The Return of Piracy ⇥ netwars.pelicancrossing.net
Anthony Ha, TechCrunch:
Some of those changes [in streaming] would be welcome, but they reinforce the sense that streaming — at least as envisioned by the executives currently running the business — won’t be all that different from the old cable TV ecosystem. Some things will be better (on-demand viewing), some will be worse (compensation for writers, actors, and other talent), and there might be different players at the top. But in many ways, it will feel like the same old TV.
This is the moment when lessons from the past of music, TV, and video piracy could be useful. Critics always said that the only workable answer to piracy is legal, affordable services, and they were right, as shown by Pandora, Spotify, Netflix, which launched its paid streaming service in 2007, and so many others.
It’s been obvious for at least two years that things are now going backwards. […]
If subscription streaming executives are determined to relive the past so, too, will those competent at searching the web for bootleg copies.