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*RAGE* MPAA Targets Six BitTorrent TV Sites. You UNBELIEVABLY STUPID PEOPLE! There is NO HARM WHATSOEVER in pirating TV! It solidifies your audience and serves as an excellent tool for bringing new fans in, or catching up already-converted fans when they miss an episode! You lose NO REVENUE until you bring the DVDs of the show out, and in that case, if fans were going to buy the DVDs to begin with, most likely they will still buy the DVDs regarless of whether they have all the episodes burned on CD. Piracy for TV only increases the number of fans likely to purchase DVDs! We think the commentary tracks and higher video/audio quality and deleted scenes and featurettes are worth it! I have all of Buffy Season 7 burned on CD, but I still bought the DVDs, and all my experience in the fandom indicates that I’m in the definite majority on this issue. I still plan of buying the Lost DVDs, even though I have nearly the entire series in HDTV-quality! We want to support the shows we love, and we’d like it if the studios would HELP us spread the love, rather than trying to LIMIT THE FRICKIN’ FANBASE. And plus, according to current laws, while legally in a grey area, it’s NOT TECHNICALLY ILLEGAL.

In the article, they say: There are thousands of people in the entertainment industry who are working to develop, produce, and promote television shows. Those shows and those jobs are worth protecting. Show me ONE PERSON in the entertainment industry who will lose his/her job because of piracy. Tell me ONE WAY that TV piracy can cause harm, and I’ll shut up.

  • There’s no advertising revenue lost, because the number of people that would watch the show as it aired on TV does not change. People still like to watch shows as they air. And because you’re drawing in new fans, your advertising revenue can only increase!
  • There’s little chance DVD sales will go down, because generally, those that would have bought DVDs in the first place will still buy DVDs. And because you’re increasing the fanbase, you have a wider market of potential DVD buyers.
  • With serial shows like Lost with plotlines and story arcs that extend over many episodes, piracy allows us to revisit past episodes and increases fan speculation, which is much of the core of fandom!
  • A lot of fans rely on piracy, as many don’t have TiVO or VCRs, and many have conflicts that prohibit them from watching the show when it airs. Trying to eliminate piracy alienates a HUGE portion of the fanbase.
  • DVDs don’t come out for months after the show finishes each season, often longer if the show is less successful. I’ve brought my Lost CDs to slumber parties and introduced a huge bunch of friends to the show, several of which are regular watchers now. Without piracy, how are fans supposed to spread the love in an age where the VCR is no longer as popular?
  • Sites like BTEFnet.net are set up in a way that discourages library-building, which was the main sticking point on the Betamax decision. The website is set up with the clear intention of allowing fans to catch up on recent episodes. After an episode has been available for a few weeks, it is taken down. Episodes are long gone by the time the DVDs come out.

    Piracy is THE REASON Firefly got its second first chance. Piracy allowed me to catch up on the Lost episodes I missed before my friends convinced me to watch the show.

    STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID IDIOT MORONS! *RAGES*

    And man, couldn’t they have waited TWO WEEKS for Lost to be over?

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    Serenity: TWO WEEKS! EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

    Teeth: Pretty good, but I think something isn’t healing properly. I’m scheduling a checkup for tomorrow morning.

    Sleep: Why do I want to go to sleep at 9:30? Probably because I woke up at 5:30 this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep because of my nap yesterday. Silly biological clock! Doesn’t it know that it doesn’t have to keep ridiculous hours anymore?

    Classes: My summer class schedule shifted about, giving me two back-to-back four-hour classes on Tuesdays, with a one-hour dinner break at 5. Mommy? Oh well, I have two weeks to decide if I’m going to drop one, and the 9-hour block certainly saves driving time. And I won’t miss any Lost, which is nice. Durr.

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    I wrote a rather long, tetchy post about last night’s Lost episode, but I realized in the morning that it wasn’t the show in general I was irked at, it was the uselessness of Kate. But it’s always nice to vent, so I’m still posting (albeit in a wee tiny font), in all its rambling, unedited glory.

    Lost. Feh, another Kate episode. Good thing we have Charlie/Claire to make it worthwhile! Ikkle TurnipHead, lulled to rest by the soothing tones of Driveshaft… Domestic haircutting bliss… an invite to live with him in LA… Only non-lame part of the entire episode! *does the ovary dance*

    But I’m getting seriously tired of the “Something went wrong on the island! Let us each accuse someone else of wrongdoing! Let some random character figure out what happened, let him/her confront the other, and let no one else find out!”-pattern of storytelling. YAWN CITY. It feels like a show in its 4th season. Hurley is right, it’s impossible to keep track of who knows what. It’s getting ridiculous.

    I’m sick of episodes that will have little to no impact on the events of the future. I want character interactions and plot developments to mean something. I’m getting bored by all these secrets flying about — can we try nailing something down? The sheer multitude of secrets takes the novelty and intrigue away from the Big Questions. And in fact, what ARE the Big Questions now? We haven’t heard from LostZilla in some eight episodes (not counting the ridiculous recapfest), and that wasn’t even real LostZilla, it was a part of Boone’s twisted visionquest. Will the hatch be opened, and what’s inside? Frankly, that plotline has been drawn out past the point of me caring anymore. Is Claire’s baby teh ebil? Given that the only thing that can quiet its cries is Sawyer’s voice, I’m thinking yeah.

    I was trying to explain the main plot points to my mom last night, and I felt like a moron because there’s just so much that’s been left deliberately obscured. I feel a lot like Hurley right now. “All I want is some friggin’ answers!,” I shout. Not because I’m curious or because I find the mysteries intriguing. Because I’m fed up. It’s not getting exciting, it’s getting tiresome.

    Is Michael ever going to find out who poisoned him? Is Kate going to just keep feeling sorry for herself, even though she could stop all the accusatory stares by just taking five minutes to explain why she was wanted by the law? “Do you really think I’m capable of [poisoning Michael]?” she asks. Well DUH, of course he thinks you’re capable of it! NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE HECK YOU DID. Until you come clean with your history, no one is going to have any idea of what you’re capable of! You could make it so much easier for yourself, but NOOOOO, you and Sawyer just heap on the guilt. You invite people to punish and mistrust you, and you’re offended and betrayed when they do. GET OVER YOURSELF.

    And I’m getting tired of the whole “Oh no, at the end of this episode starring me, everyone shuns me and judges me, but by the next episode, I’m back in the bosom again, and I’m shunning and judging whoever’s next up.” The only characters I can stand nowadays are Hurley, Sayid, and those like Charlie and Claire that don’t have enough screentime to incur my wrath.

    Maybe I just wasn’t cut out for serial TV. Smallville isn’t even fun to mock anymore.

    Here endeth the useless ranting. Feel free to forget and/or ignore most of what you just read. Anyway, this makes me feel a lot better, so hurrah.

    Side note: I love that when Jin and Sun speak Korean, they speak Korean. That will never stop being cool. It’s kind of weird in comparison when Sayid and the HoSuBoYay gang all speak English to each other, but it’s okay, because I highly doubt Naveen Andrews knows Arabic, being Indian and all.

    Stupid Kate. I hope LostZilla eats her. Or she could drown, that would be fun! Or get mobbed by a pack of flesh-eating weasels.

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    Booyeah! C+ in Networked Life, the class I tanked both exams in! (One taken while still recovering from Horrific Flu From Hell, the other taken at the pinnacle of Hell Week Fortnight Month.) Huzzah for extra credit and excellent homework grades to serve as compensation! In order to balance my exam grades, I must have rocked the socks off of my final project! I only wish I’d been able to attend more of the extra credit lectures. I might have scraped by with a B-.

    *dances the merry “I didn’t fail the 100-level computer science course I’d intended to take as an easy-A” jig*

    Yes, I fully realize I am horrifically lame. I care not.

    Now the only class I don’t know about is Animation. Not sure if Josh is going to take points off for the number of extensions I needed, but he appeared to really like my animations, so yay. And I got solid As on everything else I turned in, so I’ve got that going for me.

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    I really should have compliled these into multiple entries. Info and cover art for the second of the three Serenity prequel comics. On sale August 3rd! And for those that missed it, here‘s the equivalent post for Issue #1, on sale July 6.

    A tad annoying that my three favourite characters will all be variant covers of the same issue.

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    Serenity update: 15 DAYS!

    Wisdom teeth update: OW OW OW OW OW

    I think I’m going to relax and work from my bed. Now that I have a 20-foot ethernet cord that I accidently stole from Rebecca at our last meeting, I’ll be able to stretch that far!

    And brilliant, fantastic, unbelievable, phenomenal news: I’m getting a new computer! Still shopping around, but as Jimmy is now nibbling experimentally at the dust in preparation for the big bite, my parents have given me permission to say “Hello” to Mr. Trust Fund and upgrade. Thank you, Jimmy, for years of loyal service!