Star Trek XI Top Pirated Movie

[Hambone]

http://www.trektoday.com/content/2009/12/star-trek-xi-top-pirated-movie/

This just pisses me off. There's just no way to justify this sort of crime. I can't understand this; people who would never walk out of a store with a loaf of bread without paying seem to have no problem with illegal downloads or pirating.

Does the fact that there's little to no chance of getting caught make it okay? Or do they think it's all right to steal, as long as it's from a giant corporation?

As a musician who depends upon CD and sheet music sales for a substantial percentage of my income, I have been burned by illegal copies more times than I can count. Please, people, If you support something, pay for the damn thing. When you illegally download music or movies, or rip a copy of a DVD, you're no better than a punk who rips off cigarettes from the corner convenience store.

 

[Phily B]

Re: Star Trek IX Top Pirated Movie

I only downloaded it after I'd seen it in the pictures, the DVD release date was stupidly long and a good rip was up months before it was out.

 

[Sector 7]

Re: Star Trek IX Top Pirated Movie

Why would anyone WANT to pirate INSURRECTION (Star Trek IX)?! It was not that good to begin with.
Right or wrong, 'ripping' or downloading movies, music, etc. is a fact of life. Many do so to see if a movie or music is worth the price. If they like it, they will pay for a legal copy to keep or go to the theater and pay to watch it.

 

[Hambone]

Re: Star Trek IX Top Pirated Movie

Why would anyone WANT to pirate INSURRECTION (Star Trek IX)?! It was not that good to begin with.

Oops. Mixed up my "IX" and my "XI". Damn you, Romans!

Right or wrong, 'ripping' or downloading movies, music, etc. is a fact of life.

There's no "right or wrong" about it. It's wrong and it's illegal. It's only a fact of life if one chooses to make illegal activity a part of one's life.

Many do so to see if a movie or music is worth the price. If they like it, they will pay for a legal copy to keep or go to the theater and pay to watch it.

By that logic, I should be able to walk out of Walmart with a DVD, and only pay for it later if I liked it.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Star Trek IX Top Pirated Movie

Speaking as someone who has honestly never illegally downloaded anything - music, movies, TV shows - I gotta say...

Pirating movies that are box office hits doesn't do anything to inhibit more movies like them being made - they're still hits. I only would care about piracy if it stopped the types of movies being made that I liked. Otherwise it has no impact on me.

The ill effect would be on the movies on that list that aren't box office hits: RocknRolla and State of Play. For whatever reason, movies like those are attracting piracy but not butts in seats. Those are the types that the movie honchos will decide not to make more of. But they sure aren't going to stop making Ice Ages and Twilights just become they attract piracy.

Just for contrast, here's the worldwide revenues for all the movies on that list:

Star Trek - $385M
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - $884M
RocknRolla - $26M
The Hangover - $459M
Twilight - $385M
District 9 - $285M
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince -$929M
State of Play - $88M
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - $373M
Knowing - $183M

Sure, you could carp about the order of that list. To the extent that it doesn't decrease financially from #1 on down, some movie types are being hurt. If there's any impact at all, piracy means more Harry Potter and less District 9. But the big impact is for the few movies that are obvious financial outliers (to the extent they represent any kind of trend.)

 

[Flake]

Re: Star Trek IX Top Pirated Movie

Look on the bright side, all the millions who did see the movie illegally might have enjoyed it enough to see the next one at the cinema.

 

[Shikarnov]

Re: Star Trek IX Top Pirated Movie

I agree with the notion that intellectual property is still property and should be respected. But I also think that large property holders have broken new ground in how they define piracy specifically to create pirates.

If you buy a DVD, and rip it to your iPod to watch on an airplane, then you're a pirate. If you break iTunes' DRM scheme so that you can watch a legally purchased movie using a different program, you're a pirate. If you want access to a version of the movie that's not for sale in you're market (and you're not a part of the targeted market for that version), then you're shit outta luck without torrents or gnutella networks.

Not every "pirate," as defined by the MPAA, is a thief, or would be a thief with reasonable alternatives. And just because something is illegal doesn't make it wrong. The United States' DMCA, for example, is a bad law that all but erased fair use concepts. Violating it is, for many people, a form of protest.

And besides, at almost $400 million in revenue, the folks who made Star Trek shouldn't be crying. If piracy had been eliminated, they probably would have made no more money. There simply would have been fewer people to spread the word about how great the film was.

 

[Hambone]

Re: Star Trek IX Top Pirated Movie

And besides, at almost $400 million in revenue, the folks who made Star Trek shouldn't be crying.

So you're saying it's okay to steal, as long as you're only stealing from rich people?

 

[M'Sharak]

Why would anyone WANT to pirate INSURRECTION (Star Trek IX)?! It was not that good to begin with.

Oops. Mixed up my "IX" and my "XI". Damn you, Romans!

Fixed.

 

[Starbreaker]

I will admit that I downloaded the movie back in October, but I did plop down $20 for the Blu-Ray.

 

[Shikarnov]

Re: Star Trek IX Top Pirated Movie

And besides, at almost $400 million in revenue, the folks who made Star Trek shouldn't be crying.

So you're saying it's okay to steal, as long as you're only stealing from rich people?

I'm not saying that at all. What I am saying is that the producers of the movie have little cause for complaint since the movie was successful.

 

[OneBuckFilms]

Pirating movies online is quite frankly the biggest waste of time and resources, and is a poke in the eye to everyone involved in creating it.

 

[Borgminister]

Re: Star Trek IX Top Pirated Movie

And besides, at almost $400 million in revenue, the folks who made Star Trek shouldn't be crying.

So you're saying it's okay to steal, as long as you're only stealing from rich people?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp-R1o753pM

 

[Photoman15]

I know "someone" who saw the movie in the theater 12 times, then pirated the movie. As soon as the Blu-Ray came out, he bought the blu-ray (3 disc set). Is pirating illegal, yes. Is it wrong? Depends. Paramount lost not one cent on my "friend". He spent the same amount he would have spent without downloading a "transitionary" copy.

 

[pah2602]

Saw it in the cinema he week it came out, downloaded a fairly poor copy a few weeks later to have another loo, preordered the 3 disc blu-ray for €25.

I would have spent the same amont of money on this movie whether I downloaded it or not

Downloadd a few albums recently, out of curiosity, one or two I didn't like and deleted them. A fwe other I did and have them on my phone to listen to but I wen out and bought 3 albums that I loved to have the CDs fo the house/car and because I wanted to contribute to and show my support for such good records. I don't feel guilty or anything

 

[Oso Blanco]

I saw it in the theater and I have bought the two disc dvd edition as well as the three disc blue ray edition. But inbetween, I downloaded it because I just couldn't wait for the official release. Am I a criminal now?

 

[USS KG5]

I pay a monthly subscription fee for "unlimited" access to my local cinema, it is a very reasonable £13.50 and I live round the corner, so I never feel the need to pirate movies when I can go watch on the big screen.

This kind of subscription model for music and movies is probably the future. Downloading is now being targeted by some very hardcore legislation worldwide and will be wiped out in the next few years, except for the hardcore techies.

There are some terrible justifications for it out there, but it is extremely morally dubious at the very best.

 

[Hambone]

I saw it in the theater and I have bought the two disc dvd edition as well as the three disc blue ray edition. But inbetween, I downloaded it because I just couldn't wait for the official release. Am I a criminal now?

Yes.

When you download illegally, or rip a copy for a friend, you're robbing the rightful owners of the movie of their legal royalties. Even if you paid for it, legally, at another time. Most importantly, and probably worse; you are also supporting the people who made the movie available for illegal download.

Here's what people don't seem to get. When you buy a movie ticket, you get to see the movie; nothing more. When you buy a DVD, you pay for the priviledge of viewing the movie, not ownership of the movie itself. When you purchase a DVD, you own the plastic and metal, but not the actual movie. It's yours to view anytime you want, but not yours to distribute any way you see fit (re: the FBI/INTERPOL warning at the beginning of every home video/DVD release). People who make movies (or music) available online for illegal download are in violation of these laws; by downloading, you are also a violator. There's just no way to justify it, no matter how far you reach.

 

[Photoman15]

It's also a FACT: The CD (music) industry was making record profits at the height of the "illegal" Napster craze. When they put Napster out of business (for lack of a better phrase), the music industry tanked (relatively). Napster was the greatest advertisement for selling CDs for most of it's users. It allowed new music to be sampled by the potential consumer, who then bought what they liked and chucked the rest. Yes, some people will "leech" a system like Napster, but most people won't. Just something to think about.

 

[Photoman15]

Yes.

When you download illegally, or rip a copy for a friend, you're robbing the rightful owners of the movie of their legal royalties. Even if you paid for it, legally, at another time. Most importantly, and probably worse; you are also supporting the people who made the movie available for illegal download.

You're not robbing the "rightful owner" of anything if you subsequently purchase the movie thru normal channels. But you are right, the pirate does make money they shouldn't make. Maybe the answer is to have a low def, bare-bones version available as soon as a movie is taken from the theater and until the full hi-res, extra-laden one is ready.