Hollywood's Gentler Post-SOPA Strategy

[HardOCP News]

Wait, did they just say Hollywood is on "a charm offensive ?" Like that is going to fool anyone. You KNOW something is wrong when they are being nice to you.

Paramount Pictures sent letters last week to universities saying the company was "humbled" by last month's online protests that involved millions of Internet users--and that it now wants to "exchange ideas about content theft" and the best way to thwart it.

 

[jctusmc03]

Its a trap!

They are just going to find people that admit to having downloaded files and they are going to sue all of them at once, probably.

 

[Ducman69]

Lets say that you want your kid to mow the lawn once a week.

If you just tell him to mow the lawn, he will likely moan and groan and feel like he's being shafted and do a lousy job or protest all together.

On the other hand, you can make up a very harsh list of fifteen chores you expect him to do. He will be outraged and protest and you can go back and forth and remove fourteen chores leaving him to ONLY mow the lawn, he feels like he is a kickass negotiator and won the contest and you are being perfectly reasonable accepting a mere one of the fifteen chores.

I think Hollywood has the same type of strategy in mind. First they hit us with what is clearly outrageous, and then now we're on to phase two where they make concessions and get what they wanted all along.

 

[Godmachine]

Yea right , so "Humbled" means "fucking shocked our bought and paid for Senators/Congressmen we're unable to force our imposed legislation through without any resistance from the public/mob/idiots".

You know exactly what you must do Hollywood and if you want an example I point you towards Netflix. Make it simple , cheap , full of content , work across dozens of platforms and you'll reduce piracy even more than Netflix already has.

Otherwise if this is yet another failure tactic then please , try it again .. I dare you too. I would love to see the entire country pull down its pants and shit all over you and your bought and paid for politicians.

 

[Ducman69]

Netflix, Hulu, and Redbox. $1 a movie is reasonable for either hardcopy or digital.

Heck, if they use torrents, their distribution costs are virtually nil and people get a legitimate site with quality releases risk and hassle free.

Unfortunately, their greed to milk every penny is what fuels the pirate market. To take a date to the theaters usually runs me about $45 after tickets and a popcorn and drinks. And if I want to watch a poorly reviewed movie like "In Time" on iTunes, that I'm surely not going to watch again, it sets me back a full $15, and its $20 if I want a physical copy at Best Buy.

And if that weren't high, they really get you on TV Shows. To get the show Supernatural, its currently selling for $340: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Superna...id=2274688&skuId=19585435&st=Season&lp=1&cp=1

For $340, many are willing to accept reduced quality and risk of bootleg copies.

 

[Yobbles]

Holly who?

 

[fattypants]

Paramount Pictures? The parent company of the Viacom douchebag who called common citizens a mindless mob?

Yeah right. They've already shown their colors. There will be no olive branch.

Maybe they can give Mr. Mob Mentality another $50 million dollar raise because he's done so much for the company's image.

 

[Darksword]

They've just sensed that SOPA could go down in defeat. That's why they're lightening up on their tone. The last thing they want is to be seen as battling against freedom of speech.

 

[Ashbringer]

Netflix, Hulu, and Redbox. $1 a movie is reasonable for either hardcopy or digital.

Heck, if they use torrents, their distribution costs are virtually nil and people get a legitimate site with quality releases risk and hassle free.

Unfortunately, their greed to milk every penny is what fuels the pirate market. To take a date to the theaters usually runs me about $45 after tickets and a popcorn and drinks. And if I want to watch a poorly reviewed movie like "In Time" on iTunes, that I'm surely not going to watch again, it sets me back a full $15, and its $20 if I want a physical copy at Best Buy.

And if that weren't high, they really get you on TV Shows. To get the show Supernatural, its currently selling for $340: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Superna...id=2274688&skuId=19585435&st=Season&lp=1&cp=1

For $340, many are willing to accept reduced quality and risk of bootleg copies.

This is what Hollywood fails to see. They want people to be more willing to fight piracy, but people know what corporations are all about. Why you think people reacted the way they did when they saw SOPA? If Hollywood was fair and just about it, people probably wouldn't care. If you visit YouTube, you know how strict they are about copyright.

#1 The way copyright is being handled is simply criminal. People are getting jail time that's worse then a murderer. It's gotten to the point where if you accidentally included something in your video that's copyrighted, the video will be taken down. It's just insane.

#2 The phrase adopt or die hasn't changed. If people can distribute media for free over the net, then why are you charging so much for DVD's or Blu-Ray's with commercials that can't be skipped?

#3 Hollywood clearly has too much money on their hands. With all the lobbying and the creation of MPAA and RIAA, I don't see how they're having trouble with making a profit? I'm surprised they haven't gone after Libraries, who do supply free rental to movies. Yet they still manage to profit, and break record profits every year.

 

[Parmenides]

They will win in the end. It's a sound strategy.

Look at gas prices. There was once a day when $2 was toooo much. Then there was a day when $3 was insane. Why isn't there an outcry now? It's because of the 2 steps forward 1 step back strategy:
1) shock people with price hikes
2) watch the people rage
3) dial the prices back a little, but not back to original pricing
4) People are appeased, forget and grow complacent
Repeat step #1

Movie and music industry can do it too:
1) pull off a massive anti-consumer stunt (one that affects everyone except the pirates)
2) watch the people rage
3) dial back the tone, sweet talk, and plan out compromises that don't seem quite so bad
4) People are appeased, forget and grow complacent
repeat step #1

Look at the DMCA. it's tame by today's standards, but not quite so much yesterday.



Politicians do it too with money spent on special interest programs. Now, hundreds of billions is peanuts in size.

 

[fattypants]

They will win in the end. It's a sound strategy.

Look at gas prices. There was once a day when $2 was toooo much. Then there was a day when $3 was insane. Why isn't there an outcry now? It's because of the 2 steps forward 1 step back strategy:
1) shock people with price hikes
2) watch the people rage
3) dial the prices back a little, but not back to original pricing
4) People are appeased, forget and grow complacent
Repeat step #1

Movie and music industry can do it too:
1) pull off a massive anti-consumer stunt (one that affects everyone except the pirates)
2) watch the people rage
3) dial back the tone, sweet talk, and plan out compromises that don't seem quite so bad
4) People are appeased, forget and grow complacent
repeat step #1

Look at the DMCA. it's tame by today's standards, but not quite so much yesterday.



Politicians do it too with money spent on special interest programs. Now, hundreds of billions is peanuts in size.

Ahh, the Overton window strategy.

Makes ideas that were once unthinkable ($4 for a gallon of gasoline, getting imprisoned for hearing a song, giving a corporation to take down their competitor's websites at will, paying money for game maps and skins) perfectly acceptable.

 

[LeninGHOLA]

They apologized, now I have to take them back!

 

[Serpent]

Accept no compromise.

 

[Uncle]

This is all about election year. No matter what, its still one person, one vote. !0 mill will buy you a politician, but you still only get one vote.

 

[Big D.]

They can start by not calling it theft, lol.

 

[Parmenides]

Ahh, the Overton window strategy.

Makes ideas that were once unthinkable ($4 for a gallon of gasoline, getting imprisoned for hearing a song, giving a corporation to take down their competitor's websites at will, paying money for game maps and skins) perfectly acceptable.

I didn't know there was a named strategy. Must be common knowledge in today's textbooks for political science. Looks like there is no other way to do politics then.

 

[Red Falcon]

Its a trap!

They are just going to find people that admit to having downloaded files and they are going to sue all of them at once, probably.

+1
It is just a bait and switch tactic.

 

[Ashbringer]

They will win in the end. It's a sound strategy.

Look at gas prices. There was once a day when $2 was toooo much. Then there was a day when $3 was insane. Why isn't there an outcry now? It's because of the 2 steps forward 1 step back strategy:
1) shock people with price hikes
2) watch the people rage
3) dial the prices back a little, but not back to original pricing
4) People are appeased, forget and grow complacent
Repeat step #1

I don't think anyone didn't realize this with gas prices. Gas is like milk, in that brand doesn't matter. So the prices are set based on what companies can push people.

The problem with Gas is there's no alternative. Purchasing movies and music does, and it's piracy. I'm waiting for the day to get an electric car, but the prices are no where near acceptable.

BTW as far as history is concerned, piracy never dies. No one can stop piracy, and if they do it only gets worse. If you can't stop an idea, you can't stop piracy. It's a waste of money, as I'm sure Hollywood is aware of so far.

What Hollywood needs to do is appeal to peoples need to have something authentic. Build up a fan base, and work on that. Rather then forcing their content down peoples throats. If you're truly a fan of a movie or song, the least you'll do is buy the DVD or CD. You'll even buy action figures and posters. Nobody does that anymore, cause most movies aren't that compelling, and most modern music sucks.

 

[MavericK]

Ahh, the Overton window strategy.

Makes ideas that were once unthinkable ($4 for a gallon of gasoline, getting imprisoned for hearing a song, giving a corporation to take down their competitor's websites at will, paying money for game maps and skins) perfectly acceptable.

Also, more specifically, this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door-in-the-face_technique

And the gas analogy is a little different because consumers don't really have any control over gas prices. It's not like most people can just not buy gas, it's a necessity.

 

[Ripperjack]

I like to be kissed, before I'm fucked!

 

[Uncle]

Also, more specifically, this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door-in-the-face_technique

And the gas analogy is a little different because consumers don't really have any control over gas prices. It's not like most people can just not buy gas, it's a necessity.

But, the people can boycott ONE particular company at a time such as Exxon and put a dent in their profits. People have to get away from the thought its All or Nothing. Start with one. Use facebook as an example for getting down and dirty. Their are 150 million Americans signed up. I don't have the demographic breakdown, if you take 50 million out of the equation being kids to young to drive, that leaves appr.100 million to boycott Exxon. Tell me they wouldn't listen if you quit buying their gas. Hell I'm sure it wouldn't take long to start a boycott using Facebook or any social network. Our system runs on money and profit. Man the power the people have is enormous if they would only think collectively. Theirs 100 million people on Facebook that could start the ball rolling.

 

[clarkkent57]

What can Hollywood do?

1. First of all, satisfy people's desires for instant gratification at a reasonable price. Time and again, it has been proven that if people are given the choice between finding and downloading a pirated copy, or getting what they want easily at a fiar price, they'll choose the latter more times than not.

Case in point: Netflix and Amazon vs Blockbuster.

Not perfect, but nothing is.

2. Also proven in almost any macroecomnomics textbook: When the ecomony goes up, crime goes down. Consequently, EVERY organization that suffers from piracy ought to redirect their resources to help get the people responsible for improving our economy to put the focus on making wealthy individuals and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes, eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, and expossing corrupt public officials who are not doing the jobs to which they were elected/apointed.

If you want more of the consumer dollar...make sure consumers actually have more dollars.


"A man with a briefcase can steal more money than any man with a gun." - Don Henley

 

[Concillian]

Try making it cheap enough that people will pay for it instead of pirating it.

 

[Outamyhead]

Looking for another way America can control an international entity, that's like Germany trying to find an alternative way of controlling Europe without another war...oh wait.