Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

DVD Release Delays Boost Piracy and Hurt Sales, Study Shows (torrentfreak.com)

Posted by msmash on from the why-do-we-pirate-stuff,-Mr.-Wayne? dept.

One of the reasons that drive people to piracy is the delay in the release of a title's DVD or Blu-Ray in their local market. According to a new academic paper from Carnegie Mellon University, movie fans are finding it increasingly difficult to wait for the official DVD or Blu-Ray to come out. From a TorrentFreak report: Due to artificial delays which vary across different parts of the world, pirates can often get their hands on a high-quality rip of a movie before the DVD is officially released in their country. Researchers have looked into this piracy "window of opportunity," and found that release delays are actually hurting DVD and Blu-Ray sales. "Our results suggest that an additional 10-day delay between the availability of digital piracy and the legitimate DVD release date in a particular country is correlated with a 2-3% reduction in DVD sales in that country," the researchers write.

3 of 202 comments (clear)

  1. No shit Sherlock! by jenningsthecat · · Score: 4, Informative

    The "artificial delays" are simply a specific form of artificial scarcity, and we humans always do our damnedest to route around them.

    We also *really* don't want to be lectured to about piracy when we're watching a legally purchased DVD, nor do we want to watch ads, (except for movie trailers), in a DVD we've already fscking paid for. But media producers and distributors seem positively addicted to the practice of strapping on a pair of cleats and stepping on their own dicks.

    --
    'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
  2. Re: Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, I wait until the Blu-Ray comes out to pirate. I'm surprised people would want to pirate a dirty cam or some review rip.

    So do we.

    The dvd/bluray are released in the US, meaning where I live the dvd won't be released here for up to two years and the bluray never.

    Since both are out in the US, both are already ripped and up on tpb.
    So I download that years before being released here, if ever.

    No cams or screenies are involved.

  3. Re: FUCK EUROPE by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1, Informative

    Africans had civilisation well before most Europeans unless you subscribe to the idea that aliens built the pyramids, Timbuktu and Greater Zimbabwe.