Dish to begin DRM on PPV May 6th

[wetz73]

If you go to the movie theater today and purchase a ticket to Iron Man, does this entitle you to show up any time you would like during the next few months to stop in and watch the movie? If you go to the video store and rent a DVD, does this give you the right to hold onto that DVD as long as you would like and pay nothing more than the original rental fee? OF COURSE NOT!!!!! We have been bucking the system for several years now with DVR's and now they have figured out a way to stop us from doing it. If you want to own a movie, you can go buy it for $15-$20. If you just want to watch it once or twice, either go rent it and get it on PPV. Either way, it's due back the next day.

 

[tawhite]

If you go to the movie theater today and purchase a ticket to Iron Man, does this entitle you to show up any time you would like during the next few months to stop in and watch the movie? If you go to the video store and rent a DVD, does this give you the right to hold onto that DVD as long as you would like and pay nothing more than the original rental fee? OF COURSE NOT!!!!! We have been bucking the system for several years now with DVR's and now they have figured out a way to stop us from doing it. If you want to own a movie, you can go buy it for $15-$20. If you just want to watch it once or twice, either go rent it and get it on PPV. Either way, it's due back the next day.

The more I think about it the more I have to agree with the above post. With PPV you are renting not buying the movie so it's not all that unfair to have a time restriction on it. With that said, from a value standpoint the price of these movies has really gotten to high for me. For the price of about three PPVs I can watch about as many movies as I can find the time for through Netflix in a month. It's just a better value IMHO.

 

[tomcrown1]

If you go to the movie theater today and purchase a ticket to Iron Man, does this entitle you to show up any time you would like during the next few months to stop in and watch the movie? If you go to the video store and rent a DVD, does this give you the right to hold onto that DVD as long as you would like and pay nothing more than the original rental fee? OF COURSE NOT!!!!! We have been bucking the system for several years now with DVR's and now they have figured out a way to stop us from doing it. If you want to own a movie, you can go buy it for $15-$20. If you just want to watch it once or twice, either go rent it and get it on PPV. Either way, it's due back the next day.

UGH? What about Netflix--I can view the Movie over any time period I choose--The only thing is that if I do not return the movie I will not be able to watch a new one.

 

[Tyralak]

UGH? What about Netflix--I can view the Movie over any time period I choose--The only thing is that if I do not return the movie I will not be able to watch a new one.

Blockbuster does the same thing. Even at their stores.

 

[wetz73]

UGH? What about Netflix--I can view the Movie over any time period I choose--The only thing is that if I do not return the movie I will not be able to watch a new one.

You'll still be charged your monthy membership fee, so if you want to keep the same movie for 6 months, it will cost you about $78 if you are getting two at once.

 

[geekboy2000]

We had plenty of warning that this was coming and the most people either didn't believe it or were apparently ok with it.

Now before you apologists jump in and defend Dish by saying it's industry wide, keep in mind that if even a couple of the major providers (Dish being one of them) had flat out said "NO" or even tried to fight it and rally consumers, we might have been able to do something (like with the original broadcast flag).

It's about time people stood up to the blood-sucking production companies and pushed congress for some real "Fair Use" legislation.

If we don't and no resistance goes forth, I can guaranfuckingtee you it won't be limited to PPV for very long and you'll eventually be paying somebody something every time you walk past a movie.

Geesh this pisses me off!

Did Hilary Rosen of the RIAA change jobs and wake up on the wrong side of the bed again? Don't worry folks. This is the same knee-jerk reaction we've seen before in the music industry. As these knuckle-heads watch their revenue steadily decline, they'll eventually come to their senses. Just as people did with music, folks will just go elsewhere to get a reasonable/fair deal.

 

[Smith P.]

I looked ahead in the guide and saw several, but not all movies showing a yellow "lmited recording" tag. It seems like it's only certain movies.

Ah, I got it - the flag is bound to particular movie in EPG. OK. Let me sleep on that for while. Thanks for info.

 

[volzjr]

If you go to the movie theater today and purchase a ticket to Iron Man, does this entitle you to show up any time you would like during the next few months to stop in and watch the movie? If you go to the video store and rent a DVD, does this give you the right to hold onto that DVD as long as you would like and pay nothing more than the original rental fee? OF COURSE NOT!!!!! We have been bucking the system for several years now with DVR's and now they have figured out a way to stop us from doing it. If you want to own a movie, you can go buy it for $15-$20. If you just want to watch it once or twice, either go rent it and get it on PPV. Either way, it's due back the next day.

The above illustrations are certainly correct (except for it being due back the next day... You get about two weeks from Blockbuster for about the same price! :down). However, when we were allowed to save movies and watch them indefinitely, Dish figured that was worth between $4.99 to $5.99 per movie. Now that we can only view them for 24 hours, the price should be changed to reflect this EXTREMELY limited viewing window. When I say changed, I mean dropped! They took a Corvette, dropped in a Pinto engine and a Yugo interior, but are charging the same price. Wrong!

 

[kstuart]

In case you're pointing to me.................., I've owned & run my own business since around 1970 and currently support a family of 10 with it. My business provides a service and graphical product to customers.

Never in almost 40 years have I provided something to my customer and then turned around and put restrictions on his rights to it. Never.

Granted, the business comparisons aren't the same but I do have to compete against people willing to things to gain a business edge that I consider a personal compromise and I probably loose jobs because of it but that's the way it is.

If something is wrong, it's wrong and imho taking away what someone's always been allowed to do or have is wrong. It doesn't become right just because everyone else does it and you're not any less culpable just because you're the last to give in to it.

Too bad you didn't bother to read more than the first sentence of my post.

 

[Tyralak]

The above illustrations are certainly correct (except for it being due back the next day... You get about two weeks from Blockbuster for about the same price! :down). However, when we were allowed to save movies and watch them indefinitely, Dish figured that was worth between $4.99 to $5.99 per movie. Now that we can only view them for 24 hours, the price should be changed to reflect this EXTREMELY limited viewing window. When I say changed, I mean dropped! They took a Corvette, dropped in a Pinto engine and a Yugo interior, but are charging the same price. Wrong!

I'd pay $1 for 24 hrs.

 

[Apologist]

This really sucks. Does this crap only pertain to PPV? Hopefully they won't do this with HBO/Showtime.

 

[waltinvt]

Too bad you didn't bother to read more than the first sentence of my post[/'b].

How do you know what I read or didn't read? You peeking?

Actually I did read it and it is a valid prospective. I just don't see it as applicable to "E". Charlie's a dog & pony show type of guy and he's also cheaper than bark on a tree (as you attest to in the Lifetime analogy). That said, he's no dummy and had to foresee when the light bulbs started to click on (as evidence by this thread) this hurting his PPV revenues and maybe more. No, the way this went down, I just can't help believe there was some major hand holding going on under the poker table.

 

[Tyralak]

If you go to the movie theater today and purchase a ticket to Iron Man, does this entitle you to show up any time you would like during the next few months to stop in and watch the movie? If you go to the video store and rent a DVD, does this give you the right to hold onto that DVD as long as you would like and pay nothing more than the original rental fee? OF COURSE NOT!!!!! We have been bucking the system for several years now with DVR's and now they have figured out a way to stop us from doing it. If you want to own a movie, you can go buy it for $15-$20. If you just want to watch it once or twice, either go rent it and get it on PPV. Either way, it's due back the next day.

The problem with that logic, is that you wait for a few months, and it's on Starz or Showtime. You've always been able to record it and keep it as long as you want. PPV is just paying for having access to the newest of new releases. It's never been understood to be a time-limited viewing. This is something new, and it's just greed. Somehow the studios think they're gong to get more money from people. They aren't. In fact, they will get less. People will stop buying PPV. The only people who will continue ordering it will be those who have non-DVR systems, and are used to just watching it when it comes on.

 

[NpaulTodd]

Anyone who thinks this is going to remain limited to PPV is naive. You have to look at the bigger picture here folks. This is about greed and power and it will go as far as it's allowed to. I'm betting money it won't be long before we see it on all the premium movie channels and probably eventually on prime time network tv.

just keep making people madder , all you will get is more torrents , torrents can not be stopped , as most good sites are hosted in 3rd world county where US law & gov have no authority in , this kinda DRM crap is only gonna make it worse for those trying to protect it , if they start this crap with movie ch ( ie HBO ) I will drop those packages & just download whatever I need ( because within 3 hours of airing its all over the net , I would like to hear more about HBO , what are they gonna do , they better not put a limit on my DVR stuff Keep your greasy palms off my DVR:

 

[NpaulTodd]

Of course I can't find the link now, but D* started doing this on HBO starting with the "John Adams" mini-series on Tivo receivers. The day that happens with HBO on E* is the day I cancel 'em. If I remember correctly, not only was there a 24 hour window, but it could only be viewed ONCE, period.

Ed

can we file a class action lawsuit on this , do we have any grounds?

 

[treiher]

If you go to the movie theater today and purchase a ticket to Iron Man, does this entitle you to show up any time you would like during the next few months to stop in and watch the movie? If you go to the video store and rent a DVD, does this give you the right to hold onto that DVD as long as you would like and pay nothing more than the original rental fee? OF COURSE NOT!!!!! We have been bucking the system for several years now with DVR's and now they have figured out a way to stop us from doing it. If you want to own a movie, you can go buy it for $15-$20. If you just want to watch it once or twice, either go rent it and get it on PPV. Either way, it's due back the next day.

You know, you can justify it all day long, but it still does not change the fact that paying the rates they charge for PPV movies is no longer worth it. Being able to keep those movies and watch them again helped justify the cost, some. When you rent a movie from Netflix or Blockbuster, are you allowed to only watch it once, and return it within 24 hours? OF COURSE NOT!!!!! (to borrow your words) I don't know where you rent your movies, but I would consider looking elsewhere if it's due back the next day. The bottom line is, whether we think it is fair or not, it won't matter. People will not buy it because it will not be worth it.

Now the HBO and other premium channels stuff they are evidently pulling on Direct TV is another matter too. It's just plane silly. So they run John Adams six times inside of a week. I guess you could record each occurrence of the same episode, in case you wanted to watch it more than once. But they repeat the same episodes and movies all the time. In fact, they will run it to the ground, to the point where you are sick of watching it. So that's OK, I guess, just as long as you get tired of it on their schedule instead of yours? Are they serious? The King of repeat and run movies into the ground doesn't want you to DVR and save it so you can watch it again? And it's not like keeping movies in your DVR causes you to cancel their service if you have HBO. Do they think people store up a bunch of movies and then cancel their premium service? Wait until they roll this policy out to the premium channels, then watch the cancellations roll in. And then you could have a situation where STARZ advertises DRM free movies, and has an advantage over HBO, just as an example. I don't think this will play out like the powers that make these decisions think.

 

[Smith P.]

For me is major drawback in wetz73 post what doesn't works in this case - you're watching a movie on big screen with superior quality of video and audio parts. Home PPV is a crap if you want to compare to home TV.

 

[ekilgus]

What's all the fuss? They're just screwing themselves with that DRM crap. As previously stated, one can wait a few months and watch/record the movie off of one of the premimum channels. If you don't want to wait you can rent it from whatever service you use, burn a copy and you can watch the movie anytime you like as many times as you like.

Finally, there are a ton of movies you can download and burn to a DVD. I'm just getting into this and I think the going cost is about $4.99 a download.

I think there will be a lot more of this going on and a lot less PPV purchases.

 

[vegassatellite]

I fail to see their logic. Sure, people might pay $4 to $5 for the instant gratification that comes with ordering a movie via PPV, but how many will pay that again if they feel like watching the same movie a week from now? That's $9 to watch a movie twice in a week, when you could own the DVD for a little more than that.

There simply isn't enough re-ordering of the same movies on PPV by the same households to rationalize that this would create additional revenue streams. The only way I see this as being financially logical, is if they are hoping people will be forced to buy the DVD if they want to see it again after the DRM period expires. Then again, I don't know of too many people rushing out to buy the movie within a real short period of having seen it on PPV. To that extent, a 30-60 day DRM limit probably would have gone over with much less anger. People could still see the movie for a while, but would eventually have to buy it if they want to casually view it on a whim later.

 

[reallyniceguy]

hmm anyway to "back up" ppvs onto dvd or something? :/