DVDGuy’s Blog @ Digital Digest

Gonna be a short one this week, as news just wasn’t that forthcoming. While I was scouring the web for news, I did manage to do a bit of informal research on PCs, specifically gaming PCs. To my surprise, a decent rig these days is still quiet expensive, if not even more expensive than a few years ago when I last did my research. Lower volume sales of PCs and component equals higher prices? Perhaps, but I was also surprised that the range of products available hasn’t really reduced as a result, in fact, it seems to have increased. It all seems fairly unsustainable, but I still have a soft spot for PC gaming that I can’t quite get rid of, even if the value proposition (compared to say buying a decent game console like the PS4 or Xbox One) is probably at its lowest ever.

On with the news …

Netflix – more disruptive than movie studios had wanted

A new study from Sweden once again confirms that pirates are the best customers. Or more precisely, those that love music and movies will buy more than the more casual listener/viewer, but they will also illegally download more content as well.

Also not particularly surprising was the finding that legal services, like Netflix and Spotify, have really shaken up the piracy market place, and that almost a majority of users now readily pay for content compared to when these legal services weren’t available. So it’s clearly a case of people willing to pay for content, but only if the “right” service (right in terms of pricing, usability) is there to deliver it. And as for the argument of users only migrating from being leechers on piracy networks to being leechers on Spotify’s free plan, this doesn’t seem to be true as 54% of online music listeners are happily paying for content in Sweden (40% for video, up from only 14% just a year ago).

Of course, the money these users are paying might not all end up in the hands of the major labels and studios, but it’s hardly the fault of Spotify and Netflix that not only do they exist, but also exist outside of the control and ownership of these very same labels and studios. In other words, had the MPAA and RIAA members spent less time suing single mothers and students, and instead invented their version of Netflix and Spotify, they would be the ones making most of the money right now.

But it’s always easier to go after pirates than to actually come up with a good idea, even if one ends up being a futile game of whack-a-mole. Case in point, for all of the MPAA’s efforts in closing down Popcorn Time and YIFY, alternatives to both have already sprung up, and not before long, it will be business as usual for Popcorn Time users. The MPAA can close down these new alternatives too, but new ones will spring up. And eventually, the game shifts to the next level when someone invents a new further decentralised variation of Popcorn Time that will be much harder to shut down, just in time for the next Netflix or whatever to be launched by a tech company that completely disrupts the market.

Looking forward to it!

Was Hancock really Sony’s best choice for a Ultra HD Blu-ray launch title?

I guess it’s unfair to say the MPAA studios haven’t tried to innovate when the official launch of Ultra HD Blu-ray is nigh. It may not be the best kind of innovation, or the kind of innovation that actually meets user demand (for all things digital and not on disc), but at least it’s something. Not so impressive is the launch titles for the new disc format from Sony, which includes The Amazing Spiderman 2′, ‘Chappie’, ‘Hancock’, ‘Pineapple Express’, ‘Salt’ and ‘The Smurfs 2’. Hardly screams “must-have”.

But it’s not easy for Sony though, it’s not as if they have franchises like ‘The Avengers’ or ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Jurassic Park’ to exploit – these were the best they could do in 2015, and it’s too soon for ‘Spectre’ to be released on disc.

Still, I think the best way to view Ultra HD Blu-ray is to view it as a niche format for home theater enthusiasts and collectors. Market it like this, complete with disc packages that reflect what the typical UHD BD user wants (so more collector’s box sets), and they will be much more successful than trying to market it as a mass media format for the Average ‘Walmart’ Joe. Joe will most likely watch the same movie via streaming and download, or on DVD/Blu-ray.

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And that’s that for the week. I’ll continue to do my research on the latest PC hardware (more out of interest than anything else), and see how much my potential gaming rig will cost me (right now it stands at $1500 just for the CPU, motherboard, RAM and GPU, and I could have easily doubled the amount if I wanted to). See you next week.

Is this what it has come to? Have we become that desperate to find out all we can about the new movie, that we’re analysing whether the hair shown near the edge of a still from the Star Wars VII trailer is Han Solo’s or Chewbacca’s? For me, matters not the story does – it’s the journey (“Here we go again!”) that I’m most looking for, as it’s a real comfort to be back in the Star Wars universe again (and for all the problems with the prequel trilogy, and there were many many problems, you have to admit it was nice, back at the time, for the whole world, not just geeks like us, to be so Star Wars crazed. Just like now!). So no more analysing, no more second guessing, let’s all just take a step back, wait patiently and go watch the movie in December. We’ll all enjoy it a lot better this way!

Here’s the news for the week …

I posted this two weeks ago about the demise of YTS/YIFY and Popcorn Time:

It’s all very confusing, and it’s hard to believe this sustained and multi-pronged attack on anything Popcorn Time related isn’t coordinated at some level (although it really could be just a coincidence, who knows).

The MPAA has been busy of late …

Both the take-down of YTS/YIFY, and the closure of the most popular branch of Popcorn Time, as we found out this week, was indeed part of a larger concerted effort by the MPAA. While both take-downs may have occurred independently, and that the timing was just a coincidence, there is no doubt that the MPAA had been working long and hard behind the scenes to put the pressure on these two related entities (Popcorn Time relied on YTS/YIFY provided content).

So while the MPAA appears to have had a great victory, the moment of triumph may be short lived if history is any guide, and something newer, probably better, will come along and replace these now defunct piracy outlets. As usual, makes for good headlines – but very little actual practical effect in the long term.

Speaking of ineffective, DVD and Blu-ray ripping remains illegal for yet another day as the US Copyright Office rejected calls for a legal exemption for disc ripping to protect fair use rights. So while you are within your full right to rip your own Blu-ray and DVD movies for fair use purposes (such as transferring media between your digital devices), it remains illegal for you to actually exercise your rights. The Office rejected the exemption because they feel that the act of ripping your own discs still has too much of a relation to piracy, which is also the same reason why they rejected an exemption for jailbreaking of game consoles.

What is now allowed is the cracking of DRM for games that have been abandoned, but only for “local play” portions of the games, not the multiplayer. So if Blizzard one day abandons the authentication servers for StarCraft II, for example, you’re within your legal rights to crack the crap out of the game – but only for the single player campaign, not the multiplayer component. Why the distinction? I’m not sure, since an abandoned game is an abandoned game, and I can’t see why gamers are allowed to play the single player missions, but are barred from doing anything to salvage the multiplayer component (assuming there are no intellectual property issues related to replicating the multiplayer/authentication servers).

Amazon, Netflix and Hulu may have less Warner Bros. and HBO stuff in the future

Don’t be surprised to see HBO and Warner Bros. content gradually disappearing from SVOD outlets like Netflix and Hulu. Time Warner, which owns these properties, feels they’re just not making enough money from licensing SVOD content and is seriously considering delaying the release of content on these platforms, or forgoing releases entirely.

This stance may seem at odds with recent moves by Time Warner, which includes giving Netflix the first season of “Gotham”, and opening up HBO’s catalog to Amazon. These, however, were most likely done to promote these Time Warner assets, and getting Netflix/Amazon involved was just the best way to achieve this. This could also point to the further fragmentation of the SVOD market, with Time Warner likely to funnel more content to its own SVOD and digital platforms at the expense of Netflix, Amazon or Hulu. Not too dissimilar to what CBS is doing with its All Access platform, which has led to missing or disappearing content on Netflix, Amazon and Hulu.

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And that’s that for the week. As usual, there’s some more streaming related stuff on my other site Streambly, including a look at what’s new on Netflix/Hulu in November. See you next week.