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Gizmodo is Wrong – This is NOT Why People Still Pirate

3752143560_7fb8c27ce5[1]Did you catch the piracy post over on Gizmodo earlier today?

One blogger posted a rant about an upcoming $100 limited edition boxed set of the Batman movies, and he griped about how the set didn’t include any digital content:

Noticeably missing from that rundown of the $100 boxed set? Any reference to digital media at all. In 2013. Does anyone actually think this makes sense?

Physical vs. Digital Is a False Dichotomy

You could argue that a movie boxed set is a boutique purchase, to be placed on a shelf and admired by enthusiasts. But that belies the real issue here. Mega-fans will always be happy to plunk down a large wad of cash on a nicely packaged set, sure. But there’s no reason to thank that fan for her purchase, and then grab her by the ankles and shake her upside down for the rest of her lunch money when she asks about a digital copy.

While I agree with Kyle in principle, in this particular case I am pretty sure he is wrong. A friend on Twitter was less trusting than I, and he noticed that blu-ray.com lists this boxed set as having digital content (thanks, Victor!):

batman dark night trilogy boxed set

I am not completely sure that this listing is correct, but I would trust it more than the press release.

It’s a pity that the facts don’t support the complaint in this case. Kyle’s post was a good editorial on why people still tend to pirate the content. Even when we pay, we’re still expected to pay a second time for identical content.

image by fuzzcat

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Comments


Fbone July 10, 2013 um 5:47 pm

Pre-order price from the WB store is $69.98


Chris Meadows July 10, 2013 um 9:55 pm

Shrug. Even if it has digital content, why would I want it? It’ll just be locked down to where it’s not useful anyway. I’ve got a Blu-ray drive, a lifetime subscription to SlySoft AnyDVD, and Handbrake.

DavidW July 11, 2013 um 10:23 am

I’m no fan of DRM, but saying that it makes it *not useful* is just flat out wrong. It is the DRM that makes companies feel that they can provide movies and tv on digital format on cloud storage so that one can conveniently watch on all tablets, phones, pc, roku/apple tv. On the other hand you have to physically copy the file over to all of your devices *if they have available memory.*

Good for you making your own copies, but I personally find that inconvenient and borderline useless, and like most would prefer streaming from cloud storage.

Thomas July 11, 2013 um 1:51 pm

Cloud storage is not a digital copy. If I can’t view it without an internet connection, it’s worthless to me. Cloud storage is only convenient if you never leave the broadcast range of a wifi node.


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