Yahoo Putting Movies Online

limpdawg writes, "Yahoo anounced a deal to put Hong Kong movies on the Internet in order to keep pirates from selling them in alleys. " Of course I'm still living for the day when every piece of video and film is online and available for me to watch whenever I choose... if the first step is some Bruce Lee movies, I'm cool with that.

Comments

The solution to the piracy problem ...

[P_Simm]

Now if only the entire media industry could begin to see this as a viable profit-making marketing approach for larger-scale ventures.

The most effective solution to piracy (and coincidentally, the way to beat any competitor in a capitalist market) is to offer better access to the same product. Glancing at advertising is an easier, cheaper payment than paying for a $15-20 VHS tape, or $15 for a cd, or $20 for a hardcover book ...

Just as open-source software is creating a new market model for corporations (RedHat, etc), open-access media has been spawning new marketing models for corporations. So far, however, open-access media ventures are largely based in webpage content rather than extending into traditional media. The established media giants don't grok that freeing their traditional media forms can be beneficial and profitable if done correctly. There are a few companies that are putting this into action - mp3.com comes to mind. However, until the current media giants either wake up to the revolution or get overthrown (by enlightened companies, not by piracy), we will have to continue dealing with a barrage of political noise and interference.

Let's put some support behind this newest baby step - next time you want to watch an action movie, download one legitimately! Piracy only leads to political sympathy for the media giants - the support of legitimate open media will truly revolutionize the industry.

Why this might not work..

[Bullschmidt]

New movies would be available on the Website after they had played out in cinemas, on cable television and been released on video compact discs (VCD).

This seems to be the problem here.. pirates don't just get the buyer the product, but they get it before the buyer can go to the video store, rent it and copy it. They are proposing to wait until the movies have become old and out on video (and thus copiable). The movie pirates will still be providing new movies before they are release on rental (or even for sale). I have seen movies posted on the net (as well as seen them on others computers) that weren't even on sale at video stores. This is the pirate niche.