Downloading eps, Right or Wrong?

POSTED BY: HotForKaylee
UPDATED: Saturday, March 1, 2003 03:01
VIEWED: 10049
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RAULENDYMION

Saturday, December 14, 2002 9:58 PM

well from a moral stand point you can do somehting that is moral even though its illegal(and vice versa). Law does not equal what is ethical. If you took the utilitarian approach it would be your duty to download the episode because it would be the action that brings about the most happiness :)

SIGNYM

Sunday, December 15, 2002 5:31 AM

In my view its not wrong, but probably illegal.

A little historical perspective: It used to be that people were entitled to "fair use" of intellectual property- you could photocopy a paper or book, or share a tape with a friend, or make a backup copy of your programs as long as you weren't trying to make money from these activities. By the time the USA gets through rewriting all the IP laws, you'll not only be prevented from making money off these activities, you'll be prevented from "possibly" reducing the income of the IP holder. It's gotten so ridiculous that TV exectuves are now saying that if you don't watch the commercials, you're "stealing" the show!

Did anyone besides me notice an Alliance-like attitude in this??? I'm on the Mal side!

NIKOMATIC

Sunday, December 15, 2002 11:14 AM

Quote:
well from a moral stand point you can do somehting that is moral even though its illegal

that's called legitimate ;)

anyway the only thing i really consider wrong is what the guys on sharereactor did with birds of prey, they posted every episode like a week before it's air date on tv...

well, if you have access to fox and can watch firefly on tv, you should - but one can still download the ep to watch it again on pc, there's nothing wrong about it i believe.

SIGNYM

Sunday, December 15, 2002 4:21 PM

Just wanted to add that I understand that the people who make the show need to come up with production costs etc. Unfortunately, the IP laws don't protect the artists, singers, directors, crew, actors etc... they are really written to protect the corporations who are the actual copyright holders.

JOHNNYREB

Wednesday, December 18, 2002 6:59 PM

I'm on Mal's side! Do what you gotta do! If the execs at FOX don't care enough to keep the show flying (even after fans shelled out their own $ to do FOX's advertising for them)then why should we care enough for them to be worried about whether downloading stuff off the internet is right or wrong? Did Mal care when he cleaned out the Alliance hospital? NO! (Don't mind me. I'm still a little sore.)

ROBERTSPARLING

Wednesday, December 18, 2002 9:28 PM

I don't download eps, mostly because I have no room left on my computer. I certainly would download them if I had the space (a problem I plan to rectify in a few months, need to buy more memory) but I've got a theory about direct downloading.

One of the problems producers and such have with downloading eps, is that the advertising that pays for the show isn't there, thereby cutting into their profits. But gee, Fox gives away the episode by airing: we are given free access to the television show in question when it is aired, and we are forced to watch the ads. And we are allowed to have our own personal copy of the episode, as long as we have no intent to distribute.

So why doesn't Fox let us download whole episodes of a show, (any show) but just leaving the commercials in? Think about it: Fox gets a fast server, they throw an ep up every week (after it has been aired), we download it, and we get to watch the adverts.

Now I know some of you are saying "I'd just skip over the adverts and wouldn't see them anyway." Well, true, except there are some media file types (I'm not sure which but there are some, help me out audio/video experts) that do not allow you to skip ahead; they make you watch the whole file.

Can you imagine? Clearer pictures than a tv rip, better sound, and all for the price of watching a Pepsi commercial or two. I can stand a Doritos ad or two to get my Firefly fix.

And some of you are saying, "Won't that cut into any DVD sales that might happen?" The answer is "No." Most fans would buy the DVDs regardless of having d/l-ed eps (am I right people?) and let's not forget that DVDs always have that something extra like Commentaries by Joss or Tim, and art galleries, missing scenes, etc.

I wish the TV companies would enter the new electronic age, other than having peachy Flash 6 sites that have great graphics and little content. This would be cool.

Bye

EVANS

Thursday, December 19, 2002 2:57 AM

What if we could download any ep for a dollar each? Nice Website, 'vetted ads, no guilt, no leeches downloading from YOUR computer, LOL!

m.
------------------------------------------------
"But ... not boring, like she made it sound." Wash, in ARIEL
"None of it means a damn thing." Mal, in OBJECTS IN SPACE

HJERMSTED

Thursday, December 19, 2002 4:52 AM

Quote:

What if we could download any ep for a dollar each? Nice Website, 'vetted ads, no guilt, no leeches downloading from YOUR computer, LOL!

Only if the format is burnable to disc or otherwise watchable on a TV system. By "watchable" I mean the image must at least look as good as broadcast TV.
Call me ancient but I hate watching TV shows or movies on a little computer screen.

mattro

LJSQUARED

Thursday, December 19, 2002 6:02 AM

If you've got *.mpg file it can be saved as a VCD which can be played in DVD player. A good quality file is about 450mg and i reckon these are just as good a broadcast TV, of course if you have cable or satelite the pictures probably better. I have seen *.m2v files which can be turned into SVCD's (comparable to DVD) and can be 600mb plus for an episode. But with adds the files would be 1/3rd bigger. It already takes me three hours to download an ep, and I get them pretty much as fast as my internet pipe can pull 'em (55K/Bs).
What would happen is some industrious folk would get the episode, crack the copy protection, and remove the adds. By giving them a nice digital copy there just making it easier for them.

Firefly@Trekvideo.com
http://www.trekvideo.com/firefly

ZERO

Thursday, December 19, 2002 6:29 AM

Screw the laws or the interpretation of laws. Download all u want. If there was mass enforcement of these laws then it would be another story. Personally, I dont know what the big deal is, any publicity is good publicity. True fans are still gonna buy their music, pay for movie tickets, watch the old tube, or what have you. By the way, anyone interested in downloading Firefly episodes should read my signature ;)

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-=ZERO=-
Check me out on WinMX, I have all the episodes in SVCD format. Any Firefly fans get free starts, just msg me.

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