NBC Universal: Video Piracy 'Under Control'

So let me get this straight, now that 1 out of 3 individuals are P2Ping their video content, things are finally under control?  Wow, if these numbers are acceptable to them, it makes you wonder why they were worried about the 20 million people using Napster to begin with.

While you have to applaud NBC for at least understanding that they need to compete with piracy using Hulu instead of lettting it run rampant, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's proof that they've embraced digital distribution.

For one, they continually pull shows off of the site.  Not a big deal if you're catching up on a recent episode, but a huge PITA if you missed the 1st season and want to get caught up before the next one starts.  Compare this to teh torrents were you can download every season of a series with one click.

Another thing that shows that they're not serious about digital video are the international restrictions on Hulu.  If you're in the US, you can watch their clips, but good luck if you live abroad.  Of course P2P doesn't have any geographical boundries.  If you're going to hype a TV show or movie and then tell people that they have to wait a year to see it, you shouldn't be surprised if they turn to less then legitimate sources for that content.

The fact that Hulu restricts you to streaming only also reveals NBC's reluctance to compete with piracy.  Instead of letting you download something so that you can play it on a portable media player, burn it to DVD or watch it on a settop box or game console, you're forced to either hook up your laptop to the TV or watch it on the computer monitor if you want to enjoy their content.  Again, there doesn't seem to be these restrictions on the P2P networks.  Instead of giving lip service to their consumers, they should be creating products that make people ask why they'd even bother with piracy to begin with.  Instead, they continue to dig in their heels and are losing a third of their audience.  If this is acceptable to them, then I say great quit fighting the pirates and get on with your business.

To be fair he did say that P2P was a different story, but still, initially the audience these folks were worried about is the regular Joe who could find everything they wanted on YouTube. That has been curtailed dramatically.

But that's just it, 1 out of 3 is mainstream if you ask me.  To ignore P2p and somehow pretend like they've won the war and have piracy "under control" is ridiculous.  Even from a streaming standpoint, there are still hundreds if not thousands of sites where you can play full length content over the net.  It's not like these sites are hiding from the studios, take a look at OVGuide and you'll see a whole list of them.  If we're talking about regular Joes, this is where they hang out.  Maybe it doesn't have the same traffic as YouTube, but I would argue that YouTube was never really a pirarcy platform to begin with.  Even early on they limited the length of clips to keep movies and tv shows off of the site.  For the most part, users didn't care because despite what the studios believe, YouTube got big because people wanted to see and share user generated content.  When it comes to music videos, maaayybbbeee you could argue that YouTube's partnerships have created an economic model around unauthorized sharing, but even that would be a stretch.  It's almost as if NBC Universal is under some kind of a jedi mind trick.  Despite overwhemling evidence that they aren't competiting effectively against piracy, they still somehow think that they are on top.  

can you provide the source reference for 1 out of 3 individuals uses P2P. It certainly isnt a global number....or are you just ranting....

over 90% of music is free on the internet....I am curious, what percentage of TV and movies is now free.  how much will be free iin 18 months?  will cotton be out of a job?

who says 1 out of 3 people uses P2P......

i call BS....

Technically, it isn't 1 out 3 people, but 1 out 3 broadband subscribers.

http://torrentfreak.com/one-in-three-broadband-subscribers-is-a-pirate-090203/

I'm not sure how many dial up subscribers there are compared to broadband, but this gives you an idea of the demand for P2P by those who can access it.  There are also surveys that indicate over 40% of the global population doesn't believe P2P is "stealing"

As far as avaialability goes, I'm not sure that I understand your statement.  You can get everything on the p2p networks.  You'll even find movies that have never been released on DVD and that you can't get from Blockbuster or Netflix.  Don't see why this would change in the future.  Too had for the studios to stop, this is why they need to learn to compete with piracy instead of trying to squash something that is anything but "under control"

hey davis-

 that source document is helpful.  i am working on an content industy wide initiative that will help content owners survive a media free world.  happy to chat about it.  getback.com is the first iteration of the vision.

  Video Delivery, just needs to be easier than Piracy.  That's it.

  I understand that Hulu doesn't offer that much, and I understand that they have content licensing agreements that are older than the conept of Hulu.

  Hulu snafu'd "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", and made a bigger deal than they needed to when telling people that it would be going away.

  But I still watch HULU now almost EVERY DAY.  It's just Easier.  Faster..  And much more reliable than torrents.

  Piracy ISN'T easy.  All you have to do to combat it is deliver SOME of your content easier than piracy does and more reliably.

  When I say, SOME I mean a pirate doesn't go hunting for a specific episode of a series, very often, unless it is brand new. Like this week's episiode of 'Whatever'.  After a month, he isn't that interested in it any longer.  Pirates will often make due with watching ANY episode of the series they want to watch.  When one chooses to pirate they think, "I want to see some Family Guy", not. "I want to see S04 EP11 of Family Guy."

  The danger of New.  Pirating the newest is often the most dangerous.  This is where the newb pirates get their virii. If something is Hot, then the piracy of it is often harder and more dangerous.  This is where the hackers prey on the pirating community.  Dangerous.

Piracy is VERY time consuming too, especially video.

I have a very hard time with the 1 out of 3 scenario too.  Maybe music, but out of all the geeks that I personally know in Austin, who have lotsa bandwidth,  VERY few of them have ever pirated a Movie, in a torrent form or otherwise.  They are too lazy and too easily frustrated from a technical standpoint.

  But Hey, Terror sells.  And I see the CDN industry, DRM Industry and Gov't funding giving people jobs at the RIAA and MPAA for decades to come. 

  Shame on those of you who make a living by selling FEAR and screaming that the sky is falling.

   b.