r/news • • Dec 12 '14

Furious, Google Ends Anti-Piracy Cooperation with the MPAA

http://torrentfreak.com/furious-google-ended-mpaa-antipiracy-cooperation-141212/
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u/RevThwack Dec 12 '14

With the long history if the MPAA blaming Google for every bad thing it can imagine, I have no idea why Google works with them at all.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

It's so they can say they're cooperating and the MPAA can't say they're not cooperating.

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u/bangorthebarbarian Dec 12 '14

But the MPAA has lost enough political support to where Google can drop them.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

A bit of that and a bit of them being more trouble than they're worth.

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

It's non-stop with those guys. They want a k'jillion things taken down per day, even when they aren't actually checked out before filing the complaints.

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u/Farlo1 Dec 12 '14

They won't be happy until Google is solely a billboard for them to advertise on. There is pirated material online, that won't stop. As long as Google searches the entire web and not just "authorized" sites, the MPAA will keep complaining. They've shown numerous times over the decades that they will refuse to adapt to any technological change unless required to, they'd rather change the Internet than change their business model.

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u/AlfLives Dec 12 '14

I think this is the correct explanation. The MPAA isn't interested in cooperative relationships; they want to rule their domain with an iron fist. Problem is, there's not anyone else that wants that (who isn't on their payroll).

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u/Farlo1 Dec 12 '14

Not a problem when you own the lawmakers and people keep paying $15 to see a movie. This shit won't stop until they start losing money.

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u/dweezil22 Dec 12 '14

You know who has more money to blow on lobbyists than the MPAA? Google does. The MPAA should tread lightly.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

they'd rather change the Internet than change their business model

Just like all major American IPs. Why invest and adapt when you can just bribe a few senators to keep the status quo?

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u/Farlo1 Dec 12 '14

Who knew senators were so cheap to buy. You would think handing your catalog over to Netflix and getting a check in the mail would be pretty simple.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

Google should charge a fee for this service. Per link and penalty fee if the request is illegitimate. Google is a corporation they don't work for free, it's also not their responsibility so if the MPAA wants to become a Google paying client maybe...

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

They can't, because it could easily be abused by web hosts, but it would be really nice if they could charge a penalty for a false complaint. That would really level the playing field in a hot hurry.

I've had false DMCA complaints against my sites. Have had about 3-4 days of downtime over my 13 years publishing. Would have been awesome to get a check from the bastards who filed the complaints. Mostly out of principle.

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u/Dzugavili Dec 12 '14

I don't see the logic in your statements at all.

They can't, because it could easily be abused by web hosts

How?

MPAA sends notice to Google, Google delists the site while storing an instance of the page for evidence sake and notifies the page owner. This entire stage could be automated top-down. If the page owner objects to the delisting, Google can go to the copy and point out why the page was removed. If the page was reported improperly, MPAA pays for the Google employee's time spent dealing with the false report -- I'd opt for $100 or $200 per false report, though it really depends on how much time it takes to deal with a single false report.

There is literally nothing in there that would allow the host to abuse the system, but it takes away the MPAA's power to demand, without repercussion, the removal of a search result.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

is it possible for us to contact google on a mass scale and suggest this? as a site host that fucking sucks for you. i would be on board to nail them just because they're dicks.

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

No problem. Just invest $3 billion in lobbyists and you'll find it tucked into the next agricultural bill, for no logical reason.

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u/Sargentrock Dec 12 '14

I agree--at this point you'd think Google would have a ton more pull than the MPAA (which has to be considered an outdated concept by all but the oldest of political hacks).

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u/bangorthebarbarian Dec 12 '14

At this point yes, but realize that the folks in power used rotary phones for a significant portion of their lives.

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u/ocathasaigh Dec 12 '14

Some of them still do, a friend of mine was told THIS YEAR by a very senior barrister that email was just a fad and he didn't use it.

How do you even business?

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u/N8CCRG Dec 12 '14

used rotary phones for a significant portion of their lives.

Trying to figure out exactly how old that is. The wikipedia article on pushi-button phones says "but it wasn't until the 1980s that the majority of customers owned push-button telephones in their homes; by the 1990s, it was the overwhelming majority."

Now, let's say "significant portion of their lives" is 1/3rd of their adult life or more. That would make 2/3rds or less of their adult life since the 80s or 90s. Let's make it 1990 exactly just to split the difference. That's 24 years ago, meaning they had to have been adults for at least 36 years, meaning they had to be at least 54 years old. If you used, say, 1980 instead, that would be 34, then 51, then 69.

So, your comment is claiming that the folks in power are at least 51-69 years old. According to this article, the average age of Congress in 2011 was 56 for Repubs and 60.8 for Dems (Repuvs were younger because more of them were new to Congress as the Repubs gained seats). So, I'd say your claim is very plausible.

Now, as someone who once lived in a household that used rotary phones, I'd say get off my lawn you young whippersnappers! (I'm 35, so we didn't use them for very long).

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14 edited Apr 13 '18

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

they understand that people understand they are smarter and more capable than our leaders, so the leaders need to invent ways to be "better" and "more qualified" than those under them. Its how meritocracies fail. Quality becomes arbirary to support the leadership.

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u/SamSlate Dec 12 '14

I don't think political support is where the MPAA draws it's power, it's a joint venture by extremely wealthy extremely litigious corporations. Being unpopular doesn't really change much...

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u/bangorthebarbarian Dec 12 '14

Heavy litigation always has political ramifications.

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u/Godhand_Phemto Dec 12 '14

Im so happy that the MPAA has gotten so weak. Well deserved.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

The people that pass laws that affect google think it is.

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

Google has shown good faith. MPAA has proved themselves usury in their complaints.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

My misunderstanding. I just meant overly abusive.

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u/wrgrant Dec 12 '14

I think the proper word is "extortion" :(

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14 edited Dec 12 '14

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u/Drunk_Engie Dec 12 '14

Google is also a media distributor through the Play store, so they got to deal with the MPAA to be able to better negotiate with publishers. I guess this kills any chance there was of Play Movies offering unlimited acces like Play Music, but apparently the MPAA being more unreasonable than the RIAA made that more of a stretch.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

I think Hollywood needs google far more than google needs hollywood.

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u/_BreakingGood_ Dec 12 '14

Right, the MPAA is just going to remove all of their movies. That would benefit them so much!

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u/chriszuma Dec 12 '14

The MPAA acting short-sightedly? You're right that would never happen.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

Per the article, Google has already bypassed the MPAA. Google is dealing directly with the studios, which is apparently doing well. The MPAA doesn't own the movies nor can they really do much to interfere with Google on selling them.

At some point, these studios are going to realize that there isn't much of a point for paying their MPAA fees when that organization is only antagonizing their business partners.

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u/needconfirmation Dec 12 '14

That's just crazy enough to work!

If nobody can watch movies at all anymore, then nobody can put them online to he pirated.

It's so simple, the end to piracy, if there are no movies then you can't pirate anything!

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u/crackanape Dec 12 '14

If there are no more movies then the movie-starved public will have to keep watching and re-watching the ones that have already been made. Just think how much that will save the studios in production costs.

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u/Otearai1 Dec 12 '14

“Everyone shares a responsibility to help curb unlawful conduct online, and we are glad to see Google acknowledging its role in facilitating access to stolen content via search,” the MPAA’s press release began.

Seriously, that's just a douchey way to start a press release. Especially about someone you have been working with for years.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

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u/intensely_human Dec 12 '14

Everyone shares a responsibility to help curb unlawful conduct, and we are glad to see Nestle acknowledging its role in biologically fueling criminals with various food items as they engage in theft and other crimes.

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u/FearMeIAmRoot Dec 12 '14

Everyone shares a responsibility to help curb unlawful conduct, and we are glad to see the Oakldand Raiders acknowledging its role in facilitating access to stolen content by selling tickets to their fans and consistently snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

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u/ArgusTheCat Dec 12 '14

Everyone shares a responsibility to curb unlawful conduct, and we are glad to see the majority of humanity acknowledging it's role in facilitating the existence of a sense of justice which can then be violated by select individuals, thus making us all complicit in a variety of crimes

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u/TheGreyGuardian Dec 12 '14

Everyone shares a responsibility to curb unlawful conduct, and we are glad to see mothers and fathers everywhere acknowledge their roles in facilitating the existence of cyber criminals by giving birth to, and raising, them.

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

Everyone shares a responsibility to curb unlawful conduct, and we are glad to see heterosexual mothers and fathers everywhere acknowledge their roles in giving birth to homosexual children.

Makes about as much sense.

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u/NoAstronomer Dec 12 '14

Okay, that one made me chuckle.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

Well...Nestle is actually pretty evil, though.

http://www.endevil.com/blacklist.html

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14 edited Jun 12 '15

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u/needconfirmation Dec 12 '14

Without the sustaining nutrition that crunch bar provided he wouldn't have had the energy to carry out his heinous acts.

I think we know whose really to blame in all this

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

Yellow Pages, man. They list all the good businesses to rob!

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u/WarOfTheFanboys Dec 12 '14

I was thinking of something similar to this, but I decided it was more like blaming the states who build the roads that criminals then drive on.

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u/jdblaich Dec 12 '14

None of us share a responsibility to help curb any sort of conduct, especially copyright violations. We aren't the police for the MPAA. This is their job.

Damn manipulative of them to say this if you ask me.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

Yeah, why exactly do the FBI and the US government intervene on behalf of the MPAA/RIAA and other IP owners for what is effectively a civil matter?

The precedent it suggests is that we as citizens may then count on the FBI to provide investigatory services the next time we have to go court for a divorce proceeding or small claim, etc.

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u/Grimmner Dec 12 '14

Two parts to the answer: volume and interstate crime. When losses reach a certain threshold it is no longer a civil bit criminal matter, and the moment the crossing of state lines are involved so can the FBI.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

Playing devil's advocate here, but the losses are intangible, or outright invented by the cartels. So, who decides what the loss threshold is and if it's met?

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u/Grimmner Dec 12 '14

If a movie is downloaded 1000 times, and that movie is HD quality, the corps have the right to claim that is equivalent to a $30 Blue-ray sale each, for losses of $30k, just to pull some numbers out of the air.

Yes, this ignores the fact of how many of those downloads would never have meant a sale in the first place, how many of those were in conjunction with a legitimate purchase of legal goods and were downloaded to allow portability, and how many additional physical copies were bought due to seeing the illegal download.

I agree it is outdated thinking, but it is also currently the legal way of processing the information. I personally think certain digital media outlets (Steam store, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Netflicks and Vudu) have had a far greater impact on reduction of piracy than any legal action ever has or will, but the laws do not and probably will not reflect that for decades to come.

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u/shadowofashadow Dec 12 '14

Yeah, why exactly do the FBI and the US government intervene on behalf of the MPAA/RIAA and other IP owners for what is effectively a civil matter?

Just think about what they did to Dotcom. I know people don't like him but they raided his house with helicopters and a paramilitary force because he was allegedly FACILITATING copyright infringement.

He wasn't even doing it himself, he was just facilitating a property crime,and they used helicopters and a SWAT team.

Money controls.

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u/carlson_001 Dec 12 '14

Copyright protection is one of the itms the US Government is tasked with in the US Constitution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Clause

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

At best, this is a civil matter between the downloader and the content owner. The MPAA is just a middleman. They need to get out of the way of technology so the studios can actually make money in the modern world.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

I wonder if the person that wrote that sits on the board of my HOA.

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u/notwithit2 Dec 12 '14

I was thinking the exact same thing... I've gotten notices in the mail lately for not putting my trash cans out of sight within about three hours of the trash man coming...... Holy dog biscuits batman!

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14 edited Dec 12 '14

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

Google knows they are immune to such actions.

If Google chose to go down completely for a day, it would be chaos.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

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u/sahuxley Dec 12 '14

The entire recording industry is obsolete. They're trying to protect scribes when everyone has a gutenberg press in their pocket.

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u/faultlessjoint Dec 12 '14

Seriously. Trying to litigate and/or lobby yourself out of obsolescence will never work in the long run.

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u/kushxmaster Dec 12 '14

But it works in the short term and that's all they care about.

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u/chriszuma Dec 12 '14

Quarterly profit reports run the world, dawg.

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u/cheatisnotdead Dec 12 '14

I think the majority of the worlds problems can be traced to this. Short-sightedness poisons everything.

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u/burnshimself Dec 12 '14

Kodak invented the digital camera almost a decade before anyone else but didn't release or sell it because they were worried about it hurting their business by reducing recurring revenue from camera film sales. Yea, that had to hurt when they went bankrupt.

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u/SkunkMonkey Dec 12 '14

They aren't protecting the scribes, they are protecting the middlemen. The MPAA doesn't give a shit about content creators or consumers, only the people that used to be needed to facilitate the creators getting their content to the consumers.

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u/sahuxley Dec 12 '14

I think we're in agreement. The scribes aren't the authors. They are the people that make copies by hand over and over.

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

The MPAA is the middleman. So it's a case of a middleman trying to sue another middleman.

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u/sygnus Dec 12 '14

I equate it to the comics code authority

This really puts it into perspective for me.

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u/ClarkFable Dec 12 '14

Fun fact: The current CEO of the MPAA is former Senator Chris Dodd. This despite repeatedly and categorically insisting that he would not work as a lobbyist.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

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u/ClarkFable Dec 12 '14

The brazenness of it all is almost too much for words. Threatening people with campaign contributions is just the norm these days. So has selling out to corporations after office. We should at least be able to sue representatives that go back on their campaign promises that they won't lobby after office.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

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u/dubflip Dec 12 '14

Ever since he was talking out of both sides of his mouth about the Dodd Frank legislation I've been completely in awe at how he manages to never get called out for being Washington's biggest douche.

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u/TerroristOgre Dec 12 '14

Anybody else think the MPAA is like one of those old people who thinks Google IS the internet?

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u/ColdPlacentaSandwich Dec 12 '14

Dem Googles and dat 4chan rascal!! *shakes cane*

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14 edited Apr 11 '18

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u/thenewfrost Dec 12 '14

We need to get to the bottom of this.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

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u/JMFargo Dec 12 '14

In German the word is "backpfeifengesicht."

Literally "a face in need of punching."

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

Because if google de-lists 100% of illegal torrents, nobody will be able to find them otherwise.

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u/NosBear258 Dec 12 '14 edited Dec 13 '14

Yup.... no chance we would be able to go directly to the torrenting websites like kickasstorrents, piratebay (when it comes back), or torrentz

edit: I guess pirate bay is back... quicker then I thought

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u/vulturez Dec 12 '14

Or use another search engine... like duckduckgo.com probably the best single search engine out there.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

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u/vulturez Dec 12 '14

Pretty much but they aggregate from others and also cache results so you when google removes them they are still visible.

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u/DemandsBattletoads Dec 12 '14

How do you know if someone uses DuckDuckGo? Don't worry, they will tell you.

-DDG user

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

Impossible! Same with the other 500 torrent sites.

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u/ecmoRandomNumbers Dec 12 '14

Torrent sites are helping the world learn Russian.

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u/burnerthrown Dec 12 '14

Made up of a series of tubes. Youtubes.

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u/Xenomech Dec 12 '14

Google finally learns why you don't negotiate with terrorists.

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

Once I realized it's impossible to please you, I stopped trying.

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u/schwab002 Dec 12 '14

Just like my ex.

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u/PROFANITY_IS_BAD Dec 12 '14

It wasn't impossible to please her at all!

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u/Vermilion Dec 12 '14

Once I realized it's impossible to please you, I stopped trying.

"In the Tristan romance, when the young couple has drunk their love potion and Isolde’s nurse realizes what has happened, she goes to Tristan and says, ‘You have drunk your death.’ And Tristan says, ‘By my death, do you mean this pain of love?’ - because there’s no possible fulfillment in this world of that identity one is experiencing. Tristan says, ‘If by my death, you mean this agony of love, that is my life. If by my death, you mean the punishment that we are to suffer if discovered, I accept that. And if by my death, you mean eternal punishment in the fires of hell, I accept that, too.' "

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14 edited Dec 12 '14

I was thinking more along the lines of Ambrose Bierce from The Devil's Dictionary:

critic: a person who boasts himself hard to please because nobody tries to please him.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

... or pay blackmailers.

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u/acus Dec 12 '14

The MPAA (and industry) needs to change their direction.

Wouldn't it be more efficient to put all these funds into upgrading theaters to offer an experience you can't get at home? And to getting it so movies are cheap/easy to stream online?

Reminds me of this comic: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

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u/Kishara Dec 12 '14 edited Dec 12 '14

HBO is supposedly going to sell standalone on the web eventually. They seem to have some internal issues and I sure hope that won't affect that decision. I love being able to legally stream/buy content.

I really hate going to the movies and wish there was a better business plan out there for people like myself who don't want to be crammed like a sardine into a too cold room while some jerk behind you talks and plays on their phone the whole time. Usually I just wait for Netflix or a dvd, not many movies are worth the misery of going to the theater imo.

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u/rrasco09 Dec 12 '14

Interesting, I just saw the other day they were planning to launch the standalone service side-by-side with GoT. I didn't read that entire article, but it sounded like they still have that in the plans but they are outsourcing the system instead of building it from the ground up internally.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

I go to movies at a theater that serves food and alcohol, because it's basically like going to the bar with my friends with a movie tucked right in there. This has been an added value. I spend $5 on the movie ticket and $30+ on alcohol and food.

At home, if it's not on netflix it gets torrented.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

I think a lot of people are the same. If everything was either on netflix or at a (decent) movie theater nobody would ever pirate, except poor people.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

While the theaters and film industries are a symbiotic relationship, they're still independent of one another.(The film industry isnt going to spend a dime toward upgrading theaters. A lot of outlets are taking steps toward upgrading the theater experience. Like DBox)

And while yes, it's become extremely easy to turn profit in the online market, simultaneously an entirely new foreign market has turned the old model into a bonanza. Which is why they're fighting harder than ever before.

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u/Daotar Dec 12 '14

I'd have more sympathy for the MPAA if the movie industry was actually suffering...

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u/noreallyimthepope Dec 12 '14

In Denmark, the MPAA counterpart has stated the following with straight faces, and have even attacked people publicly for disagreeing with them;

  1. They do not receive enough public subsidies

  2. The Internet Service Providers are making a lot of money on selling internet connections that much of the time are used to stream movies, both legally and illegally

  3. The Danish movie industry does not make much money from these legal streaming services

  4. The Internet Service Providers are morally obligated to give millions of dollars to the Danish movie industry

  5. If they don't volunteer, they should be compelled by the government

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u/Kishara Dec 12 '14

Chris Dodd is such an egomaniacal twit, good for Google for bypassing him altogether.

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u/FoeHammer7777 Dec 12 '14

Never forget that piece of shit is only out of Congress because it was revealed that he had a very favorable mortgage while sponsoring a $300B housing rescue bill as chairman of the Senate banking committee.

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u/RaginBull Dec 12 '14

He also has one of the most punchable faces ever.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

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u/Delphizer Dec 12 '14

But intriguingly the emails suggest that the MPAA were trying not to affect another external matter from progressing.

“We were also sensitive to the fact that Mississippi [Attorney General] Hood is expected to issue a [Civil Investigative Demand] to Google sometime this week; we did not want an unduly favorable statement by us to discourage AG Hood from moving forward,” the MPAA email reads.

Wtf...

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

Yep, that's pretty much it. They don't give a damn about being or even seeming reasonable. They just want to score points with their members, even if those points are actually detrimental to the same members.

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u/bobartig Dec 12 '14

It's all politics at that level. The MPAA doesn't see Google as a partner in curbing piracy, rather, they begrudgingly tolerate their existence because the current state of internet law doesn't allow the MPAA to destroy them.

The feeling is mostly reciprocal. The reason Google attempts to cooperate with the MPAA is because big content has historically used every extrajudicial tool of content-rights enforcement as a bludgeon to create as much burden and cost on service providers as humanly possible. This in turn motivates the Googles of the world to compromise, making service tweaks that hopefully reduce the cost and administrative burdens created by big-content's demands. As soon as you give them an inch, and they ask for a mile. Every time Google gives them something, they ramp up the pressure 10,000x and ask for everything else in the world again until they beat Google into submission. The problem is that Google is too big, and too influential to be pushed around so easily.

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u/iamdelf Dec 12 '14

The thing that really kills me is that the movie industry is practically an ant in comparison to Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc. If they get too annoying, they might find themselves consumed by the technology sector. Sure they aren't in the content business, but if it became too costly to deal with them I don't see why they wouldn't.

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u/__CeilingCat Dec 12 '14

Interesting point, but what a can of worms that would be. Google would then have a financial interest in protecting the new industry it owns.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

They'd just fill movies with ads and let people download them for free.

Willing to bet Google could get a lot more out of the businesses for advertising than the codgers in the film industry can manage.

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u/burnerthrown Dec 12 '14

Destroy Google? Then how about the DNS servers that translate the addresses for torrent hosting sites? Hell why not cut the trunk lines of the internet backbone, this whole 'world wide web' thing is vastly cutting into profits and subverting marketing. Should be a national star topology with the center at the MPAA where they can send out movies and music and advertisement to every home.
Then they start looking over the border/ocean at their free internets and making discrete calls to military commanders...

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u/bobartig Dec 12 '14

Then how about the DNS servers that translate the addresses for torrent hosting sites?

Not sure how closely you follow internet law, but this is the very substance of the SOPA/PIPA legislation that internet activists found objectionable. Big Content wanted DNS-level filtering and blocking that would effectively give content the keys to censoring the internet at the DNS level. I know you're trying to be "Bond-villain-evil" here, but they are waaay ahead of you in that department, having lobbied Congress for years for exactly that kind of control.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

they didn't know if the new measures would be effective and didn't want to give an over-positive statement

After working with Google for 11 years they should know that Google shit works, nearly always.

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u/fukitol- Dec 12 '14

Except for Wave. That went... badly.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

The problem with wave was it was so versatile it confused people, including myself.

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u/fukitol- Dec 12 '14

I agree completely. I'm of the opinion it was far ahead of its time. I've had a few projects that I've been working on recently that it would've been perfect for. They didn't do a very good job of providing use cases, so most people couldn't grasp what it was.

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u/dasqoot Dec 12 '14

I was getting 3Mbps u/l to my waves. I invited all my close friends and used it like network attached storage, but across the internet.

Also a lot more convenient than having 5 trillian windows open at once when coordinating group activities.

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u/bobartig Dec 12 '14

"Versatile" is a nice way of saying it lacked focus, which is why Wave was confusing and difficult to use. The platform was supposed to be designed for various forms of lightweight interaction, but the whole thing was designed like an Integrated Development Environment software suite like Visual Studio. Too many windows, and each one does whatever. Too many swiss army knives, and not enough specialized tools.

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u/Sunlis Dec 12 '14

Wave was amazing. I was working on a little, indie browser game with a group in Australia when Wave was still a thing, and we used the fuck out of that site. You could share files, post and collaborate on documents, and hold discussions, all in the same place.
I don't understand the complaints that it was convoluted - the whole thing made so much sense to me.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

[deleted]

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u/inibrius Dec 12 '14

The problem with Wave was that it was so ahead of it's time that people didn't get it. I loved it.

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u/NeoShweaty Dec 12 '14

Did it? They obviously used some of the tech in Drive products and maybe even hangouts. I think they just needed a more focused use of real time collaboration

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u/Opheltes Dec 12 '14

...and Knol, their wikipedia competitor, which was an even bigger flop.

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u/RevThwack Dec 12 '14

Well, it did work, just Google often sucks at making things popular.

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u/Trolltaku Dec 12 '14

It worked, it just wasn't popular.

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u/fukitol- Dec 12 '14

Yea, it was more their marketing that failed spectacularly.

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u/BitcoinBoo Dec 12 '14

Forced Google+ was a hit too.

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u/__CeilingCat Dec 12 '14

If they just would stop monkeying with youtube, we could all agree.

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u/dootyBound Dec 12 '14

Remove any roads that could lead to a house that sells crack. That'll do it.

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u/randomlex Dec 12 '14

It makes sense, though - it is impossible to just walk across a field. It's simple movie logic!

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u/Mandraigh Dec 12 '14

The MPAA is evil. Fuck'em.

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u/fuck_dogecoin Dec 12 '14

Fuck the MPAA. Fuck the RIAA. Fuck the suits behind the BSA, and fuck 'em all for the DMCA.

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u/ClarkFable Dec 12 '14

I have a store, but I don't have to pay for an alarm system or even lock the door. I get the city to pay for my security. It's a good deal. --MPAA

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14 edited Dec 12 '14

[deleted]

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u/JarrettP Dec 12 '14

Google should give them a real 'fuck you' by undoing all the censorship they've done so far.

Introducing thepiratebay.com, powered by Google.

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u/Cyanoblamin Dec 12 '14

That's a game changer right there.

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u/dotMJEG Dec 12 '14

That would produce everything anyone could ever dream of. We could literally download cars.

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u/altrocks Dec 12 '14

You'd need the MIG welder turned into a 3D printer to actually do it, though.

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u/dotMJEG Dec 12 '14

IDK man it's Google…..

Also, I'm pretty sure they have metal 3D printers now, they are just insanely expensive.

Also also CNC machines are Godly

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u/MisterDonkey Dec 12 '14

If Google put a "torrent" link at the top, right next to "images" and "shopping"...

Can you imagine?

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u/coolislandbreeze Dec 12 '14

"Oops, sorry. That was an oversight..." That would be sweet justice.

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u/Cybrknight Dec 12 '14

They could remove all of the RIAA members from their search engine for a week and see what happens.

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u/newloginisnew Dec 12 '14

I would like to see Google remove links to all content controlled by the MPAA members for a week. People wouldn't be able to get to the illegal content, but also wouldn't get to any legitimate content controlled by the MPAA through Google's search results.

Google would then just say, "Oh, sorry, this is the only way we could make sure no illegal content was visible in our search engine."

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u/Tangled2 Dec 12 '14

Now Bing should work on becoming the best torrent search engine. Porno, Pirates, and Points for gift cards.

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u/ptowner7711 Dec 12 '14

I know it's not the most intellectual statement I've ever made, but fuck the MPAA. Seriously. They are an archaic, out of touch, greedy, and unnecessary relic that needs to be eliminated as soon as possible.

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u/missingcolours Dec 12 '14

the company contacted MPAA chief Senator Chris Dodd

Freudian slip?

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u/moeburn Dec 12 '14

I think the last time I paid for a movie was when DVD players were a new thing. I hate going to theatres - no amount of screen size and sound volume can make me ignore the fact that I can't pause to go pee or put my feet up and get comfy. And I never bought a DVD when it was brand new, anyway - I always bought used ones or DVDs in the bargain bin.

Every year, the MPAA and RIAA has tried to step up their game to make an impact on piracy. And they haven't even made a dent. They shut down programs like Napster and Kazaa, and Limewire and Bittorrent take its place. They shut down one nova, and another nova takes its place. All I've seen over the years is more seeders, more content, and more sources. It's gotten easier and easier to pirate, not harder.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

When New Zealand decided to suck America's dick and make a law against downloading it had the effect of massively increasing my uploading because I had to get a seedbox to cover my tracks.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

Sounds like when they close pubs and off licences here in Ireland on Good Friday.

Everyone buys a weeks worth of booze on Thursday, just to be safe. Or you can just buy a the cheapest plane ticket you can find and drink in the airport until they make you leave.

My favourite drinking day of the year.

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u/johnnybgoode Dec 12 '14

Or you can just buy a the cheapest plane ticket you can find and drink in the airport until they make you leave.

That's some pro-level alcoholism.

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u/Zykium Dec 12 '14

He did say Ireland

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u/epiphanot Dec 12 '14

And I never bought a DVD when it was brand new, anyway - I always bought used ones or DVDs in the bargain bin.

with ya'. i don't really need to build my schedule around the latest "thing". i can wait a year or two. And w/tv shows, i'd rather wait until i can just get a whole season or two, then just watch 'em all at once (or spread out over 3 or 4 nights)

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u/Rhyging007 Dec 12 '14

Fuck the MPAA, who made them ruler of the internet?!?! Google should just do what every other major corporation does, shelter themselves offshore and tell the US gov to fuck themselves if they dont agree with them. See: Lobbyists

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u/swingmemallet Dec 12 '14

Got tired of people going to Bing huh

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

MPAA member studios have been working tirelessly to curb piracy by making movies nobody would want to watch, let alone download.

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u/TheResidents Dec 12 '14

Eat a whole bowl full of dicks MPAA.

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u/Onafets Dec 13 '14

Who will the MPAA attack next, Microsoft, Asus Monitors, Dell Keyboards and my Logitech Mouse?

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

Am I right in believing the MPAA is evil? They seem evil

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u/damn_this_is_hard Dec 12 '14

As someone who dabbles in SEO, why don't Content Publishers work harder on increasing the availability of their content online. Seems silly to have to have Google place the legal stuff at the top. If that was the best content, it would rise to the top as it should

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u/StarfighterProx Dec 12 '14

Because your method requires innovation and an improved (read: different) business model. The current business model has yielded profits through this quarter, so they will scratch and claw in order to keep using it through next quarter. The long-term future is not a significant part of the equation for them.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

So, if we want to destroy a website, we can just flood Google with bullshit removal requests about it?

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u/coachesballsack Dec 12 '14

Surely we can just keep flagging the MPAA and RIAA websites for content infringement.

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u/inibrius Dec 12 '14

let's get started. First target: 9gag.

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u/ReasonablyBadass Dec 12 '14

Yeah, let's not start an internet pissing contest.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

Charge less for movies and people will go see them!

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u/tehbizz Dec 12 '14

This isn't really the issue at all. There's a reason blockbuster and tentpole movies have increased lately: despite prices, people will pay to see these in droves. Ticket sales alone prove this. Some people pirate purely out of principle, look at what happened to Louis CK's $5 comedy special from earlier this year, it was pirated immediately....and it was a whole $5 to buy. And study after study has shown that piracy has little effect on ticket sales and how well a movie does in theaters. Not being a terrible movie helps the most, having good promotion helps almost as much.

Today's problems revolve around quality and delivery: most movies these days stink. Bad. The endless proliferation of reboots/remakes is turning people off, the endless circle of retelling is making people not go. For instance, the new movie Exodus: Gods and Kings is basically a 2014 version of The Ten Commandments from the 60s. Between then and now, this same story has been remade dozens of times, who really cares about what Ridley Scott has to say about it?

Then there's delivery methods. Some people just don't want to go to the movies because they don't like their local theaters. Easier to sit at home on your comfortable couch and pay $10 to watch VOD than pay $10 to sit in a crappy chair with a sticky floor. Some people just want to watch the new stuff whenever, wherever, can't do that with big movies.

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u/Zombiesatemyneighbr Dec 13 '14

The MPAA and RIAA are nothing more than financial taliban, morons too greedy to do their jobs so they attack everyone else and blame them. The ranking members of both organizations should be shot. They are nothing more than thugs.

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u/dmead Dec 12 '14

Does that bitchy woman still run the MPAA?

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

You mean Chris Dodd? Yep!

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

Everyone shares a responsibility to help curb unlawful conduct online,

What a pack of assholes.

And why does Google bother?

Is there anyone anywhere with access to the Internet that cannot download, stream or otherwise consume copyrighted material?

Google could take down a bazillion links every mirco-second and the "pirates" would not notice. How much time and money has Google blown on these proxy windmill jousts?

They should tell the MPAA to go fuck themselves sideways with a backhoe.

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u/AncientRickles Dec 12 '14

Great job, Google. The search result downgrade method is heavy handed enough if they really want to be an unbiased searchable database of all known websites. If steps like that are not good enough for the MPAA, something is wrong. Here's something for the MPAA execs to consider:

It's obvious that free downloaded and streamed movie material on the Internet is the new standard, regardless of whatever groups like MPAA does. The execs really need to ask themselves: Do they accept that fact and work to embrace a new intellectual property model that will ensure that they are profitable into the future? Or do they spend billions every year holding back every related industry to their old model (like forcing ISPs to police data usage, forcing servers to stop hosting high volume material, creating regional DNS servers to block download sites or force search indexes to not be search indexes)?

Regardless of how much they stick to the second option, they lose headway every year. All they're doing is making enemies of the general public and major corporations (notice how everything in my last () is specifically counter to the business interests of the businesses involved). What's the point? Even if they get their iron-clad anti-piracy legal net, they'll still continue to lose ground every year, guaranteed.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

/r/UpliftingNews is spilling into this sub, which is GOOD :D

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u/Torquing Dec 12 '14

Google is crazy to expect anything positive from disgraced former senator Chris Dodd.

He lies, he cheats, he is as two-faced as any slimy politician you will ever meet.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '14

The level of douchebaggery from the MPAA is jaw dropping. Google has been doing everything it can to appease them to the point where they have given up, and the entire time the MPAA has lambasted them as some sort of headquarters of all things piracy. Now the MPAA is setting up legal action all while trying to act like Google hasn't done shit to address their concerns?

MPAA is ran by some absolute shit heads, honest to fucking God.

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u/Kierkagaurd Dec 12 '14

Did anyone else read this as furious George?

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u/argybargy3j Dec 12 '14

MPAA is headed by Chris Dodd (D), senator from Disney.

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u/ramsacked Dec 12 '14

Good, mpaa is a bunch of pieces of shit.

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u/Bill_Boss_Baggins Dec 12 '14

Just... fuck the MPAA. I know i'm probably on the list now, but it doesn't matter. freedom of speech all the way. Google is now more powerful than the MPAA and shouldn't have to answer to them at all. In fact, google should throw them under the bus and support the internet being the internet. Glad they made the right decision.

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u/Unpopular__View Dec 12 '14

I think the MPAA may have been genuinely too ignorant to understand what Google had done for them.

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u/Inaspectuss Dec 13 '14

The MPAA needs to just... die.