Baltar's Trial and P2P Downloads: Ethical Conundrums

[Damion Chaplin]

In case you’re one of the two people on this site who doesn’t follow Battlestar Galactica, two Sundays ago marked the season finale. In it, Baltar, the man accused to betraying all of humankind to the genocidal Cylons, was put on trial for his crime of signing execution orders at gunpoint.<br /><br />Regulars of this site know that I am a fanatic about Battlestar Galactica. My wife and I watch it every week and never miss an episode. So imagine our dismay when we queued up last week’s episode only to find out it was the second part of a two-part finale! Crud! Somehow our DVR, in its supreme wisdom, decided not to record BSG the week before. Lorri and I were mystified, but we just figured they had skipped a week, not that we had missed an episode. I guess we should have looked online to make sure. In any case, we now had part two recorded on our DVR with no access to part one.<br /><br />Now, if Sci-Fi posted all their episodes online like NBC and others do, we would have just logged on and watched it streaming from their site, even if it was a two-inch window. We were willing to do anything to watch part one - even if it entailed obtaining it illegally.<!><br /><br />For the record, I don’t normally do this sort of thing, but in this circumstance I was willing to sidestep the law and download the missing episode via a P2P sharing site. With a fast broadband connection, I was able to download the episode in about 10 minutes. In another 30 minutes I had encoded it as a .WMV to watch on my TV via my Xbox. And shortly after than, my wife and I sat down to watch the missing part one of the two-part Battlestar Galactica season finale.<br /><br />This, however, presented an interesting ethical dilemma. In the trial of Baltar, the dilemma came down to <i>Is a man guilty of a crime when he was forced to do it at gunpoint?</i> This weekend, my dilemma was <i>Should I break the law to watch an episode of BSG?</i> With both, the answer may seem obvious at first, but becomes more and more fuzzy the more you look at it. I won’t get into the debate over whether Baltar is or is not a traitor, but I’d love to hear what people think about my downloading an episode of my favorite TV show.<br /><br />To be clear: I don’t go around downloading episodes all the time. I don’t go on and download entire seasons of TV shows instead of renting the DVDs. Once we’d finished watching the episode, I deleted it. Moreover, I will be buying the DVD once it comes out. So, was it really wrong for me to download an episode of Battlestar Galactica? Let me put it this way: In what way did it hurt the studio, TV channel or Battlestar Galactica for me to download the show? My answer is in no way. I won’t be keeping the file or distributing it. Now in what way did it help them? Well, I was able to watch the season finale of my favorite show, which I’m sure they wanted me to do. It prompted me to write this article, which just happened to mention their show multiple times (you can’t pay for advertising like that). And Lorri and I can breath a sigh of relief that we don’t have to curse the studio until they release the season 3 DVD. :wink: <br /><br />So what do you think? Was it wrong for me to download this piece of copy written work? Would you have done so (if BSG doesn’t work for you, imagine your favorite show in its place), or would you have waited patiently for the DVD?<br /><br />And is anyone else ticked off that Battlestar Galactica won’t be back until 2008? :? <br /><br /><i>Damion Chaplin is a graphic artist and digital media connoisseur living in the San Francisco Bay Area with his lovely wife Lorri and the ship's cat Grimalkin (The Kitty). He tries to be a law-abiding citizen unless it gets in between him and his favorite shows.</i>

[Jeremy Charette]

I think the major networks are working on assumptions about viewership that don't hold anymore. The days of prime-time TV watching are falling by the wayside, and they need to catch up.

Personally, I download episodes of Top Gear from the BBC in the UK, because I can't get it here in the States, and any DVD sets of Top Gear are in PAL, not NTSC. In that case, is it a copyright violation? I don't know. If they offered it for sale online, I'd purchase every episode.

[Felix Torres]

Not going into the ethics or morality. Not my place to judge you or anybody.
Just wondering myself:
Doesn't Sci-Fi sell galactica episodes on iTunes? (Anyplace else?)
Don't they re-run them here and there?
So the real issue isn't lack of absolute availability but on-demand availability?
(More on this shortly.)
Wouldn't you consider the P2P provider being a publisher/distributor of said content? An unlicensed provider?
By the terms of the law, what the P2P content provider is illegal, plain and simple. That much is beyond debate.
The rest?
Gray, very gray.
Cause, lets face it; it wouldn't have killed you to wait for the next viewing window (aka, repeat). :twisted:

That said, the broadcasters' business model is broken.
I've said it before and I'll say it again.
The line between broadcasting content (ala 1950's) and publishing content (like books) is long gone. Once content has been published (first broadcast) it should be readily available even if it is no longer free. Heck, especially if it isn't free.
Content providers need to get it into their heads that they are now in the publishing business, not merely in the ad business and that they are leaving money on the table.
A show that has aired should be readily and constantly available for purchase through as many channels as possible. There is simply no reason not to; otherwise it is merely taking up space, as it were, when it could be out generating income. These being for-profit corporations, somebody should be taking management to task for leaving money on the table and creating an environment where would-be paying customers get driven to competitors. Whether the unlicensed provider (P2P poster) makes money or not, the owners of the content did not get paid their proper "viewer fee" in cash or ad-revenue because the customer went else.
Allowing this to happen without addressing the root cause is why their business model is broken.

Best use of content these days has to be CBS's use of XBOX video marketplace and hopefully the other networks will notice. Not that I expect Disney/Abc or Fox to do so, but they should.

(NBC's support for HEROES is also very good but it is PC-tied and not as living-room friendly as CBS's use of XBL VM.)

I'm sure you've noticed that episodes of the various CBS shows are showing up on VM roughly a week after airing, right? And they show up in high-quality SD *and* HD. Judging by the amount of *new* content that CBA (and Warner Bros) are digging up and adding to VM, it would seem they like the revenue stream the system is generating.
And, while it is not a pure content publishing approach (that would be saying "Okay, the show airs Sundays at 10PM. Mondays at 6AM EST it goes onsale everywhere along with all previously-aired episodes.") but its close enough, as far as XBOX users go.

Would be better if the content were broadly available in a form that didn't rely on anybody's proprietary hardware and likely things will eventually get there, but for now you have to have either an XBOX or a PC or a PC and an iPod, and that means that almost half the US households are shut out of any such offerings.

Video piracy is a sympthom of unmet needs and while a *lot* of piracy is just cheapskates unwilling to pay fair value for their content, there is still a vacuum of supply that allows P2P publishers a veneer of respectability.
This is not an acceptable way to do business.

I expect, sooner or later, the stockholders will take notice and force corporate bosses to get their act in gear.

[Damion Chaplin]

OK, OK.

Yes, I could have waited for them to replay the episode in December, just before the season premiere... But that would have required me to either A) set a reminder to set the DVR in December and hope I have the right date or B) set the DVR to record every episode of BSG and delete all the superfluous ones. And it would have caused C) Lorri and Damion freak out because they have to wait 8 months to watch an episode they missed (just so they can watch part 2 which they've been hanging on to for 8 months).

And yes, I could have got it from iTunes, if I had an iTunes account, which I don't. And if they think I'm going to get one just so I can watch BSG on my PC (I don't have an iPod) they're sorely incorrect.
Neither of these options are ones we were willing to live with...

Oh how I would love to access these shows over Xbox's VM a week later... How is it that CBS of all people are the only ones with it? Aren't Fox and NBC supposed to be 'hip'?

[jmulder]

We were willing to do anything to watch part one - even if it entailed obtaining it illegally.<!>

I find these sorts of comments funny, because you were not willing to open an iTunes account to get the episode legally.

That said, your own ethics may differ from mine, and only you can decide whether you were justified in your actions.

Personally, I ride the shady side of DCMA. I don't rip rented DVD's, but I do rip those I own for my own use to watch on my Zen Vision. I even delete ripped files if I loan the DVD out. I've also been having a devil of a time burning Tivo files to DVD (Note: Roxio 8 sucks), so I've used my MacBook Pro and TivoDecoder to remove the encryption on the .tivo file, then import the unprotected mpeg-2 into Roxio 8 for burning. I'm not posting any media to the internet, nor sharing media files with friends, but technically I'm in violation of DCMA.

Incidentally, did anybody at DMT take notice of the news about EMI and Apple removing DRM and doubling the bitrate of EMI's tracks on iTunes?

[Phronetix]

I guess that the way I see it, is that if I pay for cable and do not record the shows, but download the same programs for personal use, then I am not breaking the law. I certainly do not see this as stealing content, as I have access to that content, and pay for it. I like to download because then it is on my hard drive on the iMac upstairs, which has a widescreen display.

I do not download programs that are not currently on television or that are on networks I do not subscribe to (e.g. HBO), do not download entire seasons. Does the law state I must be the one recording the content? I really do not know. Maybe I am simply lazy and rationalizing my actions here.

Did I say lazy? I meant "busy"... :lol:

[Kacey Green]

I too have been in this uncomfortable situation and after exausting all other options ended up using the file sharing and deleting the files when done. Its only happened a handful of times and I can't wait 'till we all pressure our congress people to repeal the DMCA or to make exceptions for fair use at its next review in however many years.

[Damion Chaplin]

We were willing to do anything to watch part one - even if it entailed obtaining it illegally.<!>

I find these sorts of comments funny, because you were not willing to open an iTunes account to get the episode legally.

Touche. :)

Let me rephrase that: "We were willing to do anything to watch part one. After I made that decision, I asked myself 'Would I rather subscribe to iTunes or break the law?' The answer was obvious." (Hint hint, Apple) :lol:

[Felix Torres]

Let me rephrase that: "We were willing to do anything to watch part one. After I made that decision, I asked myself 'Would I rather subscribe to iTunes or break the law?' The answer was obvious." (Hint hint, Apple) :lol:

I hear you. :lol:
I'd likely do the same.
(Ditto with Real Networks.)
I gather then that only iTunes carries Galactica d/l's?
Shame on Sci-Fi. I'd expect that kind of crap from Disney not an otherwise savvy operator like them...

As for CBS using VM properly, well, there is a difference between being smart and being hip. Just ask Messrs Gates and Jobs. :twisted:

(bah-dah-bah-dump!!!)
(Good thing I don't make a living as a comedian.)

[Mexico]

With all due respect - and remember I said with all due respect (a la Ricky Bobby) - if you can pull such a major ethical dilemma out of a situation like this, you may have a little too much time on your hands. A little malice isn't too bad every once in a while.

When you hear/read stories about a mother renting out her 7-year-old daughter for pornography and prostitution (we're talking pure evil here), the fact of downloading an episode (or 10) of Battlestar Gallactica doesn't seem that important all of the sudden.

Just my $0.02 MEX (worth about a chip off a cent...)

Now go have fun and don't be afraid to be a little naughty.

=)

Mexico

[Felix Torres]

As any good catholic can tell you, there is no such thing as a small evil. :twisted:

Besides, its a slow news day and debating ethical uses (if any) of P2P unauthorized content is the 21st century equivalent of debating how many angels can dance 'pon the head of a pin. And slightly more productive than debating the "evils" of DRM.

Finally, some of us come here to escape the *big* evils of the other online news sites; at least here we don't have to admit that the century may be new but the humans are the same as in the old one.

[Phronetix]

In case you’re one of the two people on this site who doesn’t follow Battlestar Galactica...


Crap, you mean you could tell? Although, come to think of it, I got the site owner pretty much within eavesdropping distance. :wink: I just never figured he had that kind of time on his hands.

So, uh, who's the other one?

[Kacey Green]

So, uh, who's the other one?
Me, so far.

[rudedog71]

Loved your story, Damian...mainly because I've found myself in the same position many times.

At the end of the day, i think the media business will need to go through a serious culture shift...digital transfer is here to stay and internet use/distribution will only continue to proliferate. So the media moguls will need to find some other way to "protect content/earn money".

The entertainmnet industry in general has made way too much money in the last 30-40 years...so maybe they'll finally realize they need to stop paying actors $10mill for 1 month work of work.