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DVD Release Delays Boost Piracy and Hurt Sales, Study Shows (torrentfreak.com)
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.
I wonder how they get a rip before the DVD comes out? I'm going to guess that the theaters now get digital copies and those get rippped. I wonder why they can't control that effectively. E.g. watermark every theater's version differently.
The DVD from another region is used for the rip. It's a study about the delays between regions, not between theater and home release.
We also *really* don't want to be lectured to about piracy when we're watching a legally purchased DVD
Don't forget that abomination that is region coding. Why the fuck can't I watch a DVD at home that I bought while on vacation in another country?
(and yes I do know about the *nudge* *nudge* *wink* *wink* region unlocking of the DVD player manufacturers)
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I hardly consider ITunes an option. You have to have itunes on a computer and then remove the DRM to play on your tv... there might be something I am missing but this is not really consumer friendly.
love is just extroverted narcissism