So a few weeks ago Blizzard, makers of World of Warcraft (as well as some games that aren't gay), announced that they weren't going to invest a lot of resources in preventing piracy of their new game, Starcraft II. They basically said it's a losing battle (can't win, don't try).
This was met with a lot of press from the nerd communities who somehow think they finally have found a company that shares their idiotic view of the world that says that piracy has zero negative consequences, and that battling it is futile.
The reason companies use copy protection is because it works. Nerds will use the absolutist argument of "No it doesn't work, people defeat copy protection all the time." Well, nerds say that because nerds defeat copy protection all the time, and they have no notion of what's actually going on outside their mother's basement.
The truth is, all copy protection has to do is hassle pirates slightly more than their time is worth. Some are willing to go to great lengths to pirate, and those will usually find a solution. Others wont.
So the real question is: how rampant is piracy, and how well does copy protection curtail it? To give you some idea, check out THIS article from a shareware software writer who works for Ambrosia Software. It's got nothing to do with morals or how much money you make. From "poor college students" to "well todo capitalists," people love the convenience and cost savings of piracy.
As soon Ambrosia they started implementing real copy protection, they saw a 5 fold increase in sales. When they implemented expiring licenses for "Snapz X", they found that nearly half of all people who upgraded attempted to do so with a pirated code. Ambrosia was a tiny firm started by some bored college students trying to get beer money. They are now a good sized, successful software firm. Most of that, according to these numbers, is due to copy protection.
I think that pretty well answers the question of how rampant piracy is. If you don't have copy protection, people steal the fuck out of shit.
Let's get back to Blizzard. If copy protection is so effective, and they've used it so successfully in the past (with WoW [2007], Warcraft 3 [2002], and Starcraft 1 [1998], for instance), why give up on it?
It's simple really: They haven't given up on shit.
90+% of Starcraft II games are going to be played online. THAT copy protection will still be in place and extremely (if not entirely) effective. All codes are created and archived by Blizzard before the product ships. If you're attempting to play online, you're forced to use Blizzard's proprietary intermediary, Battle.net. Before you can play, the code is matched to one in the archive. If two machines are using the code on Battle.net at the same time, the code is flagged and it wont let you play. The code is disabled and one or both of you will have to purchase a new copy. This kind of protection, barring some fuck-up with key generators, is pretty much unbeatable.
Also, that's not to mention that you still need to activate the product over the internet (Ala M$ Windows) and I'm sure they'll crack down on "[k]racks" with every update--probably even verifying the license code for every update as well. Also remember that for Starcraft 1, you didn't even need to activate the product before you used it (it'd be a dick-move as most people were using dialup then).
Yes, they're saying they're allowing more freedom, but more freedom than what exactly?? There exist some Nazi-ass games that require you to be connected to the internet all the time (if you get disconnected, the game quits), but those are typically games that can function offline (single player). SC2 requires the internet for most of its gameplay anyway, so it doesn't have the same issue. It's very easy for makers of an almost entirely multiplayer game like SC2 to say "Oh yeah, single player mode can be pirated. We're sooo much cooler than those other meanie developers" with a big shit-eating grin on their faces, knowing that most people aren't going to play the single player much as it's a short campaign that will be entirely ignored or only played once by most users.
So to all those who thought this shifts the paradigm about anti-piracy and are spouting off in internet forums about Blizzard's pseudo-crusade: Congrats, you've just been suckered by a multibillion dollar corporation into aiding them in selling more video games. How does it feel to be a tool? (34,508)
So this month, the motion picture companies have been suing people who download movies. ~25,000 in all. The Hurt Locker was the latest on the "if you downloaded it, you wont be sleeping well for a long time" list. They're not suing for much, just their legal fees (thousands?) and an assurance that you deleted the offending files from your computer.
Luckily, I don't download shitty movies so I've managed to avoid all the targeted files in the MPAA's latest hit-list. However, there may well come a day where I have to resort to proxies or tapping into unprotected wifi hotspots to get my movies. Maybe someday I'll have to abstain entirely. Lord knows I'm not paying $25 for a BluRay disc that may not even work.
On a related note, my parents just bought 2 movies on BluRay that wont work with their player because of DRM incompatibility (yes, I updated the firmware... which is the gayest thing to have to do). Outstanding. So you, the MPAA, make your products defective, punish those who circumvent your copy protection, and then sue your fans who would probably be willing to pay if not for your stupidly high prices, unending restrictions, and outright unplayable media.
Get ready to have done to DVD/BluRay sales the same thing that happened to album sales. (31,317)
Two whole years of harshness, volatility, and gripping content that is simply not to be found elsewhere. And that's for good reason. When we started the Latewire, a multi-author, pan-topic, uncensored stream-of-unconsciousness antiblog seemed like a pretty bad idea. We did it anyway. Two years later, it seems unconscionable, but you're still reading it -- in fact, more of you get lit up by the Wire every month, your strange legion now well in the thousands.
"The truth is mixing with the lies to create some potent new reality." - Josh Kornbluth in "Haiku Tunnel"
Latewire has been on top of some pretty vital issues, earlystyles. This is nearly incredible for a totally unorganized collective of deeply bizzarre posthumans. Organizing against bank bailouts? LW was there first. Emo capri pants on males? LW enthographers spotted them in the field. Exclusive interview with Ken Lunde? Only on Latewire. Realization that not all reggae music sucks? That epiphany brought to you right here.
Different readers use Latewire in different ways. To some, it's the place to go for Austrian-style economics analysis infused with black humor. To others, it's a reliable source of morose comedown prose and doomed poetry. Still others look to LW for an image reservoir and original* graphic art that bests the most popular imageboards on the intarweebs. Some come to Latewire for radical and reasoned thinking on eating and growing food. And some look forward to articles by particular writers : the terrifying clarity of Dr Roe; certifiable voice-of-the-damned 1m1w; the graphic arts genius of DeadcowX; the stark insight of Bill. See, LW is like a jar of mayonnaise. What you do with it is your business. We don't want to know**. Just keep coming back and we'll keep serving it up, even with the end of the world coming up and all.
Latewire. Fortunately for everyone, there's nothing else like it.
"Mens insana in corpore sano"
-Hank 04-01-2010
*Provided that your definition of "original" includes stealing images from other sites, messing with them, and then writing "LATEWIRE" across them
**Actually, we kind of do want to know. In fact, send me an email to Hank [at] Latewire (diddot) com about why you Latewire in 500 words or less. Please include aphorisms. The author of the one we like best wins a free Latewire Latewear T-shirt of their choice (see link at sidebar). (36,783)
The pop-critic establishment is already busy disparaging th' new release from Massive Attack, the English group responsible for welding R+B, dub, and pure burning hopeless doom into a mesmeric sound that rips lives out of living humans. The previous release under the Massive Attack name, "100th Window" was a grody platter of hot sleep garbage, so my hopes weren't all that high for this record, th' geographically-named "Heligoland." However, after listening to this joint on repeat for the past week, I can say with confidence that the critics hating on it either haven't listened to it (I'm looking at you, Pitchfork) or have no idea what Massive Attack are supposed to be about (hey bloggers!). The raw fact is that this record is exactly what a Massive Attack record is supposed to be : adventurous, unpredictable, and capable of sending the listener into a melancholic reverie.
Pitchfork's review goon intones that Massive Attack fail to 'engage current music' with this release, rattling off a list of recent genres like 'dubstep' and 'UK funky' in an attempt to sound hip and asking why th' band doesn't do something in relation to those styles. This is silly. Massive Attack has never been interested in following or 'engaging' current music trends, they are in the business of creating fresh music styles. Suggesting that the band should have incorporated obvious dubstep references into this album is like saying that "Blue Lines" should have had acid house splashed all over it.
While it wouldn't be fair to say that this is a retro album, the 90s do creep up pretty big here. The vocal spots by Blur's Damon Albarn and Tricky's Martina Topley-Bird, th' recklessly unpolished beats, th' wild assemblage of genres. In fact, th' record that sounds most like "Heligoland" is Tricky's own "Nearly God," wherein th' mush-mouthed master of paranoia explored all kinds of new craggy musical forms in underproduced, rough, and totally enveloping tunes. That same kind of punchy excitement is here on "Heligoland" as well.
It kicks off with "Pray for Rain," a number sung by that guy from TV On The Radio. This tune is strongly reminiscent of "Remain in Light" era Talking Heads or classic Peter Gabriel. A vaguely witch-doctor midtempo loop prods Tunde Adebimpe along in his lyrics which evoke some kind of weird tribal ritual. The climax of this tune has a cache of lyrical gems like "Drops on rocks fall fast and fleeting… hidden laws unleash their meaning." The vibe is tense and anticipatory, rather than tense and paranoid. Some complain that this tune is overlong, but in fact, it's just right for sending you zoning into a harsh rude daydream.
Th' next cut, "Babel" is a little jarring with its fast straight drum-and-bass loop and more Talking Heads guitars, but then Topley-Bird's sly, streetworn voice floats in and recalls in tempo and knowing authority her performance of "Black Steel in The Hour of Chaos" from 1995. The skittering drums might be distracting for some (they're certainly quicker than anything else Massive Attack has done), but it's no cookie-cutter Metalheadz beat, and the twitchy speed creates an ill mood.
The sole vocal appearance by much-needed Daddy G follows, on posse mope "Splitting the Atom." This is a crypto-rocksteady tune that is just glum enough while also grooving steadily. Horace Andy thankfully reappears for the first time on this track.
No lead-in could prepare the listener for "Girl I Love You," a generically-titled song that is by any measure, the equal of any other Massive Attack tune. With Horace Andy's plaintive voice floating over an urgent-sounding rock bass and terrifying horn chart, this tune immediately ensnarls you like a barbed wire tumbleweed. Th' uncertianty and fear in Andy's voice is almost unbearable, and this tune has the kind of dynamics that are bound to blow an addled mind.
Next up is th' unfairly-maligned "Psyche," a tune so minimalist that it borders on Minimalism. Again, Topley-Bird mics it here, with good lyrics and her characteristic after-hours tone. Some folks find this jam overly simplistic or boring, but if you ask me, it's kind of fresh and has a deep structure that really sneaks up on you.
The "Flat of the Blade" is next, wherein some guy from a band called Elbow proceeds to maximally creep out over a very Bjorky percussion and drone track. I'm not a fan of this individual's singing, but the track gets gold (or is it grey?) stars for spooky atmosphere.
Two of th' remaining tracks, "Rush Minute" and "Atlas Air" are showcases for Robert "3D" Del Naja, who as on "100th Window" abandons rapping for a strange kind of flat-toned singing. The difference between these tracks and the mess that is "100th Window" is that the actual music here has a lot more ideas to offer and is not pandering. Both of these cuts are heavy on synth elements and have a kind of weary New Wave feel. The fact is that 3D sounds better rapping after all and is kind of stiff and unswinging in his production, but the tunes are still worth listening to.
The other two tracks, "Paradise Circus" and "Saturday Come Slow" are stone brilliant. The former is a ghostly exercise in chills featuring Goth poster girl Hope Sandoval. This jam has the kind of shifting, spare, slow beat that really gets those mope juices flowing. "Saturday Come Slow" is a love dirge right at the cusp of bleak sentiment like "Dissolved Girl." Damon Albarn lets loose some of the most sorrowful wails he's done since "Tender" dropped; this limey is hurting! People tend to associate Albarn with puckish Britpop pogoing and general punkitude, but anyone who's seen him do "This is a Low" or "No Distance Left to Run" will know that he can really tear up that sad mic thing. His ragged voice telegraphs profound heartbreak better than nearly anyone else.
I think that the bitter mistake all these reviewers make is in trying to compare this joint to "Mezzanine." "Mezzanine" isn't an album, it's a giant shard of volcanic glass that plunges straight into the soul of anyone who dares to listen to it. It's monolithic, oppressive, and non-reproducible. Comparing anything to "Mezzanine" is like saying "Oh well this roadside ditch isn't as cool as th' Marianas Trench." Stupid. "Mezzanine" is an artifact of its time that could not be any other way or from another time; any attempt to recreate or follow it now would result in abject self-parody. People tend to forget now, but Massive Attack's other two classic albums -- "Blue Lines" from 1991 and "Protection" from 1994 -- were totally different from each other and from "Mezzanine," and took a lot of getting used to. i remember how people would talk smack about "Protection" when they bought it after having loved and crumbled to th' narcobludgeon of "Mezzanine," only to come back two months later and crow about how brilliant it was when they finally 'got' it. So, like those other two classic albums, give this one some time and repeat listens late at night, and I think then that all th' irrelevant comparisons will drop away and you'll be able to soak in this record properly. It's funny, just today I was rapping with my pal and CERN inhabitant monster -- he said "I've listened to 'Mezzanine' hundreds of times, but can't really name a favorite song." It's just not possible to cleave up that LP -- it's a complete and matchless monument of psychedelia.
"Heligoland" is something different but equally needed : a collection of diverse fresh tunes, fearlessly chosen and correctly sung. Massive Attack have refused to try to replicate the hazy druglike syrup of of 1998 and instead are exploring a quicker-stepping, more raw style that demonstrates how unsettling sounds don't always come at plodding molasses tempos. I strongly recommend that all freaks, goths, and sad pandas obtain a copy of this; it's adventuresome, worth your brainspace, and an antidote to the stale. Wait until 2 or 3am, sit back with spooky lights on, and devolve to th' destructive sounds of this joint. Now, if only it came with a reason to get out of bed th' next day.. (49,211)
For those who don't know, Bittorrent is a peer to peer to peer to peer file transfer program which has been adopted by the "pirate" community (read: Everybody) to illegally exchange files, including but not limited to television shows.
Now, I'm a big fan of paying for media. I'm not one of those idiots who thinks that just because everyone pirates, it means it's morally okay. Piracy is stealing, and stealing is wrong. This does not actually affect my actions at all, but I just wanted to opine that I'm not encouraging theft.
First off, yes I know you can stream most shows off the parent company website, but who has time or patience for commercials? I would honestly prefer to spend the other 20 minutes of a "one hour" show at an AA meeting or a book club than watching commercials.
With piracy, I get no commercials, just like iTunes. If you watch 6 hours of TV a day, that means you spend 2 hours a day watching commercials. Imagine how awesome you'd be at guitar/keyboard/drums/kazoo if you practiced for 2 hours a day.
Secondly, the iTunes store costs too much. $2 for one TV show? So what if I get to keep it forever, 95% of the time it's only worth watching once or twice.
Piracy, obviously, is free. As such I don't feel bad about deleting it.
Thirdly, say you do want to watch them again (years from now). Can't do it. I don't know what the computers of the future will look like, but I know iTunes DRM will probably be so wacky it may not work, if iTunes even exists in its present form. Great, now that $2 is an even bigger waste.
If I want to keep pirated files, I can rest assured that programs like VLC will support their format on whatever future computing device happens to come out.
Fourth, the quality sucks major balls. I have a modest 32" LCD TV and I can see the digital artifacts from a mile away. Not to mention the sound quality, which is tinny and craptastic.
Amazingly, pirated television shows are routinely better than iTunes. Some are even HDTV quality, which beats most broadcasts!
Fifth, it takes too long after the initial broadcast for the shows to show up legally online. iTunes takes about 12 hours from broadcast to available. Thursday night and Friday morning are two totally different times. If I get it Thursday night, I can watch it. If I get it Friday morning, I have to fit it in between drinking, studying, chores, errands, murder, and every other damn thing. If I'm watching TV, it means I had shit-else to do, weekends are not one of those times.
Pirated shows usually turn up a few minutes after or even before the current broadcast, depending on your time zone. A person on the east coast will rip the broadcast, edit out the commercials, wrap it up, and post it online within a few minutes after it airs. iTunes has the shows submitted to them beforehand by the studios and yet they still can't keep up!
Unfortunately, piracy is wrong. The alternatives, however, make it so many people with better things to do/spend money on are basically better off throwing away their televisions. Maybe not such a bad idea, come to think of it...
Update I've just been informed that Apple has secretly integrated HDCP into their new files. I'll do a whole separate "I told you so" on it. (75,893)
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For those who don't know, Bittorrent is a peer to peer to peer to peer file transfer program which has been adopted by the "pirate" community (read: Everybody) to illegally exchange files, including but not limited to television shows.
