Anti-Piracy Rant

By Mark on Thursday 8 March 2007 at 14:50

No, this isn't a rant about pirates, it's about the actual anti-piracy measures that are being taken by media companies.

I don't understand. I really don't.

If you don't want people to illegally download your stuff, why make things so fucking difficult for anyone who actually legitimately buys it?

Example 1: Music

I buy a load of songs from the iTunes store. Which work fine on an iPod, but sadly not from a USB key plugged into my car stereo. Or on any other personal audio player. Or even on any other music software I might like to use on my computer.

Talking of computers, I also do a lot of formatting and rebuilding of mine, meaning I have to authorise it again once rebuilt in order to be able to play any of the music that I paid for. If I forget to 'Deauthorise' my PC before I rebuild it (or even if it's just totally broken and I can't), I can never get that authorisation back. And you only get 5.

4 of which I've used already.

So when I use up that remaining authorisation, I have to buy all of the music again because iTunes won't let me play it. Even though I've already fucking paid for it. Therefore when that day arrives, I'll be straight on the net downloading illegal copies, to replace my legitimate files which Apple has decided I no longer own and therefore can't listen to.

Worse is when you actually buy a physical CD and find that you either can't play it on your computer, or you can but it installs some shitty software you don't want, or previously in Sony's case, it installs a rootkit which totally fucks up your PC and opens it up to external attack.

Whatever happened to 'thanks for your custom'?

Example 2: Films

I've bought a couple of DVD's recently. And when you first load them into the player, the first thing you see is a massive menu of every language, handily in alphabetical order, so you have to scroll through 3 screens to find the UK button.

Then you have a minute long unskippable lecture video about why you shouldn't pirate the DVD.

So basically, paying for DVD's earns you the right to watch the same shitty, uninterruptable video every time and build up a seething resentment toward the film industry, until eventually you just start downloading illegal copies because you're so fucking fed up with it.

And surprisingly, the pirated copies don't have the annoying video at the start, because guess what - the people who are actually pirates just strip it out...

Well fuck me, I didn't see that one coming.

4 comments:

On Thursday 8 March 2007 at 17:54, Matt said:

Only 5 post-rebuild authorisations? That means only 5 weeks of iTunes if your name's Neo.

Once again, I'm afraid I have to ask if anyone can fill me in on what happened on Friday night after about 11pm. On the off chance that I managed to hold it together without anyone noticing, I have to admit that I got shamefully drunk. I can remember leaving the Mannamead and I'm fairly sure Jelly Jazz was part of the evenings entertainment. Was the Skiving Scholar involved? I'm sure something happened at Goodbodies too, although I don't remember what I ate, I can only assume I had a fry-up.

Anyway, I woke up on Saturday afternoon and thought I was going to actually die. Again. I was ruined for the whole day, which is why I didn't come out Saturday night. I might as well have though, I was still hungover on Sunday. Was it a good night? Bar said he saw you down at the Barbican... (thanks for the 'manbag' picture Pablo).

On Thursday 8 March 2007 at 17:57, Neo said:

They suck tits.......the more legal you get the harder it is to do stuff...burn em all...death to the fuckers who think this shit up cos it ALWAYS gets hacked but to the honest person, they have to hear the shit!!

On Thursday 8 March 2007 at 18:36, pablo said:

Well Matt i remember lots of vodkas in Jelly Jazz, dont know if we went to the Scholar, but we did go to Goodbodies for a pint and then had food, and for the first time ever you didnt eat all your fry up. The Panda ate Stus tho by accident. went to bed at about 630am got woken up by Dan ringing me at 11.15 am ish then went to pub again.

On Friday 9 March 2007 at 09:31, Mark B said:

Yes, it was indeed a good night. I'm not too clear on the details either but I think we missed out the Scholar, although I was definitely there on one of the two nights...

Back on topic though; if you fancy some good quality legal MP3's try EMusic - they don't cripple the files with DRM so you can do what you like with them. Not every artist is on there, because the major labels (Sony, EMI etc) still refuse to let anyone distribute their artists' music without first making it as hard as possible for the listener to enjoy them. Not that I'm bitter.

But yeah, give it a try - 25 free songs when you sign up for a trial, and you can cancel within two weeks and still keep them.

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