American Ambassador Lectures Aussies On Game of Thrones Theft

[Zagzag]

As far as I know there's no way to watch it legitimately in the UK if you are a student without the possibility of a TV, so I'm going to end up waiting a year for the DVD it seems. People have mentioned iTunes, but it doesn't seem to be on there, not season 3 at least.

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

Turns out its not the rich man who holds power, nor the priest, the king, or the man with the sword. Its the thief who's picking everyone's pockets while they're wondering who really holds the power!

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

This just give more reasons for having a Steam-but-with-movies platform.

Everyone wants to watch things when they want wherever they want. It won't stop piracy of movies but it will at least lower it by making it more widely available and easier to access.

I recognize that with the way cable providers work it would be difficult to create but I believe that this is the best solution either way.

 

[BlackFlyme]

"But artists' livelihoods depend on us rejecting that urge," says Bleich, "just as shopkeepers and small businesses depend on people not just stealing products from their shelves."

Damn you pirates, quit stealing our episodes! Now we can't show re-runs!
What have you done? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?

 

[Meatspinner]

Hey look. It's another public official, fighting the good fight for corporate America.

At least it isn't the CIA this time

 

[knight steel]

Mr Ambassador as apart of the production of the GOT Tv series you of all people should know that the world is not a nice place and that people do bad things while looking out for number one!!!

Also as has already been brought up we are descendant from criminals and one of our national heroes is an outlaw-robin hood living legend what did you expect?

Spoiler: Ned kelly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Kelly

 

[Abomination]

I suppose if fact doesn't matter, it is pedantry.

I feel no need to convince you, but I am trying to enlighten you and make you appear as less of a total ignorant.
While I agree that a large portion of the general public is as informed on this matter as you are, it doesn't make it less false.
The consequences are different, the method is different, the crime is different and the penalty is different, but yeah, pedantry.

It's like arguing with a redneck who found a thesaurus.

Oh, I'm well aware of all you're saying already. The fact is though, it doesn't matter.
Why doesn't it matter? Because most people aren't lawyers and feel no need to be.

Let me guess, if you hit someone's dog and they claimed you murdered their pet, you're the type who'd feel the need to correct them in that you just killed it, because murder only applies to people, right?

The difference between stealing a car, killing someone's dog and pirating a movie is that in the former two you're actually denying the original owner access to the item they purchased.

In the latter case you're potentially denying the creator hypothetical revenue.

It isn't theft. You're right about the dog, it isn't murder, it's destruction of property that would likely carry a heavier sentence due to the moral reprehensibility of killing a pet companion of another - believe it or not but the judge does consider such facts when passing their judgement.

 

[Legion]

Question:
If i was to pirate Game of Thrones during it's run on TV, because, in this hypothetical situation, I have no way of watching the series on TV, and then bought the DVD box, where would I stand, as far as karma, morality etc, is concerned?

I know that pirating is against the law, but if I go out of my way to get my money to the creators of the series, as fast as is humanly possible, by buying the DVDs as soon as they hit the market, would that make up for "pirating" the series?


DISCLAIMER: I do not endorse pirating, nor do I torrent anything. I am talking about a hypothetical scenario.

Personally in this entirely hypothetical situation I'd say it was not morally wrong, because they would still be making a sale. Considerably more so from the DVD than they would had you watched it on the television I'd assume.

As others have mentioned in other entirely hypothetical discussions. It's more or less impossible to follow anime outside of Japan in some countries without doing the same thing.

So... is Game of Thrones offered only through cable providers, or are there streaming services available there? Are there DVD's available for purchase? Are they priced reasonably or do they jack up the price to absurd amounts like with video games?

Just like to get some context. Because if the only way to watch Game of Thrones in Australia is to sign up with a cable service (that might suck, or not. No idea, feel free to tell me if they do/don't) and catch it when it's on and nowhere else... then know shit they pirate it a lot.

DVD's are released, but for some bizarre reason they release them just before the next season starts on television. So while season 2 was on TV over a year ago, the DVD release was only this year.

 

[GAunderrated]

So... is Game of Thrones offered only through cable providers, or are there streaming services available there? Are there DVD's available for purchase? Are they priced reasonably or do they jack up the price to absurd amounts like with video games?

Just like to get some context. Because if the only way to watch Game of Thrones in Australia is to sign up with a cable service (that might suck, or not. No idea, feel free to tell me if they do/don't) and catch it when it's on and nowhere else... then know shit they pirate it a lot.

HBO is kind of between a rock and a hard place here. They make their money through subscriptions, which ties them directly to the cable companies. To make their shows available digitally would harm their partnership with cable, and all the market research they've done suggests it would be a significant net loss to do so.

So while it isn't exactly the same it has a lot in common with a console maker looking to go with entirely digital sales. The benefits just aren't high enough to abandon retail sales yet.

This just give more reasons for having a Steam-but-with-movies platform.

Everyone wants to watch things when they want wherever they want. It won't stop piracy of movies but it will at least lower it by making it more widely available and easier to access.

I recognize that with the way cable providers work it would be difficult to create but I believe that this is the best solution either way.

I agree with your sentiment. If they were to follow steam's route they would be very profitable. Right now the problem with GoT is that it is a service issue. The only way to watch GoT legally is to go through their outdated draconian subscription service. While most shows are on itunes the next day, GoT takes several weeks to months to get on itunes.

I have no problem paying a reasonable amount per episode ($4-7) if I can get it either right after it airs or the following day.

All HBO is doing is training their GoT fanbase to just go the torrent route since they won't provide a better service. Of course there are those that will pirate no matter what but you would have to be pretty naive to believe that it wouldn't convert many people over (not speaking directly at person quoted fyi).

 

[ResonanceSD]

Seriously Mr. Ambassador, how about you have a talk to your companies that promote a culture of piracy here in Australia by charging us between two and four times the price for digital goods, huh? How about that.

This is the only decent response in the thread. Most of the rest is just shallow rationalisations for Piracy.

 

[Eric the Orange]

Yeah because EVERYONE can afford HBO. How many bronies do you think actually get the Hub? For Twenty of my twenty-five years, I've had to put up with either analogue or network.

The, I can't afford it therefore it's OK that I pirate it argument is used often and has never made sense. I can't afford a Luxury car but I don't think that entitles me to steal one.

 

[King Kazma]

Maybe make the prices of things developed in America and manufactured in China at a more reasonable price and Australians would be less inclined to nick things in general.

 

[Entitled]

Yeah because EVERYONE can afford HBO. How many bronies do you think actually get the Hub? For Twenty of my twenty-five years, I've had to put up with either analogue or network.

The, I can't afford it therefore it's OK that I pirate it argument is used often and has never made sense. I can't afford a Luxury car but I don't think that entitles me to steal one.

No, but it entitles you to download one.