This is a huge topic and I'm really angry right now. And with what right? I'm angry that I can't receive television shows for free. But here is my logic.
I will buy the series I have downloaded on DVD if they are good, I really will, I own Battlestar Galactica on DVD and I'm still going to torrent the series. Why? Because I prefer the file formats. I hate having to sift through and locate a DVD to watch one episode. Call it lazy, but it's not, it's irritation at an obsolete file format. The amount of times I've had a DVD fuck up on me (rented from Blockbuster) it's unreal (about 6 times actually, quite real). But the point is, provided I get the money, I will buy the boxsets of the series I have downloaded, thus the whole "stealing from artists" logic is defeated. Fuck you MPAA I really do hate your shortsighted moneygrabbing ways-
Next: so we're allowed to stream the shows online for free after they've aired (see: 4oD) but the anti-P2P groups problem is that we own them instead of just streaming it? I hate streaming, it's inconsistent and without the internet it's useless, whereas downloading means you can enjoy shows anywhere, anytime. There's a hypocrisy that you can stream any music, but downloading it is punishable by prison time (maximum sentence). If I'm on a laptop, what's the difference between clicking twice to play a song from my downloads and clicking twice to find a song in my favourites? 2 years of assrape. That's what.
Virgin Media recently (very damn recently) blocked Piratebay. While there were a hundred proxies to bypass this within five minutes, (thus making their action pointless) it was a symbolic victory for the People's Republic of MPAA. We've taken a huge leap towards internet censorship, it's e-1984 in the making. Or China. That's right, those evil communists whom were judged so harshly for blocking certain sites are laughing their genitals off at the hypocrisy. And we did it for money too. Well played. Great morals.
Even if Piratebay was stopped more would spring up to fill the P2P void. And seriously, Piratebay is a goddamn legend, they've been through more court battles (and MPAA funded assassination attempts [on the servers, not the staff. Shit, I think I just gave the MPAA an idea]) than your mother has been through penii. That's a word. Or it will be, I'll make it so. Removing one distribution hub does nothing, it's like shifting the crackheads from the den in the east side of the city to the west. They're still in the city, they're still on crack. Nothing changes.
To the MPAA:
And what the fuck? How stupid can you be? Are you still grasping for the golden years where people paid £10 a film without a complaint? That time is over, but your ability to make money is not. Why not look at Steam, who sell cheap products because they're downloaded. It would be easy to sell Movies and Series for £1, and get 10x the people buying them, and promoting them (because you can't deny torrenting increases the popularity of a show, which by proxy increases the merchandise sales and advertising sales for the next seasons of shows etc) and actually evolving to the internet world we live in. Offer the films/series in a selectable format (AVI, MKV, MP4) and I'm yours. But nothing you've done makes me want to buy DVDs. In fact it makes me hate you, because you're resorting to heavy-handed tactics. We're 5 years from Anti-P2P deathsquads roving around tracking packets, and 5 years away from V for Vendetta (which inconsequentially I legally own).
