BitTorrent Site About To LaunchMoving away from piracy? ( old news - 11:24AM Sunday Feb 25 2007) Tipped by jtel  If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, right? BitTorrent has been talking for awhile now about launching their own legitimate online video store and it looks like it’s finally about to happen. The New York Times reports that Hollywood studios including Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Brothers and MGM are about to unveil the BitTorrent Entertainment Network, a site which will offer legal purchase options of several thousand television shows and month-long rentals of movies. Perhaps trying to distinguish itself from the major players already offering online content, BitTorrent will be combining the purchasable items with free downloads of users’ video uploads.
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 yabos
join:2003-02-16
Ingersoll, ON | Won't go anywhere We know how well working with the devil worked for Napster. At least now there are many bittorrent clients that are independent of BitTorrent Inc so they aren't going away any time soon. | |
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kyramilan
join:2006-11-26
Pensacola, FL
| Re: Won't go anywhere You can buy TV shows for $1.99 and rent movies only (movies expire withint 24 hrs of you start watching them or within 30 days if you don't watch). It requires Windows Media Player 11.
Kinda sucks!
No Ipod, Zen, or other support like Amazon Unbox. | |
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Mactron
el camino Real
Premium
join:2001-12-16
CM94sv
| My Bandwith So what's the advantage to this? They use my Bandwidth for DRMd movies and make even more money !??
Not on my upload they don't ! This will go nowhere fast. 
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If only the Verizon CSRs worked this well. | |
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GOLFnSUN
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Comcast
| Re: My Bandwith said by Mactron :So what's the advantage to this? They use my Bandwidth for DRMd movies and make even more money !?? Not on my upload they don't ! This will go nowhere fast. And cable companies will look to crack down on those users doing excessive uploading as usual. And becoming a de-facto server for Bittorrent's service will only speed your way to reaching the upload caps.
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My BLOG
My Web Page | |
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thender2
Glamour Profession
Premium
join:2004-05-16
Staten Island, NY
1 edit | Re: My Bandwith And cable companies' customers will take a slight speed loss with the switch to DSL upon receiving these notices, and live happily ever after without nonsensical upload caps on well maintained networks.
Bittorrent becoming mainstream for legal downloads is a VERY good thing.
Most people don't notice these caps until they've had their ISP for a year. The reason ISPs can get away with invisible caps is because joe negro average user has not found out yet, and joe negro average user makes up 90% of their customers.
Once all of those people find out about this nonsense(and once everyone starts using this service, comcast will certainly be sending out more letters for less bandwidth used), it won't just be the enthusiasts who care. It'll be everyone who cares, and they'll actually have to upgrade their network before putting powerboost/8 mbps downstream into play.
I use comcast as an example because I am familiar with their nonsense. Any cable ISP can fit in there. | |
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karlmarx
join:2006-09-18
iraq
 ·Fairpoint Communic..
| That's not what torrents are for What kind of DRM are they putting on it? Month long rentals? DRM for sure. The MPAA just doesn't get it. People are NOT GOING TO PAY for something restricted. If they offered the TV shows in DVD quality for download, sure, I'd buy it. But I would need the ability to burn it to DVD. If they offered the movies for download in DVD quality, sure, I'd buy it. But again, If it's not cheaper than me renting it at blockbuster and making a copy, I'm not going to spend my money.
Give me a DVD movie for $5.00, and I'll download it.
Give me a TV show for .25 cents, and I'll download it.
Charge me $25.00 for a movie, or $2.00 for a TV show, and I'll still download it, it just won't be from you, I'll get it from thepiratebay.org
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Stick it to the MAN. Support your local torrent sites. Proudly providing 100mb of upstream for all your TV, Movie, and MP3 needs. | |
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brandon
Some truth included in this post.
Premium
join:2003-03-31
Hurley, MS
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: That's not what torrents are for said by karlmarx :Give me a DVD movie for $5.00, and I'll download it. Give me a TV show for .25 cents, and I'll download it. Why stop there? Why not DVDs for $3.00 and TV shows for 15 cents.
WAIT! I HAVE IT! WHY NOT DVDS FOR $1.00 AND TV SHOWS FOR 5 CENTS.
Wait a minute...why stop there? How about DVDs for 50 cents and TV shows for 3 pennies?
Oh crap let's just give it all away!
karlmarx, you know there is no end to your perpetual whining. If they were selling them at the price points you were asking, you would ask for lower. If they were selling for lower than your price points, you'd ask for lower, until you simply asked for them for free.
Don't believe me? Fine. Then answer this. Why are you willing to pay $5.00 for a DVD? It's an arbitrary amount that you came up with, with no regard to cost of production or distribution, that you feel would be good. What about the people out there that feel that $10.00 for a DVD is a good price (you still pay $20 in the store)? What about those that can't afford the $5.00 price point you suggested? They're going to say that your arbitrary $5.00 is too much.
The fact is, these sales still have to make a profit, so they have to pay enough to cover production costs, distribution costs, and still pay employees (not everyone is a rich exec in the MPAA). If you don't want to pay for something because you feel it costs too much, fine. Don't buy it. But don't turn around and steal it. I sure would like a Ferarri, but it costs too much. Doesn't mean I'm just going to steal it off the lot. | |
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karlmarx
join:2006-09-18
iraq
·Fairpoint Communic..
| Re: That's not what torrents are for copying isn't stealing. If I take a ferrari, they can't sell it. If I COPY a movie, they didn't loose any money, because I wouldn't have paid in the first place.
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Stick it to the MAN. Support your local torrent sites. Proudly providing 100mb of upstream for all your TV, Movie, and MP3 needs. | |
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dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| NEWS FLASH!!!!
I rent DVDs NOW for $0.99 each.
I BUY DVDs for $5.99 in the bargain bins... $20.00 for a limited DRMed POS? Byte Me!
All that garbage *AND* wanting to use my bandwidth? Not happening!
This is one of the dumbest ideas yet!
Starting a pool, I say 6 months and it folds.
Who else?
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Think outside the Fox... Opera | |
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Michieru2
zzz zzz zzz
Premium
join:2005-01-28
Miami, FL | Re: That's not what torrents are for I give it 5 months. I bet my three pennies and a string (shipping and handling not included)
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The only limits we have are the one's we set ourselves. | |
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snipper_cr
join:2002-01-22
Wheaton, IL
clubs:
1 edit | Four months and I raise your bet a spindle of blank DVD DLs!
Edit: Five months already betted on!
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Serenity Day - June 23rd 2006. You Can't Stop the Signal | |
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footballdude
Premium
join:2002-08-13
Imperial, MO
| said by brandon :Why are you willing to pay $5.00 for a DVD? It's an arbitrary amount that you came up with, with no regard to cost of production or distribution, that you feel would be good. No consumer ever makes a purchase based on cost of production or distribution. Every purchase you make is based on how much you value the good or service (i.e., how much you're willing to pay for it). There's no freaking way I'm going to pay $2 for a television show I could have watched for free.
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What's certain about Darwinism is that it would take less time for (1) a single-celled organism to evolve into a human being through mutation and natural selection than for (2) Darwinists to admit they have no proof of (1) - Ann Coulter | |
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brandon
Some truth included in this post.
Premium
join:2003-03-31
Hurley, MS
·AT&T Southeast
1 edit | Re: That's not what torrents are for said by footballdude :said by brandon :Why are you willing to pay $5.00 for a DVD? It's an arbitrary amount that you came up with, with no regard to cost of production or distribution, that you feel would be good. No consumer ever makes a purchase based on cost of production or distribution. Every purchase you make is based on how much you value the good or service (i.e., how much you're willing to pay for it). There's no freaking way I'm going to pay $2 for a television show I could have watched for free. And no producer sells below their cost at your perceived and utterly arbitrary value. You didn't watch it for free. You missed it. Either wait for a rerun or pay the price to watch it when you want. | |
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footballdude
Premium
join:2002-08-13
Imperial, MO
| Re: That's not what torrents are for said by brandon :And no producer sells below their cost at your perceived and utterly arbitrary value. You didn't watch it for free. You missed it. Either wait for a rerun or pay the price to watch it when you want. It's already been broadcast. All costs associated with producing that bit of film have been paid for. The price they are setting is completely arbitrary.
Since timeshifting has been declared legal by the courts and there's nothing stopping me from watching this at a friend's house, I see no reason why I shouldn't download something (from an internet friend) that's already been broadcast and watch it.
Since you have to pay to watch a movie, that's a different story. Up until someone broadcasts it, then I consider it fair use to download.
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What's certain about Darwinism is that it would take less time for (1) a single-celled organism to evolve into a human being through mutation and natural selection than for (2) Darwinists to admit they have no proof of (1) - Ann Coulter | |
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snipper_cr
join:2002-01-22
Wheaton, IL
clubs:
| I really cant wait to see what DRM these videos are going to be completely crippled by. You know for sure they will not allow it to be burnt to DVD. I am sure it will have relatively low to medium quality with stereo sound. If they really want to complete the picture, they will probably force you to install some propriatary software that has serious glitches and compatability issues. Ultimately, the service will be so useless and crippled by DRM that no one will use it.
Now, those are just my 2 bytes...that is all
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Serenity Day - June 23rd 2006. You Can't Stop the Signal | |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| Re: That's not what torrents are for said by snipper_cr :I really cant wait to see what DRM these videos are going to be completely crippled by. You know for sure they will not allow it to be burnt to DVD. I am sure it will have relatively low to medium quality with stereo sound. If they really want to complete the picture, they will probably force you to install some propriatary software that has serious glitches and compatability issues. Ultimately, the service will be so useless and crippled by DRM that no one will use it. Now, those are just my 2 bytes...that is all not to mention paying to download at 5kbps or less.
burning will probably be an extra fee like it is with everyone else.
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You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth | |
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kyramilan
join:2006-11-26
Pensacola, FL
| said by karlmarx :What kind of DRM are they putting on it? Month long rentals? DRM for sure. The MPAA just doesn't get it. People are NOT GOING TO PAY for something restricted. If they offered the TV shows in DVD quality for download, sure, I'd buy it. But I would need the ability to burn it to DVD. If they offered the movies for download in DVD quality, sure, I'd buy it. But again, If it's not cheaper than me renting it at blockbuster and making a copy, I'm not going to spend my money. Give me a DVD movie for $5.00, and I'll download it. Give me a TV show for .25 cents, and I'll download it. Charge me $25.00 for a movie, or $2.00 for a TV show, and I'll still download it, it just won't be from you, I'll get it from thepiratebay.org Bittorent
You can buy TV shows for $1.99 and rent movies only (movies expire withint 24 hrs of you start watching them or within 30 days if you don't watch). It requires Windows Media Player 11. | |
| RayW
Premium
join:2001-09-01
Layton, UT
clubs:
·XMission
| But will it work? As I recall, the premise of BitTorrent is that everyone shares in the download/upload stream so as to spread the bandwidth. If they use BitTorrent to sell *AA sanctioned goods, then the people who buy the goods are also helping sell the product by providing some of their paid bandwidth for someone else to make money, like the *AA's?
Or as one person was quoted: “The sad thing is, it’s not about the money,” he said. “I’m not interested in renting a movie. I want to own it. I want total portability. I want to give a copy to my brother. Digital convergence is supposed to make things like this easier, but D.R.M. is making them harder.”
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I am not lost, I find myself every time. | |
| sago
join:2001-12-19
| hard copies If you really think about it, if things are "online", why on earth do you even need to "burn" anything? Of course we're not there yet, and maybe wasting bandwidth and getting kicked off by your ISP for bandwidth abuse if you like to watch the same movie over and over again, but think about it... If, say, for instance, a company like Netflix digitizes their collection, where I can search for a movie, and then download it and watch it, or better yet - stream it to my HDTV, why on earth do I need a hard copy, or a "disk" of anything?
Obviously, we're not there yet, but If I had to download even 20,000 DVDs and burn them it would take a long, long, long, long time. It would be a full time job. What is needed is this: an on-demand type service that streams these things to your TV set. So easy that a caveman can do it. (sorry, caveman). No burning, no downloading, no getting booted by your ISP for excessive bandwidth consumption, and so on. 20,000 movies in full DVD quality -- on demand 24/7. Or 50,000 movies. Or 70,000 movies. You can't burn that many disks without losing your mind. Who needs disks, really?
It could be pay-per-view, or, for more money, unlimited on-demand. A modest montly fee for unlimited access to tens of thousands of full DVD quality movies. At your fingertips. It doesn't get much better than that. It's easier than torrent, or usenet. Add in the cost of blanks, your time, your patience, perhaps a usenet account, that worry on your backburner -- and an "unlimited" on-demand service (a good one), even if it's approaching $100 per month -- I mean, think about it -- tens of thousands of movies at your fingertips, legally, without any kind of bulky hard-copy disks taking up space anywhere. It's the ultimate solution. Still a ways off, but I do think that essentially the future is in on-demand.
It would be the ultimate solution to the filesharing problem to the extent it would be easier and perhaps not significantly more expensive -- at least, considering the time you have to put into it -- download, burn, wait around, worry about things -- if you can go legit for a reasonable fee, and have access to tens of thousands of full-DVD quality movies in an on-demand setting, why bother with torrents? Why "rent" anything? Just click your remote and start watching.
This is what we eventually need, once the bandwidth is there, and perhaps if cable companies or satellite companies or fiber companies will allow third-party on-demand providers in. The movies are always there - it's like you instantly "own", or "have access to" a HUGE collection.
The studios could eliminate the cost of producing the DVDs, and just get straight royalties from the on-demand service every time someone played a film. Independent filmmakers would have a way to get their work to a larger audience. Consumers would be overwhelmed by choice. It's probably just that us human beings are silly creatures - it's like we're cavemen but we don't know it (in aggreggate, anyway). | |
| | davisx
join:2005-01-06
| Re: hard copies I think the most important point (that has already been brought up as well) is why the heck am i going to upload something that i've paid for? what kind of business model is this?
it's ridiculous. unless of course it is cheaper and pricing is based on how much you upload | |
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dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA | Burn the DVD... so I/we can play it in the livingroom on the DVD player?
Naw, screw that, huh?
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Think outside the Fox... Opera | |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| Re: hard copies said by dadkins :Burn the DVD... so I/we can play it in the livingroom on the DVD player? Naw, screw that, huh? For an extra fee they'll probably let you burn but it'll probably only play on a computer with the proper DRM on it.
not playable on your settop dvd player.
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You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth | |
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dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| Re: hard copies said by dvd536 :said by dadkins :Burn the DVD... so I/we can play it in the livingroom on the DVD player? Naw, screw that, huh? For an extra fee they'll probably let you burn but it'll probably only play on a computer with the proper DRM on it. not playable on your settop dvd player. Oh HELL YES!!!
I want some of that action! NOT!
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Think outside the Fox... Opera | |
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thender2
Glamour Profession
Premium
join:2004-05-16
Staten Island, NY
| Why will this fail? Because... I cannot restate better than I did two months ago why this service will suck. Some of it doesn't apply 100%, but the point still applies, IMO. »The reasons, let's list!
quote:
a) Selection. The chances of an old obscure movie being on one of these services vs emule is so tilted in emule's favor, because everyone gets to contribute, not just a few people who think they may have gotten every movie people will care about.
b) Choice. Do I want a 720p x264 for the HDTV? Do I want a moderate sized file at 960x544? Do I want a lower quality one for a normal TV or a portable at 624x352, or cross compatibility across devices that can't handle?
Do I want the original DVD? Do I want a DVD shrunk with CCE? Do I want a 1 CD xvid, or a 2 CD xvid of that movie?
c) Codec. x264 and xvid are better than DivX and whatever else they'll be using. I'm sure they'll encode using the worst settings regardless of what codec they use anyway.
Right now, the standard for buying music is 128k WMA or AAC. At least eMusic has it right with --alt-preset standard MP3s. If they encode video as well as they encode audio, it'll be awful. 128k isn't bad, it's sampling quality. I don't pay for samples.
If I want to buy from the iTunes music store, I want a choice. Do I want AAC, do I want FLAC, do I want MP3, do I want Vorbis? This issue hasn't even been addressed in the music market, much less the video one.
d) Freedom. DRM? No DRM. Am I going to replace my Cowon A2 that cost $330 at time of purchase with something else, that's probably worse, so I can play their video? Hell no!
DRM locks you into using only certain players, with certain formats. It's so easy for companies to abuse, it nearly destroys free market.. imagine if there were more major chip makers than intel and AMD, say ten, and each one had a different PSU standard. ATX, CTX, JTX. Imagine it changes over time for each chip maker. That's kind of like the current state of DRM.
e) Price. Downloadable video costs almost as much as the original, why the hell do I want to pay as much for a compressed file as I can for the original?
People are willing to pay - see giganews, UNS, newshosting. See people upgrading from 768/128 $17/month DSL to $45/month cable, or better DSL, or fiber. See the average consumer buying 750 GB drives because he ran out of space on his 500. The issue isn't in the price. Overall, it's freedom. It's "I don't want you controlling content I pay for." I want a choice in what I pay for, and that's what the content cartels either get but don't want to admit, or are dumb enough to not get. Either way, it's killing them.
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The Problem With Music.
Our Rationale
Time to rewrite the DMCA. | |
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one_bored_si
join:2003-03-10
Montebello, CA
·AT&T Yahoo
| Same crap, different toliet The same people come on all the time to whine about this or that, who cares anymore? The people that want to pay will keep paying, the people that want to DL movies will continue doing so. Not more than two days go by on this site without some recycled discussion about file sharing/DRM/**AA. Maybe this site needs more tech news or stories not related to above subject(s).
Just my .02 dollars. | |
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BIGMIKE
Premium
join:2002-06-07
Westminster, CA | Re: Same crap, different toliet Why would anyone pay for One and zeros?
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Type "miserable failure" in Google | |
| | | | | peltecs
join:2004-10-18
Los Angeles, CA
| Re: Same crap, different toliet Legit bittorrent sites can work using DRM and proprietary players if there is incentive for people to upload the content. The more you upload, the less you pay for the content. Or maybe the more you upload, the longer you have to play the content. An idea would be to charge people based on the ratios they attain while on legit trackers. For example, users with a share ratio of 3 or above would get a 20% discount on the content they purchase. Users with high downloading stats pay so much per GB downloaded. I don't know. Just a thought. But it all takes flexibility, and the hollywood power brokers a looking to make as much profit as possible...definitely dark age mentalities. | |
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footballdude
Premium
join:2002-08-13
Imperial, MO | what about? What's to stop me from using my Nero Express to read one of these movie images and then rewriting it with a slightly different bitrate, completely free of DRM? Or any of a thousand other video/DVD authoring programs? | |
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