583665035206657

which, ironically, was also stolen from Jack Handy:

http://www.quotes.net/quote/13870

shameless

busted

 

[Blanky]

Breaks my heart that pirates spend their whole lives following a map, when the real treasure is the friendships they build along the way.

I assumed you had ripped this from somewhere but it was funny anyway.

Here's why piracy exists: When The Interview was made available on December 24 it was almost impossible to stream except through youtube; if you didn't have xbox you had to use youtube. Sony's dedicated site was apparently suffering problems, and who knows what google play is. So, you decide okay I'll go to my PC and pay $5.99 for the HD copy, that's fair. But you click buy HD and then it says since you're on a PC you will have to watch the 480P version even though you're paying HD, so then you realize that not only do you have to watch this on your PC to begin with (despite owning many devices plugged into your various TVs), but at a lower resolution than what you paid for. Or, you torrent it at 1080p, and I know a lot of people did for that very reason.

 

[Pulsar]

I've got a pirated version of windows 7 on 2 different laptops right now. Why? Because those laptops originally came with Windows 7 on them, but the certificate of authenticity was placed on the bottom of the laptop. As a result, gentle use wore them to illegibility after a couple months.

*shrug*

In another situation, I bought several family packs of software with multiple licensing keys for a school I work with. When the computers they were installed on were upgraded with new hardware, the copies detected it and deactivated. After spending 40 minutes on the phone with Microsoft reading them 40 digit activation keys so they could authenticate and 'renew' the licenses, I said fuckit. I legally own the software, and I don't remember reading anywhere that I would have to constantly work with Microsoft because of their shitty license setup. The worst case was where an installation failed because of corrupted files, but I couldn't reinstall because the license key had already been used (on that same computer).

Why would I continue putting myself through that?

1. Buy software legally so you own the license
2. Pirate software so that it actually works correctly and you don't have to deal with the parent company to 'fix' things that shouldn't be broken

 

[Puppies04]

Breaks my heart that pirates spend their whole lives following a map, when the real treasure is the friendships they build along the way.

This almost became my new sig, { } you were this close.

 

[Zodiark1593]

I've got a pirated version of windows 7 on 2 different laptops right now. Why? Because those laptops originally came with Windows 7 on them, but the certificate of authenticity was placed on the bottom of the laptop. As a result, gentle use wore them to illegibility after a couple months.

*shrug*

In another situation, I bought several family packs of software with multiple licensing keys for a school I work with. When the computers they were installed on were upgraded with new hardware, the copies detected it and deactivated. After spending 40 minutes on the phone with Microsoft reading them 40 digit activation keys so they could authenticate and 'renew' the licenses, I said fuckit. I legally own the software, and I don't remember reading anywhere that I would have to constantly work with Microsoft because of their shitty license setup. The worst case was where an installation failed because of corrupted files, but I couldn't reinstall because the license key had already been used (on that same computer).

Why would I continue putting myself through that?

1. Buy software legally so you own the license
2. Pirate software so that it actually works correctly and you don't have to deal with the parent company to 'fix' things that shouldn't be broken

First thing I always do with laptops is to apply Scotch tape to the Windows license number.

 

[Cerb]

First thing I always do with laptops is to apply Scotch tape to the Windows license number.

Microsoft is looking out for you: the new ones don't need that, anymore.

 

[Maximilian]

Breaks my heart that pirates spend their whole lives following a map, when the real treasure is the friendships they build along the way.

Such depth, very meaning, so moving :awe:

Heres a meaningful song to go with it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DSVDcw6iW8

You're a real hero, and a real human bean :thumbsup:

 

[Rakehellion]

Breaks my heart that pirates spend their whole lives following a map, when the real treasure is the friendships they build along the way.

This is the sweetest thing I've ever heard. <3

 

[mmntech]

Why would I continue putting myself through that?

1. Buy software legally so you own the license
2. Pirate software so that it actually works correctly and you don't have to deal with the parent company to 'fix' things that shouldn't be broken

Reminds me of the fiasco EA had with Spore a few years ago. That was back when install limits were in vogue. The game's installer was buggy so people were blowing through their allotment just trying to get it to work. Then they ended up just downloading the pirated version without the DRM and a working installer. Turned out to be the most pirated game of the year. EA had egg on their face after that.

Similar situation was when they tried that awful SimCity reboot that uses always-online DRM. Severs crashed when it launched and folks couldn't play. EA had claimed processing was being done on the server side, so it couldn't ever be played offline. Then the pirates hacked it and discovered that wasn't true. Pushed out an offline version. EA was eventually forced to patch their game to remove that restriction.

All DRM really does is add an extra layer of frustration for paying customers. Pirates never have to deal with that crap.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

get with the times man. at least buy an hd-dvd player or something.

 

[master_shake_]

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media...l_progressive,q_80,w_636/18iy0tgziwsftpng.png

there are work arounds but again you shouldn't have to deal with that on a purchased dvd in 2014.

commercials are the bane of society's existence.

and that fbi bs is only applicable to countries that they have jurisdiction in i.e the us.

 

[Brovane]

Just like we pay money to go sit in a theater and we get to sit through 30 minutes of Advertisements/Trailers.

 

[master_shake_]

Reminds me of the fiasco EA had with Spore a few years ago. That was back when install limits were in vogue. The game's installer was buggy so people were blowing through their allotment just trying to get it to work. Then they ended up just downloading the pirated version without the DRM and a working installer. Turned out to be the most pirated game of the year. EA had egg on their face after that.

Similar situation was when they tried that awful SimCity reboot that uses always-online DRM. Severs crashed when it launched and folks couldn't play. EA had claimed processing was being done on the server side, so it couldn't ever be played offline. Then the pirates hacked it and discovered that wasn't true. Pushed out an offline version. EA was eventually forced to patch their game to remove that restriction.

All DRM really does is add an extra layer of frustration for paying customers. Pirates never have to deal with that crap.

i am reminded of this.

 

[Ketchup]

Reminds me of the fiasco EA had with Spore a few years ago. That was back when install limits were in vogue. The game's installer was buggy so people were blowing through their allotment just trying to get it to work. Then they ended up just downloading the pirated version without the DRM and a working installer. Turned out to be the most pirated game of the year. EA had egg on their face after that.

Similar situation was when they tried that awful SimCity reboot that uses always-online DRM. Severs crashed when it launched and folks couldn't play. EA had claimed processing was being done on the server side, so it couldn't ever be played offline. Then the pirates hacked it and discovered that wasn't true. Pushed out an offline version. EA was eventually forced to patch their game to remove that restriction.

All DRM really does is add an extra layer of frustration for paying customers. Pirates never have to deal with that crap.

So, if Developers just stopped going out of their way to include DRM, people who actually buy the game would be happy, more people would buy the game since there wouldn't be negative feedback (at least on that end of things) and the only people who would be pirating the game would be those who never intended to buy it in the first place.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Or, you torrent it at 1080p, and I know a lot of people did for that very reason.

Yeah, but what sucked about torrenting the 1080p version was that it took almost eight minutes to download.

I HATE waiting eight minutes.

 

[Maximilian]

Reminds me of the fiasco EA had with Spore a few years ago. That was back when install limits were in vogue. The game's installer was buggy so people were blowing through their allotment just trying to get it to work. Then they ended up just downloading the pirated version without the DRM and a working installer. Turned out to be the most pirated game of the year. EA had egg on their face after that.

Similar situation was when they tried that awful SimCity reboot that uses always-online DRM. Severs crashed when it launched and folks couldn't play. EA had claimed processing was being done on the server side, so it couldn't ever be played offline. Then the pirates hacked it and discovered that wasn't true. Pushed out an offline version. EA was eventually forced to patch their game to remove that restriction.

All DRM really does is add an extra layer of frustration for paying customers. Pirates never have to deal with that crap.

Wow install limits... I almost forgot about those! Thank god that never caught on. I remember some people actually defending the practice 😱

 

[Ketchup]

I know there is at least a little headway on the movie front here. A few of the movies we have bought recently (keep in mind these are kids movies, so I don't know who all does this) come in DVD and Blu-Ray versions. We also have at least one that can also be downloaded to place on PCs and tablets in the house. This is a pretty big step from when we would buy a movie for our old full-screen TV (to get rid of the bars) only to find that we had to buy it a second time to make it fit the screen on our widescreen LED TV. Fortunately most of the moves are now on Netflix, so it was a good bypass for that issue.