cameras have been installed for your safety...
OK, this isn't on the topic of the readings, exactly, but I did mention that these ideas were clanking around in my head...
I always find it amusing to read that big brother/doublespeak (yeah, I'm mixing metaphors, but they match, dammit!) when I walk into a store. I don't shoplift, but I can't really imagine how those cameras can be for my safety. Or when I'm in a dressing room? Do I feel safer because female monitoring personnel are monitoring me? Not really. Though occasionally, it would be nice to get a second opinion on a pair of jeans.
Anyway, I found a fascinating post on BoingBoing about the EULA for Amazon's Unbox, their rival for the Netflix crowd. In the post, the author points out some of the most egregious right-thefts in the agreement, such as how Amazon reserves the right to monitor your machine, have their software running in the background (with a presumed loss of performance) in order to perform those important monitoring task, the right to change the agreement, force you to install updates (or lose the movie content your bought), etc. Some of this stuff is unbelievable.
So...given all that, why would anyone pay to get content legally though this process when they can download it for free, without those constraints, from a bittorrent site? These agreements seem to be getting more and more ridiculous as file-sharing becomes more and more ubiquitous. It's as if it's a last-ditch, dying effort to preserve what little customer base is left for the purchasing of music and movies. But haven't they been to business school? The way to keep customers is not to strip them of their rights. I'm waiting for the entertainment industry to provide me with something worthwhile, for them to change their paradigm and sell me something I can't find easily elsewhere. I still pay for movies at the theater, for instance, or live concerts. I rent movies, too, although I've found it aggravating and have had to download them when I'm halfway through them and they skip. These agreements and this business model seem only to punish those trying to do right by these companies. It can't possibly be sustainable.
I always find it amusing to read that big brother/doublespeak (yeah, I'm mixing metaphors, but they match, dammit!) when I walk into a store. I don't shoplift, but I can't really imagine how those cameras can be for my safety. Or when I'm in a dressing room? Do I feel safer because female monitoring personnel are monitoring me? Not really. Though occasionally, it would be nice to get a second opinion on a pair of jeans.
Anyway, I found a fascinating post on BoingBoing about the EULA for Amazon's Unbox, their rival for the Netflix crowd. In the post, the author points out some of the most egregious right-thefts in the agreement, such as how Amazon reserves the right to monitor your machine, have their software running in the background (with a presumed loss of performance) in order to perform those important monitoring task, the right to change the agreement, force you to install updates (or lose the movie content your bought), etc. Some of this stuff is unbelievable.
So...given all that, why would anyone pay to get content legally though this process when they can download it for free, without those constraints, from a bittorrent site? These agreements seem to be getting more and more ridiculous as file-sharing becomes more and more ubiquitous. It's as if it's a last-ditch, dying effort to preserve what little customer base is left for the purchasing of music and movies. But haven't they been to business school? The way to keep customers is not to strip them of their rights. I'm waiting for the entertainment industry to provide me with something worthwhile, for them to change their paradigm and sell me something I can't find easily elsewhere. I still pay for movies at the theater, for instance, or live concerts. I rent movies, too, although I've found it aggravating and have had to download them when I'm halfway through them and they skip. These agreements and this business model seem only to punish those trying to do right by these companies. It can't possibly be sustainable.
posted by advee at 9:09 PM
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