FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Tech

Why Is Pirating Still Easier Than Renting?

I've been wanting to watch the OG _Star Wars_ trilogy for about three months now, but I don't have any of the DVDs any more. I don't want to drop "$175 clams":http://www.amazon.com/Trilogy-Empire-Strikes-Widescreen-Edition/dp/B00003CXCT/ref=sr_1_1?ie...

I’ve been wanting to watch the OG Star Wars trilogy for about three months now, but I don’t have any of the DVDs any more. I don’t want to drop $175 clams on a new box set for something I really feel like watching maybe twice a year, and I don’t have a gosh darn clue where to find one of those DVD vending machines. I do have Netflix Instant, which is pretty rad, but of course all of the legendary blockbusters aren’t on there, just as they’re not on Google Play. Really, the easiest thing to do would be to steal the damn things. But, seriously, why the hell is Hollywood so stubborn about releasing content to the web?

Advertisement

David Pogue posed that question in a post at Scientific American:

None of the movie studios would talk to me on the record about this subject, so I can’t tell you why so many major movies are missing. Obviously somebody, somewhere, objects to releasing the rights—a lawyer, a director, a studio executive. (Disney’s Web site answers the question this way: "Unfortunately, it is not possible to release or have all our titles in the market at once." Oh, okay. So they’re not available because they’re not available.) The people want movies. None of Hollywood’s baffling legal constructs will stop the demand. The studios are trying to prevent a dam from bursting by putting up a picket fence.

It’s not like it’s a groundbreaking idea to make money off already-popular content by distributing it online, whether it be via ads, subscriptions, or outright purchases. Is Hollywood worried that putting stuff online will make it more easily pirated? I hope they’re not that stupid, because it’s all already easy to find. Either there’s some sort of unknown calculus at play — those $175 DVDs must have a solid profit margin, after all — or, as demonstrated by networks like NBC who make viewers jump through cable-provider hoops to watch broadcasts (and ads! All-important ads!) online, Hollywood is irrationally scared of reaching the massive, growing viewership who watches everything online. Please, Hollywood, fill us in: What’s the hang-up?

Follow Derek Mead on Twitter: @derektmead.