TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: Is 'Transitional Fair Use' The Wave Of The Future?

Re: Is 'Transitional Fair Use' The Wave Of The Future?

Andrew Bell (andrew.bell@adress)
Fri, 17 Dec 2004 09:06:35 -0500

hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote about Re: Is 'Transitional Fair Use'
The Wave Of The Future? on 16 Dec 2004 10:10:14 -0800:

> As others mentioned, it will get to the point that no one will watch
> their stuff because the imposed restrictions are too onerous.

GOOD! Hoist by their own petard, I say.

> Yes, the VCR does allow me to skip commercials but on the other hand I
> can watch simultaneous shows now (watch one live, tape the other),
> which means I see more TV, benefiting them. Time shifting of course
> allows me to see stuff I'd never see, again, a benefit for them.

Not so. You only benefit "them" if you watch the commercials.

Leaving aside things like per {cable|satellite} subscriber payments,
an OTA TV station sells a product (the viewers) to their customer (the
advertisers.) Yes, YOU are the product. If you don't co-operate and
watch the commercials like a good sheep, then you are of absolutely no
commercial (pun intended) value, and "they" couldn't care less what
you watch or when.

The more people skip commercials, the less advertisers will pay. For
TV to survive as an advertiser supported medium, they MUST find a way
to make their product attractive to their customers. They can do this
in two ways -- embed the advertising directly in the programming, or
use technology to attempt to force viewers to watch commercials.

Or, the radical approach would be to abandon the advertiser supported
model and turn the whole thing on its head. If you turn the
programming into the product, and turn the viewers into the customer,
just imagine the increase in quality programming! Of course, a
$300/month cable bill will probably come with it, but everything has
its price.

Andrew

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