This blog entry will not be a review about the movie Get Smart, although my experiences with watching the movie and trying to LEGALLY put it on my laptop have shown me something about the movie distributors, production company, the movie industry and its studios, or whoever.
In the last year or so, it’s become more common place, depending on the movie studio, to release DVDs with a legal ‘digital copy’ of a movie to put on your computer or media playing device, provided you go online or through their instructions, and usually provide a password or code they give you in the packaging of the DVD. But the basic idea is if you buy the DVD, you have a legal and “easy” way of putting the file on your computer without having to rip the disc or download the movie from a file sharing program. A great solution the movie industry thought it had to the whole file sharing and piracy problem, right?
I travel a lot and like having my movies and CDs on my laptop and/or possibly my iPod, and the ‘backups’ are in boxes in my parents’ basement in Canada. Being on long flights, and many churches increasingly creating video podcasts of their sermons, such a device was also convenient for that purpose. I’ve even gotten in the habit of renting movies in iTunes before going on a long flight, bus or train ride, or just when I’m going to be traveling or doing something that puts a lot of time on my hands.
Well, I come to find that in order to get the digital copy one has to use Windows Media Player, because the movie studio doesn’t co-operate with Apple or iTunes, and I own a MacBook. Now, I know I’m in the minority and that more people use Microsoft-based computers than Apple MacIntosh computers, but to the best of my knowledge, iPod devices and the iPhone make up over 70% of the total market for mp3 players and media sharing devices (this might even be a conservative estimate—I’ve heard much higher). The Microsoft Zune hasn’t even had an accumulated total number of units sold (in over 2 years) of just how many iPods Apple has in the last financial quarter of 2008 alone–for just one competitor’s example.
My point is this: if the big wigs at movie studios want to stop piracy, and have people legitimately buy or legally put their own property (the DVD) on a media playing device, why not give them the option of allowing it to be compatible with whatever device the consumer owns, instead of the one the studio determines? I realize competitiveness and the free market are at play in this situation, but still, this matter is quite stupid, because the very problem they’re trying to solve, they’re actually creating when consumers don’t use the software or the device they’ve made their digital copy compatible with.
What? I can’t get the digital copy from my DVD of The Dark Knight? Fine, I’ll just go to bit torrent to get it.
This causes many to go download programs from off the ‘net and just rip the DVD to their hard drive in mp4 format compatible with iPods.
I recently rented Get Smart (a very funny movie) on iTunes, and watched it to relax after work one night before going to bed. I enjoyed it (and recommend it since it was clean and almost no cussing or suggestive stuff, and it was FUNNY as heck). I suggested it to my brother the next day–we both were working together at the same place of employment. He gave me the idea to buy the DVD for him for Christmas, so I picked the one out from Future Shop that had a digital copy for a few dollars more than the normal edition, so I also could benefit from legally owning it as well. In this case, the digital copy was compatible with iTunes, and with the 2nd disc and a connection to the internet one can download the video to their movie library in under five minutes if they have an iTunes account. This was a smart move on this movie supplier’s side to increase the ease with which consumers can access the digital copy should they want to. However, the DVD my brother bought for me for Christmas–The Dark Knight–is not compatible with iTunes or Apple despite being released by the same DVD supplier. *Sigh*
Why can’t ALL the movie industries out there ‘get smart’ about how they solve the problem of file sharing, torrents, and movie piracy by offering a solution that the average law abiding consumer will WANT to cooperate with, instead of making it so difficult and creating the rules for what devices and media players one has to already have in order to benefit from the digital copy on the disc?
I try abiding by their rules and legalities, but they make it so ridiculous and almost impossible to do the right thing (or just the thing they want) –it’s no wonder many people just go to file sharing and piracy to obtain the movies they’d like to watch! By the way, despite my ranting, it’s worth letting you know that the only movies on my laptop are ones that I’ve purchased in DVD form or had given to me, and the music I listen to is all purchased or from CDs or iTunes gift cards given to me. I’ve run into the same type of snag with the DRM on songs I’ve purchased online in that I can’t make mix mp3 CDs to listen to on my mp3 ghetto blaster at work.
I appreciate the effort the movie industries, and even the recording industry are trying to make, but it’s really ridiculous, and they need to get smarter about how they want the consumer to play along. I’ve gone and downloaded software to allow me to listen to music I PAID for, the way I want to–that removes the DRM on my songs, and I’ve decided to just resort to ripping DVDs to my computer since less than 1/3 of the DVDs I’ve bought, or had given to me, in the last year are compatible with the devices I use to legally watch them.
I’m sorry movie and music industry, but I’ve played by your rules and you need to get smart if you want most of society to abide by them. I’m sure I speak for many others when I say I’m getting tired of them…