G8 summit aims to stop piracy once and for all

games and cds can be bought online now, so the "its just easier to download" excuse is dead for them, and legit download sites tend to be faster as well. The only one left is movies, I hope this changes soon

Comment by NewParadigm at 3:20pm 8th July 2008

If you want to protest about the high prices of dvds, albums and games, dont buy them, its as simple as that, accept the consequences of making a stand against them and find something else to do with your time, they are not necessary to keep you alive. Pirating in protest of high prices is a rubbish excuse, stealing material is not a protest, it is just stealing. Lets face it, people pirate for one of two reasons, they cant afford to buy something, or dont want to pay for it. I have a little bit of sympathy for the former, although anyone who feels their life is meaningless without having the latest games/dvds and cds and cant live without them seems a bit pathetic to me a I have no sympathy at all for the latter, everyone steals a little bit, who hasn't borrowed an album off a mate and ripped it to their hard drive, this has always been a factor in the industry, but when pirating becomes your de-facto way of obtaining these things, you are going too far and exaggerating the problem, with the end result that those who do pay for things suffer in both cost and draconian measures to try and protect the content. Stop it.

Comment by NewParadigm at 2:45pm 8th July 2008

nonsense! Films cost an average of $106m (source: MPAA), average box office revenue of a filmis roughly $130m with blockbuster films taking $250-400m at cinema (source:MPAA), so DVD are mostly profit (except films that don't break even at the box office but that usually means they're not that good and so poor DVD sales will usually follow), so I find it hard to believe your comment about DVD's being mostly to cover the cost of the films. Transformers cost $150m to make yet took $319m at the box office and $708m in total. Even if the cinemas took a 50% cut (like retailers do with sportswear) then it would've still covered its cost at box-office alone, meaning DVD's/rentals/pay-per-view are very profitable. The only notable exception to this would be Spiderman 3 which cost an estimated $500m to make, yet 'only' grossed £336m at the box office - but then if you're able to spend that kind of money on a film, everyone involved is pretty sure it'll be a raging success. The only people really affected by film piracy is small independant/arthouse films which often don't get a huge glossy box office worldwide release and tons of advertising from armies of PR men with shiny hair. Indy/Arthouse productions DO rely on DVD sales for costs and profits.

Comment by EdArch at 6:45pm 7th July 2008

a considerable amount of money from DVD sales helps to pay for the cost of making the film in the first place, profit from the cinema doesn't completely cover the cost. And if you only want to watch a film once or twice why don't you rent it. In my opinion, the cost of DVDs is justified and reasonable. With music, producing an album costs very little compared to even a low budget film. And out of the £10 that it costs, the band that made it gets very little, with most of the money going to the retailer and the publishers. Bands make most of their money from playing live shows.

Comment by Cogwulf at 4:58pm 6th July 2008

media films/music/games need to drop in price big time or the torrent scene WILL LIVE FOR EVER im not going to say i dont do it cos i do so SUE ME LOL im doing it right now but if i like a game i buy. it but i never buy films i only watch once maybe twice so no way will i pay £10/20 for a film if you can pay £5 at the cinima they can sell it a lot cheaper its just greed and im sure they would sell more and make more money if they were £2.50/5 per film but it will never happen so they deserve everything they get in my book

Comment by damafia at 10:07pm 4th July 2008

These laws don't matter. It is just another case of the companies complaining to the government and having the government intrude in an area that they really have no business being in. "A threat to the global economy"? give me a break. Why don't they have a G8 summit about oil prices and food prices!!! These business creating and selling the software need to change there models and reduce there prices on this stuff if they want to reduce piracy. I am convinced that the greedier and more restrictive these companies get, the more people out there will want to find an alternative route to obtaining such software. Its a vicious cycle, and having the government step in is only going to make it worse. What a privacy? Is that something that has been thrown to the trash!!!

Comment by Watchadoin1 at 2:55pm 4th July 2008

Case in point: 1 - Piracy affects profits 2 - Prices rise continually to fund 'combatting piracy' 3 - New legislation should heavily reduce piracy. THE SOLUTION 1 - Amend this legislation, adding 'set' pricing schemes for different media. (i.e. 20p/25c a song, 3pounds/$5 a movie) As they no longer need to fund 'expensive' anti-piracy ad-campaigns. 2 - Second amendment: Rights to media. A person who pays license for any form of media by right, should be entitled to UNLIMITED reinstalls/copies of said media on any digital device/hard copy in their possession. ILLEGAL DISTRIBUTION should be regarded as a crime, backing up should not. 3 - Third amendment: Rights of media usage. Media should not be restricted in any way. iTunes blocking of use in other media devices is in DIRECT OPPOSITION of all fair competition and sales laws. Crack down on both sides of the DRM barrier. POSSIBLE IDEAS 1 - Distribution costs can be heavily reduced by utilizing current technological advancements such as torrents (case in point, Azeurus Vuze, Veoh Player beta, Steam). 2 - Instead of illegally (for now anyway) obtaining personal information from would be customers, take a leaf out of Steam's book. Create an online database / Myspace ripoff that tracks media licenses. Buy your songs / movies from "moviesong.com" (etc), and have the purchase registered to your profile. If you need to format, just re-download (a la Steam) Hope this helps in the "war" against piracy

Comment by pado16 at 2:34pm 4th July 2008

have the same rights to go thru your bins and take what they want: Credit card numbers as well as any other personal information. People who want the ambiance, go to a concert. Bit-rate is a poor excuse for ambiance.

Comment by WTHarvey at 11:32am 4th July 2008

half of illegal downloads are by people who can't afford to buy a real copy, the other half are by people who wont use it often enough to be worth the money. I download music often, but after I download them, I buy about 1 in every 4

Comment by Cogwulf at 10:34am 4th July 2008

This is the anti-piracy equivalent speed cameras. It allows organistions to target a few students, drag em through the courts and makes examples of them and the government can claim they're fighting piracy. Just as every speeding ticket handed out via speed camera is a secure conviction - so the government can claim they're fighting crime. These laws will have no impact on the major piracy organisations, but it will make things a little more precarious for the 'casual' downloader. Personally, I'd rather own an authentic copy than make do with a knock off. This is especially true of PC games - for features like online play, I don't want to wait a couple of months for someone to produce a crack before I can play online (for a while, until the crack is patched) - I want the option to do it whenever I feel like it.

Comment by Spreadie at 9:41am 4th July 2008

I have mixed feelings about torrents and downloads, whilst I believe we should pay for games, music and dvd's, the issue of software aimed exclusivel;y at businesses I find a tricky subject, how many people have a spare £4,000 for a copy of 3d max, yet how many people would find it inordinately useful to use it at home especially if they also use a legit copy in their day to day work. But one thing I do believe is that these companies have a right to protect their intelectual property, and if you do pirate anything you had better be prepared to accept the consequences of your own actions.

Comment by NewParadigm at 12:38am 4th July 2008

every single one of you has downloaded or recorded something illegally! stop acting like such a saints... its really grinding my gears! all that talk all that anti piracy will just have a negative effect and never EVER positive... simply put! today ppl use bit torrents, all they have to do tomorrow is simply tick a box in their options and make the connection encrypted which if decrypted without permission is ILLEGAL!!! so yeah lets waste tax payers money, if that is not enough lets waste money on our services (ISP's) this is a NO-WIN battle! keep banning ppl will just figure a new way around it! ask me... and i can give you like another 10 ways how you can go around it! lets get a bit more creative and go wild with our imagination lets say they manage to get rid of downloading copyrighted stuff... all that its going to affect is more ppl buying more DVD's for 2 for 3 pound from the Chinese ppl on the street! so back to square 1 with lots of loses and internet service costing at 40-50 quid! the only way to get rid piracy is to make it extremely easy to obtain legit copy! and just keep the adverts for anti-piracy! i mean... i don't mind paying for song from iTunes as long as its not protected with some crap software and i can share it on my devices as much as i want!!! movies... do the same! allow me to download films 1 week after its stopped from showing in cinemas... ppl who truly believe that the business needs our support will buy it (don't make it harder on them) however ppl who pirate stuff will keep doing it and there is no chance in hell you can do something about it!

Comment by FLUBBER_BM at 12:19am 4th July 2008

Thank god for mother nature and old-age, at least that will get rid of all the old-codger G8 maniacs.

Comment by pablohoney at 10:07pm 3rd July 2008

I just hope that this stops game developers from treating the PC Gaming industry as a no go area!!

Comment by NikoBellic at 9:35pm 3rd July 2008

is that the G8 is about environmental concerns, concerns about starving people in developing countries and so on. The G8 is NOT the place to bring this up and the statement that ‘counterfeiting and piracy poses an ever-increasing threat to the sustainable development of the world economy.’ is a load of rubbish. Yes piracy should be dealt with, yes it means companies don't make as many millions as they would, but if something truely 'international' is to be done about it, then the place to bring it up is at the UN, not the G8. If this agreement is to truely work, or have the intention of working, it needs to exist globally, not just in the G8 countries (so no-one from Nigeria or Thailand downloads illegally?). I think if the idea is implmented it would place huge hardware and administrative burdens on ISP's who would have to...yep, raise prices, so alot of people would lose the benefits of the internet being as affordable as it is (educational, informational, entertainment etc). I think large-scale piracy should be focused on, but large-scale anything isn't usually contested as it's too much of a challenge for law enforcement agencies and it's always easier to go for the 14 year-old who downloaded a song because he wanted to hear it first in his class. Or (a classic this one) the chinese guy who walks around selling DVD's rather than going after the evil b*****ds who actually produce the pirated films and force him to sell them on their behalf while threatening his family. Remember the tragedy with the illegal cockle-pickers of Morecambe Bay? did the law go after the gang masters? no they bought in a permit system 'to make it safer'...whatever requires the least amount of work...

Comment by EdArch at 9:17pm 3rd July 2008

Ok, I can put up with people complaining about the way England is run and the cost too live here and the POS Government we have, but I cannot agree with this. Computer Games, CD's, Films have always been priced as they are and it is how they are priced globally. It costs the companies to produce, sell them and fix them. What right does someone have downloading for free?? Media which is Films, Games and Music are all entertainment and something you pay for but it is not something you need. I wish people would react like this over computer hardware AKA PC's. Component support is shocking too say the least but I do not see people complaining about it.

Comment by C7ouD at 8:26pm 3rd July 2008

You don't think Movies games and DVD's are overpriced. Ok lets start with the easy one DVD's the film if its half decent makes it production costs back in the first 2 months of release (thats in the film theaters) Dvd sales are a bonus and a big one but hang on a sec how can some dvd's be worth £20 & others only 5.99 (they all make a profit or they wouldn't keep being stocked at TESCO who are all about profit) Ok they have Collectors addtions etc i can see that being worth more but not 30+ pounds for the making of and a silver tin. Games next they general are not finished when are released but we line up and buy them anyway. The king of this was Vampire Masquerade bloodlines it still is not finished 2 patches (and a few hundred hours of good comunity work later) yet I payed 29.99 for it at release would i pay that again i think not i now have to wait 1 month after release to see it the game works (not every one will wait and theres only so much crap you can take before you see the companys producing unfinished products as fully deserving the prirates they get.) Audio CD's hm there a whole 21p to print right not seen then the 12pounds for an album of 2 there but then i don't listen to much music .

Comment by Cool_CR at 8:02pm 3rd July 2008

Yakee is a dirivation of a dutch word meaning, you guessed it, PIRATE! It stems from the US's history of completly ignoring patent law. That is what allowed the US to grow as fast as it did. Hollywood was ALSO built by pirates who didn't want to pay for a film licence in New York. Sad how many Americans don't know their own history *sigh*

Comment by pseudonym at 7:59pm 3rd July 2008

would they like to submit some fact based arguement as to what constitutes a fair price for say a DVD, game or album? I'm not saying one way or the other that these things are overpriced, but I sure as hell know that I don't have a clue how much the develpment of a game or album, or what advertising costs are, or waht the profit margins are... a lot of people just blanket claim that these things are 'overpriced' to justify not paying anything at all for them.

Comment by NewParadigm at 7:43pm 3rd July 2008

K ...sounds like more reason to go through your personal stuff ...are we turning in to a communist state ...is there not long enuff waits at the borders already with out them going through your laptop for mp3s ...come on this is bullshit ....how about using this money to feed the hungry or house the poor ...

Comment by wombat41 at 7:35pm 3rd July 2008

The best way of stopping piracy.... Stop punishing legitimate customers! Here's the choices I'm faced with at the moment... Option 1 - Go to iTunes, buy album for same price as a cd, only at 128kbps (ie, much lower quality) and be restricted by crappy DRM so it only plays on itunes or your ipod. This is of course assuming that it dosn't prevent you downloading what you want because of being in the wrong country.... Option 2 - Go to bitorrent, get what you want for free at higher quality or lossless and not have to worry about DRM.... Hmmm, tough choice there. Same with games Look at Mass effect... online activation limited to 3 installs. One of those activations is used whenever you format your hard drive, or even upgrade your machine for christ sake! After these have run out though, it's ok, because they are kind enough to give you the option to purchase more. That's right, PURCHASE! The alternative? Good old bitorrent! Of course valve have this nailed with steam. The legal option is buy your game online and download it. If you format your drive, no worries, it keeps your game so you don't have to pay again. AND it keeps all your savegames and settings, AND gives you access to multiplayer, the steam community and the game keeps itself updated without you having to worry about patching it yourself. With service like that, the bittorrent link dosn't look so tempting anymore.... Publishers should take a leaf out of valves book, instead of punishing legitimate customers, they reward them by giving them access to services that those who choose to download their games will never have. That, is why I will ALWAYS support valve by buying their games, and similarly any company who choses to distribute their games over steam. As a side note, for those of you who say copy protection is necessary to protect sales, take one look at the PC gaming chart. Notice where Sins of a Solar Empire is. Then bear in mind that this game has NO copy protection...... [/rant]

Comment by Cyberspice at 7:10pm 3rd July 2008

Nuff said. If you cannot afford to buy a DVD or an Album, you shouldn't even be thinking about it.

Comment by C7ouD at 6:44pm 3rd July 2008

im sure if u google wow cracked servers ull find one. everything u thought was uncrackable, has probably been cracked and being played.

Comment by TBallS at 6:28pm 3rd July 2008

Ah the great piracy debate, 20 years on and they are still trying to stamp it out. A little word of advice to the publishers out there: Stop trying to sell people substandard material for an inflated price. Also, CustomPC, what has LeChuck ever done to you?! ;-)

Comment by 0nn1e at 5:56pm 3rd July 2008

If they want to stop film piracy - here's an idea - release it everywhere at once, rather than make Europe and Australia wait 6 months for the same movie. They may actually improve ticket and DVD sales because the whole world will see the movie before we have chance to find out on the grapevine that it's cr** and not bother.

Comment by gavomatic57 at 5:35pm 3rd July 2008

the same thing is going to happen here as with every other corporate attempt to stop copyright breech, the only people going to be affected are legitimate buyers, who have to go trawling through some great long, and usually broken, process to activate a game/ film/ whatever. the pirates who are being targeted will simply download a cracked version without the protection, it happened with vista, bioshock, and every other DRMed program, do they not undeerstand that unenforceable laws wont stop these people? if they had any sense, they would google "cracked software" and then shut down every site that pops up. it would probably be more effective, and far cheaper @ TBallS, no-one pirates WoW because theres no point, even if you do crack the software you still have to pay for the subscription

Comment by soddit113 at 5:04pm 3rd July 2008

if you crack down on all the individuals downloading then the only people who do it will be criminal organizations who will then sell there products under the retail price and make money from it. all those anti piracy ads saying that it funds criminals will come true (now it isn't because no criminals are funded from someone downloading a film for free or music for free etc) but thats what will happen if individuals are persecuted and prosecuted for it. as well as it being infeasible it will be bad for society and all to line the pockets of the people who are already rich viva la revolution lol.

Comment by ajhwork at 5:00pm 3rd July 2008

The problem these days is that people don't accept that if you can't afford something you can't have it. It's a simple rule, and one a democratic capitalist society is based upon, breaking the rules breaks the society and things begin to collapse. Wilst we might be well on the way to a more global world in which we will no longer be living in the most powerful countries in the world, accelerating it seems a little crazy.

Comment by countstex at 4:53pm 3rd July 2008

If this idea is executed in the same way as the G8's approach to poverty, then pirates will be laughing. On the other hand you can get an original of a game from Ebay/Shopto/Play2trade/etc if you want to make a protest and cut the price. However, if people pirate and get caught, stuff them, any penalty is their own damn fault. It also depends on how the BBC will be viewed if it's the licence fee that pays artists' royalties even if there is no specific radio licence. The circumstances in each country will make this unworkable as an umbrella proposal.

Comment by KHenry_07 at 3:58pm 3rd July 2008

Do they not realize that trying to stick to this ridiculous business model for selling music and films is out of date. they need to adapt, they need to give me reason to buy the music/film at a now reasonable price, because there is a method of distribution which costs nothing, torrents. They can try using the legal route but if people don't want it then it wont happen, you cant arrest every one. there are already systems in existence that have already adapted. Look at steam, who doesn't own at least game on it? look at wow, how many people pirate that, hardly any. The problem isn't piracy, its the fat paychecks they want to keep rolling in.

Comment by TBallS at 3:43pm 3rd July 2008

I'm all for reducing piracy, when this is large scale piracy for individual profit. However I fear that these measures would be used in a similar fasion to the RIAAs lawsuit policy, where individuals who happened to share a song with a friend are intimidated and hauled through lengthy court proceedings "as an example to others". Its one thing to protect your IP, its another thing entirely to treat everyone as a criminal until they prove themselves otherwise. Fortunately, ISPs wouldnt cooperate. I remember the US govt tried to force search engines to hand over data on search history. Yahoo and others hand it over, Google made a stand and refused. Proves it can be done.

Comment by NotFred at 3:43pm 3rd July 2008

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