Why Hollywood studios never make "profitable" movies

Big Hollywood Studios are always complaining about illegal downloads and how that ruins actors' lives. What they seem to forget is that they're already doing a great job at it... for decades.

uTorrent Bundles pays 90% to authors

Authors, editors and publishers are still trying to get their grips around the changes required to handle the digital market, between digital content stores, subscription and streaming services, etc. But now uTorrents jumps ahead and proposes something they'll certainly like: a 90% cut.

Portugal about to apply copyright levies on all digital storage

Forgive me for bringing you something that is only relevant for people in Portugal, but the thing is so absurdly ridiculous that I can't help sharing it with you. Times are tough for everyone, and here in Portugal music sales have been dropping a lot over the last few years - also due to the fact that no one wants to buy CDs anymore, opting to buy music on iTunes or using streaming services like Spotify.

Spotify sued due to user's Playlists

Ok... so you felt bad you downloaded "illegal" music and decided to do the right thing and subscribe to a paid service like Spotify. Now your conscience is clear, artists are receiving their share, and everything is good... right? Not quite. Apparently it isn't enough for you to pay for a service that allows you to listen to whatever you want.

The British nightclub/label Ministry of Sound is suing Spotify because - and you'll to keep in mind this isn't a script for a funny movie - some users are creating playlists like the ones in their compilations!

Yep... you can pay for the right to listen to whatever you want, but if you dare play it in the same order a label decided to use, you're again a criminal. According to them, there's a lot of effort going on to come up with these playlists, and someone copying it is a big no no.

Well, I'd suggest someone to create a script that would automatically create all the possible playlist combinations for their songs, and whenever they try to launch a new compilation, I'd sue them back because they'll also be copying a playlist order you've already came up with. Or... we can even argue just how many of those musics need to be in the same order... What if we replace the first or last music? The playlist won't be the same, right? Or do they claim that even two songs in sequence is enough to sue someone?

Beats me... but it's this kind of behavior that pushes people into just giving up and just pirate the damn thing.

Patent Troll Claims to have Rights over the Web

Patents and copyrights really are starting to get out of hand - and I suspect it will only serve to force all of us (authors, inventors, consumers) to really think about where we're heading.

For instance, take this case, where someone is claiming it has a patent over the interactive web, and that if you're doing something as simple as watching a video on your browser... then you have to pay him.

When we see companies as Microsoft and Apple, that so actively pursue their own patent rights, say it's time for "reasonable patent rules", I think it's a sign that something really must be done before our society gets (even more) stuck in endless and circular patent wars that really have nothing to do with the concept of "patents" or "copyright" as it was intended.

Portuguese Authors Association Caught Faking Authors Names

While the entire world is revolting against SOPA/PIPA and other abusive anti-piracy laws, in Portugal there's a little know association called SPA that allegedly cares of authors best interests. It's an association that already receives levies on each and every virgin CD and DVD sold, no matter what it is used for: whenever you're storing your family photos on a DVD, you're paying them for it. And it still unclear how much of that money really makes it to authors themselves...

But, they think they don't receive enough, and now they're trying to pass a new "Private Copy Law" with which they hope to put a tax on every digital storage device! A few cents for every Gigabyte on every hard drive, memory card, embedded flash storage, etc. A tax that is so obscene that would invert the usual market tendencies where you get roughly the double amount of storage space for the same price every couple of year - and make presumable larger hard drives more and more expensive as they come to market. It's the Lei da Cópia Privada (PL118) and it would mean that even if used your hard drive just to store an operating system... you'd be paying for that "author's society" (and again, without really knowing which authors would get what).

This is causing a bug outcry from the portuguese society, and SPA has tried to validate their point by presenting a list of one hundred authors and artists that support this PL118 law. There's no denying that some author might thing its a good idea... even though it might look suspicious that they could get only a hundred of them among their 25k+ registered members; and even though that roughly 20% of those 100 are the association board members; the really horrendous part is that we now found that some of those nomes were put there without any consent from the authors!

António Pinho Vargas (one of my most appreciated Portuguese music composers, you should check his Tom Waits if you don't know him) has came forth and revealed that it has no idea of how his name got there, and that he was never contacted about it. More so, he said he doubts some of the other names he sees there, from friends of his, would have agreed to that as well!

I think this says it all regarding these "author protection associations"... When they have to resort to such low tactics and fake their own members names to support such ilogical laws, it's a sign that something really has to change! (And by that I don't mean taxing each and every gigabyte no matter what you intend to use it for!)

[My original portuguese post - and we made it to Boing Boing too! Thanks Cory!]

Internet Against SOPA and PIPA

If you try to visit Wikipedia today you'll be redirected to a page that reminds you just how easily any site could be shut down if laws like SOPA and PIPA get approved in the USA. Laws that, under the disguise of copyright and piracy fighting would give some entities the power to easily shut down and block any website they deemed "undesirable".

They're not alone. All over the net, hundreds of sites join in this fight, like ARStechnica's SOPA Resistance Day and even Google.

In the radio, I've heard some news about this... and the regular media still seems to be missing the point, as they only state that these sites are opposing anti-piracy laws, in a way that makes them seem "pro-piracy" - which is definitely not the case.

The case here is that, under the "stop piracy" claim, these laws can easily be abused and effectively censor any site they choose. Just imagine... someone leaves a comment on your site/forum/blog linking to infringing content, and your entire site can be blocked and you can even face criminal charges...

Sure, we need new ways for copyright holders to be compensated by their works... but it isn't with laws like this that well get there.

Why DRM Doesn't Work

Why people Pirate Movies?

It's completely ridiculous how paying customers are treated these days. Whenever you buy a DVD/Bluray/Video Game/etc. you're treated like you're a criminal - even though you just paid good money for it.

To make it even more absurd, anyone choosing to "pirate" that content gets a much friendlier user experience, being able to just use it without any such concerns.

There will always be pirates; but if companies decided to treat the paying customers better, I'm sure a lot more people would be willing to buy their stuff!

Click on the image below to see it in its full glory:

YouTube - This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions

Ah, YouTube... the mandatory site for video on the internet.

Of course there are dozen other alternatives, like Vimeo, and Hulu... but I always hate when any of these sites told me that the content was not available in my country (Hulu in particular is nearly impossible to access without "hacks".)

Unfortunately... YouTube seems to be following the same path. The "land of the free" videos seems to be turning into an heavily policed state, and I get these messages more and more frequently:

"This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions." - Go figure!?!

As if these things really worked at all (besides annoying us!) - you just need to use a service like unblockyoutubeproxy.net  - or, in case they shut it down by the time you read this, google around for the working method at that time.

I really can't understand how a simple "home-video" can have these restrictions...


We hear everyone tell us we live in a single world, and that the internet bring us all together... and then they try and shove these ridiculous copyright restrictions down our throats...

The Pirate Bay Trial

A picture is worth a thousand words:

[ThePirateBay]

Why DRM is Doomed to Fail

Here's why DRM is doomed to failed no matter how you look at it:

[xkcd]

App Store DRM Hacked - the iPhone is Free

Once again the futility of spending millions in DRM protections is proven.

The fairpplay DRM Appl uses in their App store has been cracked and the most popular games and apps for the iPhone are already being freely shared on the Internet.

When will they understand that the only way to end this is to make it not worth it?
Just focus on providing people what they want, without nasty DRM methods, and let people feel happy to pay for it!

How many times, haven't I bought a CD, DVD, game or whatever; *after* I had already downloaded it from the internet?
How many times haven't I downloaded stuff I already own - because I wasn't willing to keep my legally bought gam in the drive everytime I wanted to play that game?

I have no problem paying for the stuff I listen, watch, or play.
I just won't accept being trated like a criminal everytime I press play on the DVD I *bought*;
I won't accept buying a music CD that installs malware and rootkits on my PC;
I won't accept buying a computer game that installs so much crap on it just to "validate" my game.

via [Gizmodo]

Yahoo to Shutdown DRM Music Servers

As usual, we're back to the same old tale: "Buy our DRM-infested music online! DRM is good for consumers!"
- and then, some years later -

"Ooops, we're shutting down our authentication servers - though luck!"

We've heard it from Microsoft before, but now it's the time for Yahoo to try and pull the rug under their music customer's legs.

Once those servers are gone, everyone with Yahoo music on their computers will be unable to transfer it to a new computer. So, if your computer breaks down... say goodbye to it all.


Their suggestion: "Please burn all your songs to CDs, and re-rip them to have full access to the songs."
ORLY!?!


Well, let's hope this serves a higher purpose, so that no one ever buys DRM'ed music again.

Photoshop Express Will Stop Stealing Your Photos

A lot has been said and praised about Photoshop Express,the free online version of the image editing software Photoshop (probably the most famous in the World.)

While this online version only has a reduced subset of the editing functions found on the desktop version, it's still more than enough for the majority of users wanting to do just some quick fixes.

There was only a small problem...
(that kind of problem that usually comes written in the smallest letters...)

Whenever you uploaded an image to edit, you were given Adobe the full rights to do whatever they pleased with your images!

This includes them claiming full ownership and being able to sell your photos as their own!

But finally, it seems they've realized they went too far, and starting on April 10, they're only claiming "those limited rights that allow us to operate the service" and won't "claim ownership of your content and won't sell your images."

[Photoshop Express terms of Use via Gizmodo]

Canada taxes music downloads

As if calling you a thief when copying your own CDs wasn't enough, someone came up with one more clever strategem:
If you can't stop music piracy, make those who abide the law to pay for it!

Canadas's Copyright Board wants you - who download legally purchased music - to pay an extra tax to cover for all the lost revenue. Hey, why not just send every citizen a bill every year, regardless?
(But I better shut up, we never know when one of them may really start thinking that would be a good idea)

This one more sign that thing must really change. I think this is the only industry where they treat their customers as thief and charge them left and right!

Would you eat at a restaurant where they would charge you first, and tell you can only eat where, when and how they tell you to? I surely wouldn't; just as sure I as will never buy any CD/DVD/Bluray from Sony until they stop calling me a thief!
But guess what, as I won't be giving them my money, I'll automatically be tagged as a pirate - after all, whenever they make any less money (which they really don't) they blame piracy; and don't even consider people are not buying it because they are not willing to put up with their idiotic schemes and spending their money elsewhere.

I wonder where all those millions spent on stupid DRM are really going...
(though I guess they don't think a lot about it, since the ones who pay for that are... all of us)

I really hope this is their last gasp for air, and that the whole Industry will crash and give birth to a whole new and modern concept: the concept to deliver what people want, without restrictions, at an affordable price.