DVDs forcing users towards piracy - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

AngelicVampire · 03-15-2006, 02:05 AM

Now normally I don't mind buying DVDs, I feel that unlike music CDs they do offer a generally good money/enjoyment-time ratio. However Recently DVDs have started putting unskippable trailers and adverts into their releases (and not just watch once, watch every time!) and I find this so upsetting, I want to watch a movie not a set of trailers and ads.

Anyone else feel that the studios are upsetting buyers with unnecessary ads rather than just giving us what we wanted?

Thanks for reading, rant over.

Psycho Dad · 03-15-2006, 02:28 AM

I don't see where this forces a movie watcher towards piracy. But I do hate when you can't fast forward through what you don't want to see. On the flipside, I have seen a few movies lately where I didn't even see previews until the end.

I also seem to recall seeing where some state rep wanted to make it mandatory that these couldn't be fast forwarded through. Gotta go google that up to make sure.

Edit: wather?

hulk · 03-15-2006, 03:37 AM

I find it's generally rental DVDs that do this, other than new ones. With the right player and a bit of know-how you can usually skip titles to the feature direct. Still, it's bloody annoying and I wish someone would make a player that would ignore no skip/no fast forward instructions.

CSflim · 03-15-2006, 04:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psycho Dad

I don't see where this forces a movie wather towards piracy.

Well, I don't think it's forcing people towards piracy, but its certainly an incentive. I can't stand it when this is done to DVDs. It's something that really bugs me. Just the sheer arrogance of it. On more than one ocassion I've contemplated burning a copy of a DVD, just so I can play it the way I want to play it.

And it's not just the ads - its the seemingly endless torrent of bullshit. The distributor's logo shown for a solid minute, followed by the producion house's logo, fo a solid minute, followed by the production-distribution-company's best friend's company's logo for a minute, followed by the tv channel that it first aired on's logo for a solid minute, followed by a copyright notice for a solid minute, followed by a 'views expressed on commentary track's are not those of Corporation Inc.' notice, for a solid minute, warning this show contains adult situations, for a solid fucking minute, followed by "warning, these are trained professionals, don't set yourself on fire while absailing down skyscraper at home" for a solid minute. And then all of the above, repeated five more times in five different languages.

flat5 · 03-15-2006, 06:00 AM

uh...yeah, THAT might be annoying :-)

xepherys · 03-15-2006, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hulk

Still, it's bloody annoying and I wish someone would make a player that would ignore no skip/no fast forward instructions.

I don't know if they still do, but Apex Digital (Apex) was reknown for this as recently as a year ago. They also allowed "access" to their diagnostics menu where you could disable the signal scrambling as well as region encoding (or on some models change it unlimited times). The model I had ignored all no-skip info on the disc. It was a beautiful thing. It also played burned discs with ease and played MP3 discs before any major brands did. I have a small Sony DVD player now because I'm a whore for quality, but if you're looking for a workaround, Apex players are nice.

Regarding the original topic, why is this suprising? The entertainment industry, music and movies combined, don't give a rats ass about the consumer... they care about lining their pockets. Unfortunately the public at large has shown that it's willing to play those games and still shell out dough for discs. Frankly, I don't care. I only buy DVDs for movies I REALLY want to own. If I want it that bad, I am happy to hit play then go pop some popcorn and come back *shrug*. It is stupid, but nobody is trying very hard to stop it, and frankly I have concerns that are higher on my list.

Radio Monk33 · 03-15-2006, 12:07 PM

I feel your pain. Sometimes you just want to freaking watch a movie and have it start at time. Kinda defeats the whole convenience concept of owning it at home. I suppose the truly galling part is the fact that its not like in return for being able to view the movie for free you see the ads...but you're paying to be forced into viewing their ads. I don't see why I should pay good money to purchase a product and be forced into viewing the latest commercial..

trickyy · 03-15-2006, 12:28 PM

sometimes you can't "skip" trailers and intro BS on a movie
however, i am usually able to fast forward through them at 100x speed. just keep pounding on the >> button.

MexicanOnABike · 03-15-2006, 12:37 PM

true that. it's like the ads you get when you go to the movies. i pay 10$ and have to watch car comercials? WTF?!

Gilda · 03-15-2006, 07:11 PM

It's annoying and I've complained about it before, and will continue to do so, but I have to join the chorus saying it's not something that pushes piracy.

Quote:

Unfortunately the public at large has shown that it's willing to play those games and still shell out dough for discs

DVD's at their current sell-through price of $15-$20 are a fantastic bargain. They cost a little less than VHS tapes for the majority of their run, and a lot less than they did in relative terms due to inflation. It costs less to buy a movie on DVD than it does to see it in a theater with a date. IMHO, theaters have become the hardback format to DVD's paperback. People buy hardbacks mostly not because the experience of reading the story in hardback is somehow better, but because they don't want to wait a year for paperback. In a good theater with a courteous audience, the viewing experience is generally superior to at home, and some movies don't benefit at all. Brokeback Mountain is a must see in the theater due to the gorgeous nature shots that fill the movie, but for most, a decent home theater is rapidly closing in. We see more movies at home now chiefly because the chance of getting a decent audience anywhere other than the arthouse sucks. We've been trying to hit Tuesdays or Wednesday matinees when possible for that reason.

Back on topic: Add in all of the technological advantages of a DVD--picture quality, direct access, special features, surround sound, etc.--and they're the best consumer home video format in terms of quality and in terms of value ever.

Of course consumers keep snapping them up, they're worth the hassels, much as we might hate things like forced ads and trailers.

We generally pop the dvd into the player a few minutes ahead of time, then get everything ready. By the time we're ready to watch, it's on the menu. It's annoying when they play on their own after two minutes, but that's a tradeoff I can live with most of the time.

Gilda

cyrnel · 03-15-2006, 07:24 PM

I'm another who removes the trailers and chum from backups. Doesn't help with rentals though. Nothing does, besides using intro time for making popcorn.

Thank the stars they don't control the volume. Yet.

MPAA today, analog-hole lockdown.

MPAA tomorrow, attention deficit countermeasures:

Toaster126 · 03-15-2006, 07:47 PM

Haha, I'm glad scenes from A Clockwork Orange came to someone else's mind.

feelgood · 03-15-2006, 11:49 PM

It's always been like that. You couldn't skip VHS's advertisement trailers unless you fast forwarded it.

Same shit for DVDs, just fast forward it

cyrnel · 03-16-2006, 12:45 AM

feelood, I think we're whining about prohibited operations. These aren't segments that can be fast forwarded through without a hacked player. VHS didn't provide this ability to control playback sequence. Not all discs are affected, but those that do are a tabasco-coated buggery.

Justsomeguy · 03-17-2006, 06:32 PM

If that doesn't push you towards piracy, Paul Walker and similar actors thats are being stuck into shitfests by Hollywood will. It is as though making a piece of shit is not enough for hollywood. No, they must also use high salaried actors that ruin the movie even more, and then use their contract cost as an excuse to charge obscene prices!

robbdn · 03-17-2006, 06:57 PM

If you think forced ads are an incentive for piracy, you ain't seen nothing yet. HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are prohibiting high-quality signals over analog cables, so just about everybody who purchased a HDTV in the last several years is screwed and won't notice any difference in quality between current DVD and the latest optical solution, just because their TVs don't have HDMI inputs. I guarantee rather than buying brand new HDTVs most of these users will simply resort to piracy. There might be a more detailed thread about this around here somewhere, but I'm too lazy to look for it at the moment.

cyrnel · 03-17-2006, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robbdn

...you ain't seen nothing yet. HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are prohibiting high-quality signals over analog cables, so just about everybody who purchased a HDTV in the last several years is screwed and won't notice any difference in quality between current DVD and the latest optical solution,..

Aye. I get a headache now whenever friends talk about their new sets, HD, or upgrading their players. The next 2yrs will be a consumer nightmare, from displays to players to "trusted" computers. Ow. Pray for backlash.

blahblah454 · 03-17-2006, 11:23 PM

Kinda off to the side here with this picture....

samiam · 03-19-2006, 07:22 AM

If the commercials and such were such a big problem, we could send a message to the studios by collectively not purchasing any DVD's for a month and Emailing them the reason. Of course, they would probably raise the prices to make up for lost profits. I think that when they write the history of the world, this might not even rate a footnote.

03-15-2006, 02:05 AM	#1 (permalink)
AngelicVampire Insane	DVDs forcing users towards piracy Now normally I don't mind buying DVDs, I feel that unlike music CDs they do offer a generally good money/enjoyment-time ratio. However Recently DVDs have started putting unskippable trailers and adverts into their releases (and not just watch once, watch every time!) and I find this so upsetting, I want to watch a movie not a set of trailers and ads. Anyone else feel that the studios are upsetting buyers with unnecessary ads rather than just giving us what we wanted? Thanks for reading, rant over.

03-15-2006, 02:28 AM	#2 (permalink)
Psycho Dad Mulletproof Location: Some nucking fut house.	I don't see where this forces a movie watcher towards piracy. But I do hate when you can't fast forward through what you don't want to see. On the flipside, I have seen a few movies lately where I didn't even see previews until the end. I also seem to recall seeing where some state rep wanted to make it mandatory that these couldn't be fast forwarded through. Gotta go google that up to make sure. Edit: wather? __________________ Don't always trust the opinions of experts. Last edited by Psycho Dad; 03-15-2006 at 04:36 AM..

03-15-2006, 03:37 AM	#3 (permalink)
hulk C'mon, just blow it. Location: Perth, Australia	I find it's generally rental DVDs that do this, other than new ones. With the right player and a bit of know-how you can usually skip titles to the feature direct. Still, it's bloody annoying and I wish someone would make a player that would ignore no skip/no fast forward instructions. __________________ "'There's a tendency among the press to attribute the creation of a game to a single person,' says Warren Spector, creator of Thief and Deus Ex." -- From an IGN game review.

03-15-2006, 12:07 PM	#7 (permalink)
Radio Monk33 Psycho	I feel your pain. Sometimes you just want to freaking watch a movie and have it start at time. Kinda defeats the whole convenience concept of owning it at home. I suppose the truly galling part is the fact that its not like in return for being able to view the movie for free you see the ads...but you're paying to be forced into viewing their ads. I don't see why I should pay good money to purchase a product and be forced into viewing the latest commercial.. __________________ "Punk rock had this cool, political personal message. It was a bit more cerebral than just stupid cock rock, you know" -Kurt Cobain

03-15-2006, 12:37 PM	#9 (permalink)
MexicanOnABike Location: up north	true that. it's like the ads you get when you go to the movies. i pay 10$ and have to watch car comercials? WTF?! __________________ - Movie Reviews - Ratings-

03-15-2006, 06:00 AM	#5 (permalink)
flat5 Very Insignificant Pawn Location: Amsterdam, NL	uh...yeah, THAT might be annoying :-)

03-15-2006, 12:28 PM	#8 (permalink)
trickyy ►	sometimes you can't "skip" trailers and intro BS on a movie however, i am usually able to fast forward through them at 100x speed. just keep pounding on the >> button.

03-15-2006, 07:24 PM	#11 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	I'm another who removes the trailers and chum from backups. Doesn't help with rentals though. Nothing does, besides using intro time for making popcorn. Thank the stars they don't control the volume. Yet. MPAA today, analog-hole lockdown. MPAA tomorrow, attention deficit countermeasures: __________________ There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

03-15-2006, 07:47 PM	#12 (permalink)
Toaster126 Extreme moderation Location: Kansas City, yo.	Haha, I'm glad scenes from A Clockwork Orange came to someone else's mind. __________________ "The question isn't who is going to let me, it's who is going to stop me." (Ayn Rand) "The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers." (M. Scott Peck)

03-15-2006, 11:49 PM	#13 (permalink)
feelgood Free Mars! Location: I dunno, there's white people around me saying "eh" all the time	It's always been like that. You couldn't skip VHS's advertisement trailers unless you fast forwarded it. Same shit for DVDs, just fast forward it __________________ Looking out the window, that's an act of war. Staring at my shoes, that's an act of war. Committing an act of war? Oh you better believe that's an act of war

03-16-2006, 12:45 AM	#14 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	feelood, I think we're whining about prohibited operations. These aren't segments that can be fast forwarded through without a hacked player. VHS didn't provide this ability to control playback sequence. Not all discs are affected, but those that do are a tabasco-coated buggery. __________________ There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

03-17-2006, 06:32 PM	#15 (permalink)
Justsomeguy Insane	If that doesn't push you towards piracy, Paul Walker and similar actors thats are being stuck into shitfests by Hollywood will. It is as though making a piece of shit is not enough for hollywood. No, they must also use high salaried actors that ruin the movie even more, and then use their contract cost as an excuse to charge obscene prices!

03-17-2006, 06:57 PM	#16 (permalink)
robbdn Crazy	If you think forced ads are an incentive for piracy, you ain't seen nothing yet. HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are prohibiting high-quality signals over analog cables, so just about everybody who purchased a HDTV in the last several years is screwed and won't notice any difference in quality between current DVD and the latest optical solution, just because their TVs don't have HDMI inputs. I guarantee rather than buying brand new HDTVs most of these users will simply resort to piracy. There might be a more detailed thread about this around here somewhere, but I'm too lazy to look for it at the moment. __________________ I'm swimming in the digital residue of a media-drenched world. It's too cold.

03-17-2006, 11:23 PM	#18 (permalink)
blahblah454 Let's put a smile on that face Location: On the road...	Kinda off to the side here with this picture....

03-19-2006, 07:22 AM	#19 (permalink)
samiam Crazy	If the commercials and such were such a big problem, we could send a message to the studios by collectively not purchasing any DVD's for a month and Emailing them the reason. Of course, they would probably raise the prices to make up for lost profits. I think that when they write the history of the world, this might not even rate a footnote.