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Anvil & Sprocket
The Singer/Songwriter Directory
Dee ARRR! Emm. · 3 hours ago
Over at the Beeb, some of “the leading figures from the global film industry” decided to take a few questions. The Beeb went through the process of choosing the eight best questions from the hundreds submitted and then asked for the answers.
Some very good questions got asked. Almost none got good answers. For the most part the answers conflicted (check out Lavinia Carey’s and John Fithian’s answers to question one), hemmed and hawed their way around the question (Dan Glickman’s in-no-way-to-the-point answer to question five), or regurgitated standard industry rhetoric (both Carey’s and Glickman’s responses to question four). Very little new ground was covered. But two answers in particular caught my attention.
First, in the category of “Completely Missed the Point” we can see question six and its answer from Dan Glickman of everybody’s second favorite consumer-crushing organization, the MPAA. (Sorry about the “second,” guys – the RIAA still tops the list. You’ll have to try harder next year.)
Why am I made to sit through fluff at the start of DVDs I bought with no option to skip it? The most insulting is the “Buy movies don’t download them” one. I did buy the movie, and now I’m being made to sit through a video aimed at people who don’t buy their movies! Stephen Moore, Lisburn, UK
Dan Glickman, Motion Picture Association of America:
On some DVDs, there are trailers to educate and encourage people not to steal copyrights. While not everyone who buys or rents a DVD is going to commit acts of piracy, we are trying to spread a message.
Protecting movie copyrights is vital to this industry and we hope that we can reach some people and that others will fast forward through these announcements and realise we are not focusing on them.
I’m fairly certain that the Anvil & Sprocket has covered this on our podcast, but let’s point out the significant, glaring oversight in Glickman’s answer that proves he wasn’t really paying attention to the question. Hint: It’s in the second paragraph.
”...we hope that we can reach some people and that others will fast forward through these announcements and realise we are not focusing on them.”
Okay. First of all, when my High School biology teacher stood up at the front of the classroom and announced that pinning the dissected frogs to her desk chair was not funny, that was not focused on me. I was sleeping comfortably at my desk when that went down, yo (which kind of explains my biology grade, now that I think about it). Even so, I sat through the announcement with no way of skipping it.
Kind of like what Stephen Moore describes. Hey! We have a tangent that actually turned out to be connected. Now if I can just slip my “setting the furniture on fire” story into a discussion on the Pentagon, we’ll be set.
See, Glickman misses the point that the messages cannot be skipped. In one episode of our podcast, you can hear John waxing eloquent about DVD’s that decide for you what you should be required to watch before you can see the movie. You’ve probably noticed by now that some of the movies you pop into your player not only require you to sit through to the FBI warning (sometimes in more than one language), but also require you to sit through previews and the occasional commercial. Hitting the “Menu” button only causes your screen to pop up either an icon of a disc with a circle and slash through it in the corner (not cool) or a variation of the text “That operation is not permitted by this disc” to be superimposed over the playing image (even less cool).
If Glickman hopes that some people will just fast-forward through these announcements and realize they’re not focused on honest users, then maybe the film industry should stop deciding what we can and can’t scan through on our own DVD’s. How’s that for an idea?
Second, there’s the patently offensive answer to question seven. All three answers are bad, and all three are standard industry rhetoric – but Lavinia Carey’s response is particularly heinous.
Seeing as only one clever hacker is needed for films to appear on P2P networks, is it fair to say that digital rights management (DRM) does not prevent or even reduce piracy? If that’s not fair to say, can you tell us of a single instance in which DRM has prevented a copyrighted film from appearing on these networks? Dave Morris, Oxford, UK
Lavinia Carey, British Video Association:
Digital rights management comes in all shapes and sizes. DRMs are becoming increasingly sophisticated and effective as a means of enabling consumers to access and use audiovisual content in a wider variety of ways that suit their tastes and habits. Watch out for the next generation of high definition discs, HD-DVD and Blu-ray, and content protection codes will be updated on a regular basis.
Blink. Blink.
Carey, did you just suggest that constantly-shifting DRM is the best selling point of both HD-DVD and Blu-ray? I mean, did you honestly just say that consumers should be happy to adopt a format that will continually limit what they can do with their legitimate purchases? Have you considered the possibility that you may, actually, be high?
Okay – first, tap-dance around the issue. Carey can’t provide a single instance in which DRM has been truly effective. At least Curt Marvis takes the opportunity to plug his own service, pointing out that to his knowledge MovieNow files never wind up on P2P. But Carey just chooses to ignore that segment of the question.
Instead, Carey asks us to swallow the notion that DRM is an “enabling” tool. This despite the fact that the more sophisticated among us are well aware that mixing twenty gallons of strawberry ice cream with five gallons of crap only results in twenty-five gallons of crap. To accept for even a moment that DRM is in any way a “means of enabling consumers to access and use audiovisual content in a wider variety of ways that suit their tastes and habits,” one has to completely discard any concept of how consumers view the material they buy – as well as any known definition of “a wider variety.”
Cory Doctorow put it nicely in his introduction to Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town. (free to download at craphound.com)
No customer wants DRM. No one woke up this morning and said, “Damn, I wish there was a way to do less with my books, movies and music.”
Or, to borrow an image from the DRM speech he gave to Microsoft, we don’t want a Sony record player that can only play Sony records and then only for one specific user. We want a record player that will play any damn record that anybody puts on.
I don’t want to be told that the CD I just purchased has to be played on a specific kind of CD player – that it won’t work in my car stereo or in my CD-ROM drive. I certainly don’t want to be told that it can’t play on my iPod. For that matter, I don’t want to be told that the DVD I just purchased legitimately cannot be copied to my hard drive so that I can watch it while wearing earphones – a feature my television lacks – or that I can’t rip it to the next generation of iPods. I bought the movie. I want to be able to play the damn movie.
I can’t say that I’m surprised, but I think I’m perfectly within my rights to be disappointed. The BBC presented this handful of executives with a shot to speak clearly to the consumers – to present their own visions of some of the important issues regarding how the entertainment industry sees its consumers. They had an opportunity to treat their questioners with respect and talk directly to their concerns. Instead, what they revealed is that they see their consumers as thieves, morons, and petulant children.
And that, dear consumer, is who we’re giving our money to.
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Why must the show go on? · 5 hours ago
| You Are Kermit |
 You’re a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life’s problems. Don’t worry – everyone know’s it’s not easy being green. Just remember, time’s fun when you’re having flies! |
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I like to rock. · 6 days ago
Pretty funky Friday 10 this week. Give it a shot and see what you know. If you know the artist and song, drop it in the comments.
- “They all know they could be like Romeo, if they only had the guts.”
- “Instead of asking him how much of your time is left, ask him how much of your mind.”
- Liz Phair, “Fuck and Run” [ Thud] – “I can feel it in my bones, I’m gonna spend my whole life alone.”
- Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Give It Away” [Thud] – “How come everybody wanna keep it like the Kaiser?”
- “I know it’s everybody’s sin, you got to lose to know how to win.”
- “Invisible airwaves crackle with life, bright antennae bristle with the energy.”
- “You’re in an all-girl band, your futon’s second-hand.”
- “They’re piling in the back seat, generating steam heat, pulsating to the backbeat.”
- “Now first you must cure your temper, then you find a job in the paper, you need someone for a saviour.”
- Sam Cooke, “Twisting the Night Away” [Carl] – “Here’s a man in evenin’ clothes, how he got here I don’t know but man, you oughta see him go.”
Comment [3]
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Gimme-gimme-gimme 10... · 13 days ago
You know the drill. Recognize the lyrics? Drop it into the comments. And smile, darn ya! Smile!
- Waylon Jennings, “Luckenbach,Texas” [Carl] – “This coat and tie is choking me, in your high society you cry all day.”
- “I want a full house and a rock and roll band.” (multiple artists possible)
- “The boundaries of language I quietly cursed.”
- “If ever again a greeting I send to you, short and sweet to the soul I intend.”
- “Anxiety was bringing me down. I’m tired of listening to you.”
- “Oh God, Johnny, don’t point that gun at me.”
- “Hey, you with the pretty face – welcome to the human race.”
- Guns ‘n’ Roses, “Sweet Child of Mine” [Thud] – “Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place”
- “When Alexander called you, he said he rang your chimes.” (multiple artists possible)
- “The rock candy’s melted, only diamonds now remain.”
Edit: It’s been a while since I posted answers to any of the Random 10’s. So…
The last step is still up for guessing if you’d like to take another shot at it.
Here are the answers for The LOLWTFOMG[etc] Edition.
Here are the answers for our special It’s the 80’s! List.
Here are the answers for The Stop Spamming Me! Edition.
And that should bring us all up to date. For now.
Comment [3]
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Let's pause to consider all the great network programming... · 14 days ago
Over at Slate you’ll find Andy Bowers considering the possibility that the iTunes video service might save cancelled television shows. In particular, Bowers sees it as a way to prop up “The West Wing” now that the network has pulled the plug. It’s not a new idea entirely. Sci-fi fan boards lately have been abuzz with it. It’s a variation on what the folks who were trying to extend the run of “Enterprise” tried to do when they started raising money to pay for a new season out of pocket.
It’s an attractive idea. As a sci-fi fan, I know that I’ve mourned the early death of many a promising show (“Firefly,” anyone?). Imagine if these shows with strong, devoted cult followings managed to either raise the fan money or build the iTunes “subscriber” base to a point where they could be supported without advertising revenue. Networks could continue well-loved shows that hadn’t found their audience yet in an iTunes-based limbo where good writing and new ideas were given a second chance. Why, it would be a Christmas miracle!
Here’s why it won’t work.
First of all, it won’t work because networks and the majority of cable channels – like most of the entertainment industry – are still clinging to outmoded ideas of technology and its ability to make money. It took a huge leap for these channels to even put shows with strong viewerships onto the iTunes store, and that only appears to be an extension of the shows-on-DVD model. Of the shows that started on iTunes, only one could be determined “risky” – and, sure enough, “Night Stalker” was cancelled soon afterward.
This is a segment of the industry that is still preoccupied with trying to find ways to keep you from scanning through commercials on your Tivo. They are bogged down in the revenue from advertising – which, if you remember, was what initially allowed broadcast television to be free. Now we pay hefty monthly cable bills to get our programming and still sit through commercials. Hell, even AMC – which used to be commercial-free – chops up its movies with commercial breaks.
Even if the networks decide that new episodes for iTunes are a great idea, it’s not likely to happen right away, and it’s not likely to be what people expect. Fans of “Firefly” might be champing at the bit to see new episodes, but if Fox decides to put new content on the iTunes store, it’ll most likely be a “greatest moments” special or a cast reunion – not new episodes. You may see special uncensored versions of shows being sold. You might eventually see extended “Director’s Cuts” of episodes. But the road to brand spankin’ new episodes of your favorite cult hit on iTunes is a long way away.
The Public Blogcasting System hopes that you are enjoying tonight’s installment of “ArtMachine.” We’ll return to “ArtMachine” in a moment, but first we’d like to take this opportunity to remind you that ArtMachine depends on the support of readers like you.
Don: Ha, ha! That crazy Giblets. What will he do next?
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Don: ArtMachine? What the Hell is ArtMachine? Geez, there’s a million of these blog things. There can’t be this many people with something to say…
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Don: PrimeCog? Who’s PrimeCog?
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Don: Yeah, but I don’t think he’s ever referred to himself as-
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This is the other reason this model won’t work – because deep down inside, the fans don’t want it to work. Many have referred to it as a PBS model, but there’s a vast difference between chipping in a few bucks every few months to help a local channel buy blocks of pre-existing programming and making a consistent weekly purchase of a series episode-by-episode.
Sure, it seems like a good idea at first glance. Viewers who love a show pitch the iTunes store $1.99 a week. In return, they get brand new episodes of a show that would otherwise be a long-distant memory consigned to the depths with The Tick and other cult hits that lasted less time than a Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop in Hell. But when you add together the cost of the typical cable package – which you’ll still want because of all of the programming that isn’t on iTunes – with internet access and then consider that you’re going to be paying 1.99 a pop to support your favorite cult shows, you can see that it’s going to add up quickly.
Think for a moment of the great shows you loved that were cancelled early. If you’re a sci-fi fan, this shouldn’t be too hard. Need some help? Here’s a list off the top of my head.
- The Tick
- Strange Luck
- Lone Gunmen
- Nightmare Cafe
- Myster Science Theatre 3000 (Sure, it was a long run – I still want more.)
- Kindred: The Embraced
- The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.
- Firefly
- American Gothic
- Dead Like Me
(Before people jump on me – yes, I know it’s way too late to make new episodes of “Nightmare Cafe” or “Brisco County.” Just limit yourselves to the last four years, I’m fairly certain you’ll still come up with a decent list)
I could continue. But by this time, we can see that I have 10 shows listed, bringing me to an even 19.90 a week. A week, presuming a regular weekly release schedule for each of these shows and that the networks didn’t force a flexible pricing scheme on Apple (or whatever venue they chose to sell through). For at least a couple months out of the year, my bill for supporting my favorite shows has pushed me up an additional 51.60 a month (presuming I’ve done my math right – I’m too tired at this point to check). I’m ashamed to admit that the last few times PBS had a pledge drive (that I saw) I only chipped in about 20 bucks – and the last time I didn’t even do that because I couldn’t afford the 20.
And what do we get for our 51.60? Well, new episodes of “Dead Like Me” are nice – especially given the fact that Ellen Muth is my new celebrity crush – but we have to ask what the quality of the episodes would be. It’s already been said by industry insiders that the lower resolution of iTunes videos would mean that less money needed to be spent on costumes and sets. With no advertising revenue (remember, they’re still chasing the advertising dollar) they would cut corners everywhere they could to make the profit margin greater. This means fewer locations, fewer guest stars, and – for you sci-fi fans – fewer special effects. So we pay more for a lower-quality product (that we’re told is all right because it’s lower-resolution).
Meanwhile, this means that the network has to take even fewer chances with its actual line-up. In the past, shows like “Cheers” succeeded because the networks gave them time to grow. In previous years, we’ve bemoaned the networks’ inability to take similar chances now. Can you imagine the response of the networks if they knew they could just slash a show’s budget by 90%, move it to iTunes, and watch money roll in from the show’s dedicated fan base? No more chances taken on the schedule – fly right away, or we dump you. End of story.
I hate it when quality programming gets cancelled – but iTunes and similar services should not be used as a televisual ressurection man, digging up the networks’ corpses and peddling them off to eager fans. If anything, what iTunes needs is to become a nursery for possible new programming. The iTunes Music Store created a stir when it opened itself to indie and self-distributed artists through a deal with CDBaby. What they need now is a similar method for budding content providers to sell their product through the video store. We already have video-casting for free, now let’s find a way to let the indie videographers make a few cents in the process.
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