DISQUS

Noel Le · 3 years ago

Interesting that Ed Felton calls the "Hollywood Studios" a *small group* but you call them a *bureaucracy*. He emphasizes the far reaching leverage on technology wielded by an isolated group of execs and lawyers that are out of touch; while you highlite the fact that there is little consumers can do in situations like this, thus villifying the Studios and adding subtle effect to your criticism of them. Anyways I wouldnt go as far as calling the Studios goals or decisions incoherent or say that theyre putting on a *show*. Why? Every party involved acted in their self interest (the Studios MSFT etc) but nobody gave the studios the incentive to risk piracy w economies of scale that a 32 bit WMP license would invite. Of course the Studios will see a lot of piracy still, but at least they addressed the potentially greatest, and possibly easiest, source of it. The Studios goal wasnt to stop piracy but to deter it on the grand scale. In your analysis you hypothesized the Studios goals and then criticized the goals you conjured up when in fact the Studios probably have other objectives in mind. PS- The Studios know that piracy happens to a greater or lesser extent, its not something that either occurs or doesnt occur (which you implied as their assumption when you drew up the strawman goals for them).

Luis Villa · 3 years ago

Tim: love the coinage of Piracy Theater.