Michael, Money only makes sense when something is scarce. Traditionally, it's been possible to make music and books "scarce" by limiting how many copies were printed, because the music and writing was attached to a physical object. Copyright was put in place to limit who could make extra copies. Because copies were scarce, you could charge for them.
Before the internet, media companies basically had monopoly power to charge for copies of things they owned. Copyright allowed media companies to become a monopoly by limiting copies. Did you know that book publishers tried to pass laws to keep their books out of public libraries about a hundred years ago? They filed a lot of lawsuits and did everything they could to keep their books from being shared by libraries. It took several supreme court decisions to get their crap thrown out. In the age of the internet, it's very hard to limit copies, but the laws haven't caught up with reality yet. Publishers are fighting tooth and nail to keep their monopoly power: just like a hundred years ago, they're filing lawsuits and trying to get stupid laws written to keep it. Basically, they have a cash cow, and they don't want to give it up. Sure, they could make more money by doing more modern things, but it would be easier for them to just keep their cash cow. Keep in mind that the media companies could actually win, and really lock down the internet if people like you and I don't pay attention. China has censored the internet pretty hard, and by passing the right laws, publishers could do it here, in the united states and europe. -dentin Alter Aeon MUD http://www.alteraeon.com On Fri, Jun 15, 2012 at 12:38 PM, Michael Gauler <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Thomas, > That might be true for books or music. > What I never got was the why all things had to be limited. > For example, one of my friends bought the complete Outlander Series (at that > time six books) as an audiobook series on a few MP3 CDs. > They didn't use DVD discs at that time except for movies in Germany. > That was around 2006. > Other media like DVDs or Blu Ray discs have more storage capacity than your > average CD ROM, but the only thing they are used for is either games or HD > movies or TV shows. > But you also could store a high quality (lossless) music archive on such a > disc and sell that. > But apparently no one is thinking of that. > But it seems to be easier to cry for help because "pirates are the cause for > not getting enough money". > But one reason why people might use file sharing services could be that > prices for audiobooks or music have been rising (at least in Germany), or > because lots of music from smaller labels can't be found on Amazon, or > Itunes. > Or the other problem someone might encounter is that your favorite book or > CD is no longer on sale in your favorite store or onlineshop. > > And when it comes to games (mainstream), I still can't get, why so many > games have to be released for one platform only. > While it might be expensive to get awhatever library or tool set to program > for game consoles, once you have said tools, you can rdevelop your product > and release it. > And theoretically you don't need to edit content for porting the product to > another platform, but you would have to change your code. > But if you released one platform version first and if your title was a > success, you could use the gained money to cover cost of porting, if you > didn't start cross platform from the very beginning. > And if the console creators or apple set high quality standards the games > have to follow before release is allowed, then that should be no problem for > a PC (Windows or Linux) release, because your content and basic game play > mechanics follow the required standards at the release date, because they > wouldn't get out if they weren't... > > And while we are at it, I still don't get, why several games get expansion > packs, or some other downloadable content exclusive to platform x while > platform y users get something different. > I heard some rumors that Mass Effect 3 and Max Payne 3 are getting some > downloadable content. > But since the PC version of Max Payne 3 is to come out somewhere around the > end of this month while the console versions are already out, no one knows > if extra content is being released or not. > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
