More Unskippable Piracy Warnings for DVDs

[The Wooster]

More Unskippable Piracy Warnings for DVDs

The new copyright notices are there to "warn," "educate" and presumably irritate.

As part of the ongoing plan to stop piracy by annoying legitimate consumers, the US government announced two new copyright notices to be added to DVDs and Blu-Ray movies. Six major movie studios intend to start using the notices - which are ten-seconds long and unskippable - this week.

The first notice features the FBI and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations logos, as well as the traditional "Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by federal law enforcement agencies and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000," message. The second notice shows the logo for the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, complete with a grumpy-looking eagle, a warning that piracy is "not a victimless crime," and directions to the IPR site, [http://www.iprcenter.gov/] which promises to explain how piracy is affecting the US economy.

The fact that only legitimate customers will be subjected to these notices (presumably we're the victims mentioned in the first notice) is actually part of ICE's strategy. The notices are apparently meant to educate the general public, who upon seeing them will naturally take up arms and drive the pirates into the ocean from whence they came.  "Law enforcement must continue to expand how it combats criminal activity; public awareness and education are a critical part of that effort," announced ICE director, John Morton.

Source: Ars Technica [http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/05/dvds-and-blu-rays-will-now-carry-two-unskippable-government-warnings/]




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[Kargathia]

My business sense is a-tingling. I'll be sure to stock up on the pitchforks to supply the inevitable pirate hunts that will follow in the wake of this truly stunning and groundbreaking offensive.

 

[Lost In The Void]

Oh Good, this gives me more time to grab a beer and some popcorn before I start my movie. Thanks US Government, you never cease to help.

 

[SajuukKhar]

hmm, this only gives people another reason to pirate movies...... to not see this BS.

 

[Eleuthera]

Good idea, the three warnings we get at the moment never really managed to convince me... but this one will surely do the job...

 

[Dandark]

Clearly this will solve piracy. However could I have not realized that the way to combat piracy is to do the very thing that can help breed piracy. Luckily we had the US goverment to ignore evidence and logic as they are so good at doing.

 

[Andy Shandy]

As with every topic that comes up about these unskippable things, I feel obliged to post this image.

Anyway, do they not realise that people are annoyed by these and all these anti-piracy ads they have to wade through are more likely to make them pirate?

 

[Yopaz]

The last DVD I bought was How I Met Your Mother seasons 3 and 4.
The warning before the movie made me crack up.
"Jim bought a DVD from a store and enjoys great quality"
"Johny bought a pirated DVD off the street and does not"
My thought "Jonas bought a DVD from Amazon and has to sit through a sequence telling him that he's a criminal scum for pirating DVDs"
"Sam downloaded a DVD using peer to peer software and doesn't have to".

I find it disturbing that with both movies, TV shows and games the ones that pay for it are the ones who have to suffer a company's way of preventing piracy.

 

[ritchards]

Meh, BBC does DVDs with over 2 minutes of unskippable crap...

 

[Zhukov]

Funnily enough, I didn't even know it was possible to download entire movies for free until I started reading those copyright messages.

 

[Kamukazi]

couldnt help but notice such FBI messages on australian dvds over here, didnt realise they had jurisdiction IN ANOTHER COUNTRY

 

[Cid Silverwing]

These motherfuckers are too old to understand what the Internet and by default piracy is about, the symptoms and the root problem.

It's anti-consumer fuckwits with no regard for the welfare of their customers.

 

[Casual Shinji]

As with every topic that comes up about these unskippable things, I feel obliged to post this image.

Anyway, do they not realise that people are annoyed by these and all these anti-piracy ads they have to wade through are more likely to make them pirate?

I don't download anything. I stream my bears.

 

[lapan]

This thread made me think of this picture. It's like DRM, all it does is annoy and scare away their legit customers.

 

[bkd69]

"Ohhhh...I'm so scared!"

 

[Andy Shandy]

As with every topic that comes up about these unskippable things, I feel obliged to post this image.

Anyway, do they not realise that people are annoyed by these and all these anti-piracy ads they have to wade through are more likely to make them pirate?

I don't download anything. I stream my bears.

That's very wise. Less chance of mauling as well.

Also, here's Bender's piracy policy.

 

[lancar]

I can totally see why they're doing this. I mean, all those other warnings have worked so well in the past.

And while it's easy to say that this is all the pirates fault, remember that reality is never that simple. There is always a root cause and effect and, while this doesn't excuse the pirates, the inability of the corporations to realize this is the true reason they're contiously trying to attack the symptoms and make the problem worse.
After all, they are the ones with the orginisational power and ability to do something about it.

Yet they still cling to their archaic thinking that punishing their remaining customers is a good idea.

.....Yeah. I don't understand how they got to that conclusion, either.

 

[Casual Shinji]

As with every topic that comes up about these unskippable things, I feel obliged to post this image.

Anyway, do they not realise that people are annoyed by these and all these anti-piracy ads they have to wade through are more likely to make them pirate?

I don't download anything. I stream my bears.

That's very wise. Less chance of mauling as well.

If the stream is filled with salmon it can take a while though. *yuck yuck*

 

[bobmus]

snip

I prefer Ed Byrne's take on piracy:
<youtube=UHdhS2AiZ6A>

This music's so funky it makes me want to obey the law!