Is It Just Me Or Does It Seem Like...

[Lee]

There are a lot more instances of content being stolen lately?

Ive seen a bunch of threads lately about content theft, it seems to be happening a lot more than it used to, but the good thing about it is, it also seems to be getting made public a lot more also.

Why are more people stealing content these days, have we gone back to the mindset of 'public domain' where if something is published online it is free for all and sundry to use however they feel fit?

Regards,

Lee

[Maryflixxx]

I think that there are whole generations being raised now to believe that the internet is free. I'm 31 and I work in online marketing, and even I have trouble paying for any online information or entertainment.

I think that my generation and those younger than me share this mindset. I think that if I didn't work in the online world I would be the worst offender.

So, yes, I think that more people are stealing more content these days.

[Squirt]

The entertainment industry is getting payback for screwing us consumers over for generations

Unfortunately we are part of the entertainment industry that is now getting screwed by angry consumers.

This is why I like the VirtuaGuy sales model and software.. kinda hard to get screwed as a producer working with them. No tube sites or rapidshare can steal the content :thumbsup:

[Maryflixxx]

I swear I did not pay him to say that!

LOL!!!

But, yes, it is true. If nothing else, VirtuaGuyHD can't be stolen. I'm excited to start working with other producers in this industry to start filling out our roster of male models.

[Maryflixxx]

As a consumer, I do feel screwed sometimes.

$35 dollar CDs??? Especially when you know that none of it goes to the artist, just paying fat cat expense reports.

I'm digging the artists who are putting independent records together and selling them from their sites. I paid RadioHead for their "pay what you can" album release. I paid them $10. I figured they cut out the middle man so I'd cut to the "wholesale price"

[Jasun]

I mean... yeah. I see it a lot more.

It's getting easier every day to steal content. Now you can just find rapidshare links, get a blog on Blogspot, post a few links and you're all set.

Takes 5 minutes.

There used to be more work required but now you can be the popular guy with all the free stuff in under 5 minutes.

Sites like VirtuaGuy or Fratpad can't really be pirated because of the product. I think you'll see more content like that, actually.. something that can't be just uploaded to Rapidshare.

[DonMike]

I have a huge beef with the record industry. I remember when the last Cocteau Twins album came out and being the die hard fan I had to buy all the singles as well as the CD. Each single was in two parts. So you basically had to buy the single twice to get all the B-sides. So I paid $18 for the CD itself and $10 per single which was the album cut (that I already had) and two new songs. There were two singles (with two CDs each). So for the amount of music that basically could have been a double album I paid about $60 for. And you wonder why Napster because so damn popular.

I don't mind paying for good music, DVDs, websites, etc, if I'm getting what I pay for. But I remember before I got into this industry and I'd buy a membership to a site only to find that the content in the members area wasn't much more than was on the preview. I wonder if all this piracy came about as a result of people feeling they weren't getting their money's worth. I mean, we've all been in this industry for a long time. Remember when you could just put up a site with a few galleries and make a lot of money. Did anyone really think about putting out a good product that the members were going to like, or was it all about making something that would sell, regardless of whether it was good or not? How many people felt burned after paying for member sites that they didn't get their money's worth? And how many of them sought out new ways to trade content with friends because they couldn't get enough on the money they had to spend?

Where am I going with this? LOL! I'm rambling now.

[Maryflixxx]

I think DonMike is on to a thread here.

What killed the entertainment industry (or is present killing) is continuously disappointing its consumers.

Buy a CD and find only one song of the 12 is fully produced. Buy a DVD and get forced to sit through 10 trailers before they let you watch the movie...

Carry that over to adult. How many misleading tours have you experienced as a consumer or built as a webmaster? Are we causing distrust within our consumer base? Are careless webmasters a major cause of the trend towards stolen content?

It's something to think about. I know that I've worked with membership sites that as a consumer I would have found very disappointing.

On a completely separate note...

Jasun - enlighten me! What protects fratmen from being stolen? I will admit to never having been inside the site so I'm interested to hear what you guys have done to protect yourselves!

Warm wishes,
Mary

[Lee]

Mary,

To some extent i think you are right however, at the same time, i also think no matter what, you cant satisfy every surfer, every time they hit a membership site.

There are so many variables that site owners need to be able to control in order to truely satisfy our surfers it would be an impossible job for anyone to do, some surfers want to have access to millions of pics or movies whilst others want to have exclusive content, some want to have images and movies that are as large as possible resolution wise, others just want the content to fit the niche, some dont want recurring billing, whilst others do not mind recurring billing and others dont think they should pay at all.

I think a vast part of the problem with piracy *IF* it is because of disgruntled surfers is because we as an industry have tried pandering to their needs so much they expect everything to be handed to them on a plate..... Including the moon on a stick for dessert.

It is a statistical impossibility to please everyone when it comes to online porn because everyone has different tastes and wants. Its not like a company such as FritoLays making potato chips where all that is expected is that the chips are to be fresh, crispy and flavored like what is on the packaging... We dont complain to Frito when chips are smaller than a certain size, we dont complain when some chips are broken in the packaging, we dont complain when one chip out of every thousand has a little green spot, or a burnt spot on them and if we did, we certainly dont charge the cost of the chips back to FritoLay.

Regards,

Lee

[Squirt]

I have a huge beef with the record industry. I remember when the last Cocteau Twins album came out and being the die hard fan I had to buy all the singles as well as the CD. Each single was in two parts. So you basically had to buy the single twice to get all the B-sides. So I paid $18 for the CD itself and $10 per single which was the album cut (that I already had) and two new songs. There were two singles (with two CDs each). So for the amount of music that basically could have been a double album I paid about $60 for. And you wonder why Napster because so damn popular.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! Let's not forget the easily damaged media we're forced to utilize in CD's/DVD's and before that tapes and records. When a record would get scratched, tape warped or DVD/CD scratched, you had to pay all over again for something you already bought.

Remember the mini CD/DVD they had that was always protected in a case and you could slide it in the player and it would never get damaged? disappeared! Odd how we can't buy movies on flash drives that would never fail isn't it? Every time the format changes people have to re-buy their whole collection... not anymore.

Planned obsolescence began in the media industry and branched out to all the other industries. Now we have shitty razors that get dull after a few shaves, TV's that cost thousands of dollars and only have a few thousand hours of viewing time, etc. etc.

ok rant over but I completely understand the sense of entitlement our generation has over how we were fucked as consumers... unfortunately the new generation being raised thinks everything is free. A fix will come and we'll all be good to go again but until then it's a free for all unfortunately.