For future streaming of games if anybody needs them.

[ChicosBailBonds]

That's exactly my point I would rather pay the $5 per month for quality MU broadcasts and jettison ESPN all together.

But that's the problem...it wouldn't be $5 just for MU broadcasts.  You lose all economies of scale.  Would you pay $25 a month just for MU broadcasts?

[ChicosBailBonds]

how about movies, software, etc. 

Those two entities are fighting piracy like crazy right now.  Latest device out of India actually has a blocking mechanism in place in a theater where if someone tries to record a movie with a handheld camera in a theatre and then put it on torrent, the recording is just a grey screen.  It somehow renders the recording null.  I'm sure the other side will figure a way around it, but that's the latest development the studios are going through.

On the video game side, I have two guys where one was former Sony and the other Microsoft and worked on the Xbox platform.  Some very interesting things that they are doing with the PS4 and next gen XBox.  Things like marrying the games to that specific box permanently.  Meaning the used game market goes bye bye and puts a severe crimp on piracy.  (You can imagine there are many in the gaming community that are not happy about this).  It will use a conditional access system much like satellite tv does where the codes change all the time at the box level with an algorithm that is unbreakable in theory because it changes every few hours.  If you break it, your window is open for such a short time you have to re-break it again with a totally different key.  We'll see if they launch with this system or not, much controversy about it, but it can be done and has been developed.

[avid1010]

Those two entities are fighting piracy like crazy right now. 

some embrace it...

[Marqevans]

More like somewhere in between.  HBO already knows that some people pirating used to pay for it.  They know that from their own studies.  Now, is it true that some would never watch it at all and no lost revenue?  Of course.  The answer lies in between.

The question is how many dropped HBO because they no longer could afford it, versus they dropped it because they found it for free online.

[DaCoach]

People form their own opinions of what is a good law and what is not. Prohibition was largely ignored and was ultimately repealed. The prohibition against importing drugs from outside the US is a sham that no longer is   recognized as against the public interest. There is another important distinction with music and software and streaming over the net. The products lack the distinction between the physicality of the item and the lack of the same by obtaining over the internet. People who would never go into Walmart and steal a disc have no compunction from using a torrent to obtain the same equivalent.

You want to stop pirating? Change people's attitudes. Meantime I'm not holding my breath. People are facing big conglomerates who lack sufficient competition. Look at the case of AT&T when their monopoly was broken up. Prices went down and services improved. Until the networks stop charging what many consider outrageous fees, expect the public to push back in ways they consider appropriate retribution. 

[DaCoach]

When I had Directv, it included SNY and MSG and most MU games were televised that weren't available on the big networks. Now I have Xfinity and SNY is included. However, the games are blacked out because they say I need to buy another package at an additional fee. Is that fair? Not in my mind. So I choose to find another source for the games. If the blackout rules aren't fair with me, I choose my options to level the playing field.

[Marqevans]

We used to get all our sports for free. The only cost was watching commercials.  Now we have to buy cable and still watch the same commercials. Meanwhile ball players get paid generation sustaining salaries while we pay through the nose for TV and the products we buy because they had to pay high advertising costs.

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

Speaking of illegally downloading Game of Thrones...

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

[GGGG]

Speaking of illegally downloading Game of Thrones...

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

That's good.  It kind of reminds me of the initial response to Napster by the recording industry.  It wasn't until iTunes made it relatively cheap and easy that the mainstream stopped resorting to piracy. 

[Benny B]

That's good.  It kind of reminds me of the initial response to Napster by the recording industry.  It wasn't until iTunes made it relatively cheap and easy that the mainstream stopped resorting to piracy. 

Liiiiiiiiight-bulb.

[nathanziarek]

My only problem with the Oatmeal's logic is that you don't have an inherent right to any of that content both exactly when and how you want it. You can think it's dumb or pricing gouging or antiquated...but the sense of entitlement gets to me.

[nathanziarek]

I have Xfinity and SNY is included. However, the games are blacked out because they say I need to buy another package at an additional fee. Is that fair?

Are you forced to purchase this cable package? Couldn't you go back to directv?

I choose to find another source for the games. If the blackout rules aren't fair with me, I choose my options to level the playing field.

I'm just curious how far this attitude goes. Are there other products you think are inappropriately priced that you choose to "level the playing field" with?

[avid1010]

Are you forced to purchase this cable package? Couldn't you go back to directv?

I'm just curious how far this attitude goes. Are there other products you think are inappropriately priced that you choose to "level the playing field" with?

i don't think it's a product issue, it's a legal issue, and in this case people are breaking the law to save $$$.  we all break laws on a daily basis, and we all have to decide if we can then look ourselves in the mirror, and decide if the risk is worth the reward.

the entitlement argument is interesting...i never thought of it through that lens, but i don't believe there is a cable or dish provider that wouldn't gladly screw me over if it were in their best interest.  people post ESPN insider articles on here all the time..i don't see it as a sense of entitlement, and i surely don't feel bad for ESPN. 

[DaCoach]

Are you forced to purchase this cable package? Couldn't you go back to directv?

I am not forced. However, one of the reasons I chose Xfinity was the SNY channel. They neglected to mention any blackout rules and there is a 1 year agreement involved.

I'm just curious how far this attitude goes. Are there other products you think are inappropriately priced that you choose to "level the playing field" with?

Let me ask if you ever leave work early or fudge on an expense account or taxes. How about speeding or crossing against the light? Listen, we all make ethical decisions that are questionable. If I chose to use a streaming source to watch games that I'd never pay for, how much money has the network lost? Now you can suggest my moral code doesn't meet your standards, but I can live with it.

[BostonMUaler]

When the Market availability and pricing models do not stay up to the consumer standards piracy happens.
I have have a "low social morality" when it comes to the media movie industry and believe that these powers (MPAA, RIAA, Ect) need to be challenged in order to change. Why should I not be able to watch any game regardless of blackouts if I pay for a service to watch games or other entertainment.
Things like Spotify have given consumers a model that benefits all and why I have not pirated music content since my first experience with it in Europe years ago. I have and will continue to pirate media until the industry can rise to the occasion or sink like blockbuster did. Don't hate the Player, Hate the Game!

[ChicosBailBonds]

Let me ask if you ever leave work early or fudge on an expense account or taxes. How about speeding or crossing against the light? Listen, we all make ethical decisions that are questionable. If I chose to use a streaming source to watch games that I'd never pay for, how much money has the network lost? Now you can suggest my moral code doesn't meet your standards, but I can live with it.

Never fudge an expense account in my life.  Never cheated on my taxes in my life. 

Yes, we all have our own moral codes, no one denies that.  There's a reason that honest folks pay more taxes than dishonest folks, because they're honest.  There's a reason why honest folks pay higher insurance rates than dishonest ones that commit fraud, because they're honest.  There's a reason why honest folks pay more for cable or television or music, because they're they're honest.  Unfortunately, dishonesty drives up the prices for everyone else.   You can live with it, that's fine.  Unfortunate for others that are playing it straight.

[ChicosBailBonds]

When the Market availability and pricing models do not stay up to the consumer standards piracy happens.
I have have a "low social morality" when it comes to the media movie industry and believe that these powers (MPAA, RIAA, Ect) need to be challenged in order to change. Why should I not be able to watch any game regardless of blackouts if I pay for a service to watch games or other entertainment.
Things like Spotify have given consumers a model that benefits all and why I have not pirated music content since my first experience with it in Europe years ago. I have and will continue to pirate media until the industry can rise to the occasion or sink like blockbuster did. Don't hate the Player, Hate the Game!

Justification...word.  I don't like paying taxes and think it is absurd how the gov't spends money, I shall henceforth not pay them as a result.  Welcome to the slippery slope.  Happy New Year

[ChicosBailBonds]

Liiiiiiiiight-bulb.

[GGGG]

Why is it apples and oranges?  I think the point is that to provide an easy to use, relatively cheap model is probably going to maximize revenue because it keeps people away from privacy.  It may not cover costs completely, but it may provide something that they aren't getting now.

[keefe]

Those two entities are fighting piracy like crazy right now. 

The Nazis fought hard too...

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

If you don't like the way the conversation is going, just say "apples vs oranges".

Music is entertainment, and the music companies are in the entertainment distribution business.

Television shows and movies are entertainment, and the production companies and networks are in the entertainment distribution business.

The idea that they are completely beyond comparison is shortsighted, and quite frankly, arrogant.

Sony had the Walkman and their own record label LONG before Apple ever thought of iTunes and the iPod. If Sony was more progressive and a little smarter, they would have been way out front of the digital music revolution.

They weren't. Somebody probably said something like: "We are in the music business, not the computer business. It's apples and oranges."

Idiots.

Chico's, I know you have a ton of insider knowledge on this topic, but I think you might be too close to it to see the bigger picture and the inevitable evolution of how content is distributed.

[keefe]

Never fudge an expense account in my life.  Never cheated on my taxes in my life. 

And you never lie...

[keefe]

Chico's, I know you have a ton of insider knowledge on this topic, but I think you might be too close to it to see the bigger picture and the inevitable evolution of how content is distributed.

Guy claims to negotiate content deals then has hardware developers on his team too...Must be the Uber Jefe of DirecTV or...???

[Skatastrophy]

Stop with the personal attacks stuff.  It never makes thread better.

[keefe]

Stop with the personal attacks stuff.  It never makes thread better.

Just pointing out the fact that someone here is claiming to do everything within one company to undermine the opinions of others ("I am an expert, here is the basis of that expertise, you are uninformed and therefore wrong...") for the sake of winning an argument. Funnily enough, I cannot understand why people need to "win" here. It is silly. It is easy to be an expert on a site like this. To get angry with others because they don't agree with your view, opinion, or alleged expertise is stupid and suggests a pretty shallow life.