Jeremy Clarkson on Torrents

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(it is broadcast in the US on BBCA)

The reason people download is simple.
Availability.
Effort.
(Price)
(I'd be lying if that wasn't there but it's not as big as the other two)

Most movies becomes downloadable before or just hours after the premi?re, after the cinema release it's in TS quality, (after Russian DVD release it's in DVD with crap audio quality) and after DVD release it's in DVD quality. Globally. There's a lot of fansubbing going on so people who aren't native speakers of a language will still understand it.
So a pirated copy of the film can be on your screen some times months before even the theatrical version comes to your country. so Pirated wins hands down in availability.

The effort to go to a torrent site or use a p2p client or any other of the tools people use to find a copy of whatever it is you wish to see vs pretty much all of the commercial tools available to you is almost always simpler and faster and it comes without DRM restrictions. So less hastle, easier to find what you want. another victory for pirated.

Price. though as I mentioned above a lot of people still pay for or buy content, go to movies etc because if you pay for something you will hopefully be able to get more of the type of content you like. But sometimes the price of an item seems to be way out of proportion to it's actual cost or worth just so old media types can still be competitive. This breeds more cynicism amongst some pirates. But you can't get something for nothing and if no one pays or you don't pay for what you like that content creator might not be able to create as much or as good content as you'd like.

So to sum up. Content creators needs to accept more fluid transfers of their creations. the technology is already here it's just for the right holders to accept that they can't artificially create scarcity by holding their creations back and dishing it out to different areas and different people as they like because we are now global. If it's released in Japan today I will want to see it today.
If it's released in the UK today I will want to see it today too.
This is not just a strange sentiment I hold but I think most of us who download the episodes like to see them now rather than in 5-6 months time when they start to air on our local stations and then in a cut down form.
So we want to be able to watch our favourite TV-shows, listen to our favourite artists, see the latest movie at our leisure from the second it is released to whenever we have the time to enjoy it.
And until they meet that demand we will most likely keep pirating.
 
Yarr. I must spread the booty around before the x marks the spot on salle again, me hearties.
 
Shawn said:
According to Clarkson it's also broadcast everywhere but America.
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Again - Lies. I can tell you for sure that it is not broadcasted in Bulgaria. There is a show Top Gear Bulgaria...which is like the Romanian one. It's rubbish. They borrow new cars from dealerships, and they dare not do smoking tires, because you see tires were too expensive.

And to be completely accurate - yes, Top Gear UK episodes are broadcasted in Bulgaria...but they are showing Season 10 currently. :?
 
Just saw this one. Interesting read, but Clarkson's problem is the same as the attitudes of big media: an antiquated view of distribution.

The fact is that many music labels are making a killing off online music sales, and I don't want to hear another word about how they want more money "for the artists." That's a load of bullshit. Check out this article if you doubt me: http://gizmodo.com/5417318/my-6247-...-labels-cook-the-books-with-digital-downloads

Sites like Hulu and Pandora are immensely popular. I love Hulu and watch most my TV there, the rest is on DVR. On the DVR I skip all the commercials, but the commercials on Hulu are so short that I don't mind sitting through them; and that's saying a lot because I have a near-pathological aversion to commercials. So Hulu is incredibly popular and they can sell advertising on a per-watch basis since they know exactly how many people watch a given ad rather than rely on the flawed Neilsen Ratings. They can also cross reference what shows are being watched by which people, so if you watch Futurama they know how likely you are to also watch Stargate.

It's a great system. I get my TV shows on demand, even for channels I don't get and advertisers actually get me to watch their ads. Everyone wins.

So what do they do? Announce that Hulu will begin charging for content next year. Well, fuck you. I'm going to go back to torrents. The RIAA tried to shut down Pandora. Try it, you take away my internet radio and I'll go back to stealing music or supporting unsigned artists.

Get with the program, online content is here and it's not going away. As Clarkson said, there's not a damn thing you can do about it. So here's a thought, instead of trying to fight the inevitable why don't they embrace it? Offer streaming content or on demand content online. I'll even pay a nominal fee - but I won't pay four or five fees. I pay for NetFlix and I get streaming content, but I don't want to have to pay another $10 a month to another three services just to get the shows I want.

Create a single online "Content Pass" that allows me to get all the shows from all the studios for a single, small fee. I'll pay. But if you do I don't want to see any ads. If you want to advertise to me then use that money to pay for the content.

Either way, we both win. I get to see my shows, you get money. I'm not trying to take the bread from your mouths, but I'm also not willing to subsidize antiquated business models for companies that refuse to adapt. We, the consumers, have told you what we want; either provide it or perish. Your choice.
 
_HighVoltage_ said:
Again - Lies. I can tell you for sure that it is not broadcasted in Bulgaria. There is a show Top Gear Bulgaria...which is like the Romanian one. It's rubbish. They borrow new cars from dealerships, and they dare not do smoking tires, because you see tires were too expensive.

And to be completely accurate - yes, Top Gear UK episodes are broadcasted in Bulgaria...but they are showing Season 10 currently. :?
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I was only responding to Clarkson's points about torrents and not P2P in general, so I was going by his own statements.

Clarkson says Top Gear is the most illegally downloaded show, but he also says "it is shown everywhere but America." We also know TG to be the BBC's most popular program by far.

I don't care if those facts are true, I was just trying to see if there's any logic to Clarkson's arguments or not. I know the issue of torrents/P2P goes far beyond this and isn't as black and white, but as far as I see it Clarkson doesn't make a single decent point and that's because he has none.

Seriously, if he believes Top Gear airs everywhere but America, then he should be working towards getting it shown in America so he can get royalty cheques from all countries around the world, Papua New Guinea to the Central African Republic... why even concern yourself with torrent downloads if you're already the biggest thing around?

Basically, my point is that Jeremy doesn't have a clue what he's talking about and in my mind I lost a tiny bit of respect for him over this. The only reason he feels he has any credence to talk about this issue is that he's "the host of the most illegally downloaded show in the world" - sorry, but that obviously doesn't qualify one to make logical statements that don't make you look a greedy douche.
 
Meh, this genie is out of the bottle, and is never going back in, no matter how bad the 'The Powers that Be' want it gone.

Newspapers, magazines, films, jokes, music: all of it can be, and is being, circulated for nothing, which means the person who wrote and prepared and slaved over the original product is not being paid.
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I got news for you Clarkson, if I had to pay for every newspaper, magazine, film, music etc. I read, watched, or listened to, then I wouldn't buy them at all (maybe one or two, can't afford them all), and would probably find a substitute activity to take its place. In essence what I'm saying is that the creators of that content won't loose a dime they wouldn't have gotten from me anyway.

That being said, once I find an artist worth listening to or a movie worth watching, I will whole-heartedly support it's creators by buying past, present, and future albums and films. Part of the problem here is that people like Clarkson like to paint every "illegal" content downloader with the same broad brush. They seem to think that download figures tell the whole story, when in reality that's far from the truth. I wouldn't say I've "lost respect" for Clarkson, if anything I kinda suspected this type of sentiment knowing his quasi-childish nature and all. My two cents.
 
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Call me a Sucker. But I both download the torrent and buy whatever is available on iTunes. I even bought a lot Clarkson dvd's. But Torrents is the only way to get new un-edited Top Gear. (In The U.S)
 
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Simple solution to his problem - if you don't want me to "steal" episodes, then provide a means for me to get them legitimately (in-tact, full, and up to date eps, not the abortions on BBCA.) Until you do that, stop complaining.

The TV industry really needs to get caught up. Some stations are starting to get it. Provide full, up to date, episodes of your own programs through your own website. Then you continue to get ad revenue and are able to draw viewers who either don't have cable, or don't revolve their lives around TV schedules. Comedy Central keeps full episodes of the Daily Show and The Colbert Report up on their site immediately after it airs on their station. That way, I can watch it the morning after, and they're able to sell ads against that. I can get full South Park eps from SouthParkStudios.com. NBC keeps new episodes of their shows up on their site, as well.
 
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When I first started to watch Top Gear, I was downloading through iTunes. Then I realized that iTunes was a full bloody season behind. Why should I be forced to watch outdated material just because I don't live in Europe? Then they release it on BBC America - but with much of the good bits cut out of it? If the BBC is truly concerned with illegal downloading, why not just make the episodes available on the internet, but with ads? I for one wouldn't mind watching even if there were commercials. If they did that, they'd still be making money through those of us watching here on the web. Either that, or have iTunes get their shit in gear and offer up to date seasons. I'd certainly buy them in that case, not only because I could watch them on my iPod but because I'd be happy knowing I was supporting the show.
 
I e-mailed a suggestion to BBCA some time ago that I still believe would be a good idea. First off, give us current episodes (both of TG and of the other shows they air.) Secondly, increase the time slot to 90 minutes, that way, they can include ads without removing content. No idea why they think it's better to remove content than it is to extend the time slot.
 
ZeDestructor said:
Why wouldn't you? I want to buy originals to support the team, but lack of availability and funds prevent me from doing so :(
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Someone negrepped me for my remark, so I may need to clarify.

Reason I wouldn't pay for JC's DVDs is very simple: product quality and the net gain I get from owning it isn't up to what I'm asked to pay for it.

His DVDs have two things to offer: entertainment, and information on new, nice cars. I've watched oodles of those DVDs (see "try before you buy") and they never deliver. I get very little to no entertainment from them and all the car stuff is recycled from his newspaper columns and/or Top Gear.

Nothing useful flows my way, so in return, nothing useful will go in their direction from me.

I just wish the entertainment industry implemented "try before you buy" in a real, legal way that covered all the material.

One last thing, Top Gear does deliver, so if I saw DVDs of that in nearby shops, I'd buy them. Because I've tried them for free and know that they deliver.

Having now actually read my last post, I said I wouldn't pay for TG. Well, clearly I was exaggerating there...
 
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I am sorry but his show is technically on public television and not being able to get a decent or timely or cheap rip from itunes makes it hard not to have to download this show. Plus what does he care. His show is wildly successful, he is completely rich and has a loyal fan base rival to some rock stars.
 
Stop bumping old threads unless you want to get yourself banned.
 
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