pirated firefly copies

POSTED BY: oct0gen
UPDATED: Thursday, February 9, 2006 15:58
VIEWED: 10422
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OCT0GEN

Tuesday, January 10, 2006 9:12 PM

a friend gave me a pirated copy of the firefly series a while back. at first i was uninterested in watching it but eventually broke down to peer pressure and tried crack… i mean firefly. i sometimes confuse the two as they are equally addictive. when i caught the series on the scifi marathon before the movie release, i noticed that it was slightly different than the copies i had. the pirated copied seemed to lack some of the finishing touched that the scifi broadcast has. did they re-edit the scifi versions? or was a unfinished version leaked by the studio before release? on purpose?

anyway, all this also got me wondering: how many got hooked on firefly by the distribution of pirated copies? given the lack of finish on the pirated copies, i wonder if it was leaked from the inside as a marketing tool, sort of like a movie prescreening or demo software. the idea being to get the widest distribution possible, but make the no cost version not up to par with the commercial version. i figure that there are a lot people like me who don’t have time to sift through the mindless drivel normally on tv to find the few hidden gems. i also wont pay $20+ for a dvd boxed set for a cancelled tv show ive never heard of. it would seem to make marketing sense to make a version available to bait people like me, especially since it seems that a significant portion firefly’s popularity seems to be word of mouth by the fans.

now before somebody gets their panties in a knot about pirated copies, let me say that i bought a copy of serenity on dvd after taking my gf to see it twice at the theater. i also have a legit copy of the series on its way from amazon. if you are a fan and only have pirated copies, you should be ashamed of yourself. the crew of serenity “did a job and [they] deserve to get paid”.

edited cause i cant spell

LOCRAY

Tuesday, January 10, 2006 9:20 PM

Downloaded Serenity because I was bored. Downloaded FireFly because I was curios. Will by them both on DVD because I'm in love.

RKLENSETH

Tuesday, January 10, 2006 9:43 PM

There were two version of the 2 hour Serenity pilot. One that aired of Fox, is airing on Sci-fi, and is contained on the Fox DVD. Then there is another version (the first actually) that never aired and was pirated to the internet. They have different musical scores and extended scenes and scenes never seen anywhere including the deleted scenes section of Firefly.

The only other modification is Objects in Space. This was always meant to be the last episodes but Fox never aired three of the episodes that came before it so Joss had to add a scene about Inara leaving Serenity that was later taken out of the version put on the DVD.

Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.

DARKJESTER

Wednesday, January 11, 2006 1:15 AM

The versions shown on SciFi were the same as the ones on the legit DVDs, with the exceptions already noted, and the fact that SciFi added various sound effects. Still not sure why.

MAL "You only gotta scare him."
JAYNE "Pain is scary..."

http://www.fireflytalk.com - Big Damn Podcast

ADMIRALJEDI

Wednesday, January 11, 2006 6:40 PM

I'm all for online availability of media for the reasons that the OP said. Same thing with computer game demos and such. But in the end, if you like it: buy it.

Glad to hear that the OP did so.

I recommended the series to a friend of mine who responded with, "I'll have to download a couple." I then told him, "If you just wanna check it out, that's fine. But if you like it: BUY it, otherwise I will hunt you down, I will find you and I will CUT you."

Nothing could be more pathetically ironic than a Firefly flan who's kvetching about the show not being on the air and hasn't bought all the DVDs.

Heck, I'm considering buying REPEATED copies of Serenity to give as gifts just to boost sales =P

CBY

Wednesday, January 11, 2006 6:51 PM

Don't forget, for many people (including me) downloading was the only chance to check out the show before buying the box (which I did a few days later, can prove it anytime )

°°°°°°°°°°°°
http://www.byond-trax.com - my selfmade ambient/lounge/chillout music

DONCOAT

Wednesday, January 11, 2006 10:02 PM

Personally, I don't have a problem with people downloading an ep or three to try it out, as long as they do one of two things afterwards:

1 (unthinkable) decide they don't like it and delete the downloaded copies, or

2 (you betcha) realize what an amazing show they've been missing and buy the DVDs.

Of course, IANA (entertainment biz) Lawyer.

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I don't disagree on any particular point.

PAGAN

Wednesday, January 11, 2006 10:26 PM

Quote:
if you are a fan and only have pirated copies, you should be ashamed of yourself. the crew of serenity “did a job and [they] deserve to get paid”.

While I certainly agree that you should buy the the firefly and serenity dvds, your statement is of course quite hypocritical. It sounds a bit like: "If you like a movie - buy it. If not it's ok to just download it."

Piracy is piracy... the fact that you didn't like the movie or that you delete it after watching it doesn't make it any better.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not some kind of saint who always buys his dvds and computer games, etc. But then again I don't proclaim some kind of very dubious code of honor.

EXPLORER509

Wednesday, January 11, 2006 11:54 PM

I herd Patrick Norton mention firefly on the twit podcast. I thought "this sounds interesting" so I downloaded the entire series via bittorent. I was hooked after the first 5 miniuts. I have scince seen the movie in theators, bought the dvd box set, the comic books, and Serenity on dvd. My point is that if it were not for piracy, I never would have discovered this truly great show.

J6NGO1977

Friday, January 13, 2006 1:43 AM

I absolutely agree that piracy is rubbish. I would definately want to watch a perfect copy of a movie rather than some shoddy copy from the cinema. Also I collect DVD's and I want the packaging and definately the perfect digital reproduction and not a load of shoddy DVDs downloaded from bittorrent sites in plastic sleeves thrown in my draw. However I did get a DVD rip off my friend (if it wasn't a perfect copy I wouldn't have bothered) of serenity because it's not available in UK yet. When it is released I'll be buying 2 copies, 1 for my collection and 1 to watch.

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