Shutting down one of Europe's largest video streaming sites had little impact on piracy

[Shawn Knight]

One of the largest illegal movie streaming websites in Europe was shut down in 2011 following a massive police raid across France, Germany and Spain. At the time, Kino.to’s closure was viewed as a huge victory for those in support of the anti-piracy movement.

In retrospect, however, the impact of the site’s passing was short-lived and predictably so, led to increased competition among other similar services via the Hydra effect.

A new report from the European Commission Joint Research Centre titled Online Copyright Enforcement, Consumer Behavior, and Market Structure examined the clickstream data of 5,000 German Internet users and found that piracy levels dropped by 30 percent in the four weeks following its shutdown.

Only 2.5 percent of those users, however, sought out legal alternatives. What’s more, the site’s closure directly led to the creation of several smaller pirate sites to fill the void.

The report concluded that when taken at face value, the results indicate the shutdown more or less converted consumer surplus into deadweight loss. When the cost of the raids is factored into the equation, results suggest there was no overall positive effect and the emergence of several new sites will only make future raids more costly.

The findings are in line with what we’ve been hearing on the matter over the years. There will always be people that pirate media of all types but as services like Netflix, Steam, Spotify and Hulu have demonstrated, many will gladly pay for content that’s affordable and convenient to access.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/60702-shutting-down-one-europe-largest-video-streaming-sites.html

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Ehh... I say stop wasting our hard-earned tax dollars on this crap. It isn't our fault these multi-billion Dollar corporations creating entertainment aren't smart enough to capitalize and use the convenience of the internet to its advantage. All they do is cry "Billy stole my video! Make him pay!". Make entertainment cheap and very easy to access and share, and I bet they still start seeing better profits.

Just my opinion. Take it with a grain of salt.

 

[RustyTech]

"There will always be people that pirate media of all types but as services like Netflix, Steam, Spotify and Hulu have demonstrated, many will gladly pay for content that’s affordable and convenient to access."

This baby! THIS ^^

But we all know that these changes will come only when a new generation of people (CEOs & what-not) will take over.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Ehh... I say stop wasting our hard-earned tax dollars on this crap. It isn't our fault these multi-billion Dollar corporations creating entertainment aren't smart enough to capitalize and use the convenience of the internet to its advantage. All they do is cry "Billy stole my video! Make him pay!". Make entertainment cheap and very easy to access and share, and I bet they still start seeing better profits.

Just my opinion. Take it with a grain of salt.

So it's ok to steal because the content isn't available online and cheaply enough? And when one of those 'billion dollar corporations' loses a pile of money, what do you think happens? Think the executive team says, 'Oh, well, I guess we'll just take a pay cut this year...' No.. what happens is they decide NOT to make some movie that was a little risky. So some young writer isn't going to get his/her movie made and a bunch of actors who are scrapping for work get to keep working at the coffee shop. Those execs instead go with a safe choice that they're SURE will make money because they know if it's a flop people won't pay, they'll just download it, so why take the risk. Hope you're looking forward to Fast and Furious 8.

Where do you get the idea that when you stick it to a corporation, only the .01% of people who work there that are super rich feel the pain? A corporation is 1% rich fat cats and 99% hard working everyday people. And considering the fat cats decide who gets a raise and who doesn't, which ones do you think you're stealing from?

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

.

So it's ok to steal because the content isn't available online and cheaply enough? And when one of those 'billion dollar corporations' loses a pile of money, what do you think happens? Think the executive team says, 'Oh, well, I guess we'll just take a pay cut this year...' No.. what happens is they decide NOT to make some movie that was a little risky. So some young writer isn't going to get his/her movie made and a bunch of actors who are scrapping for work get to keep working at the coffee shop. Those execs instead go with a safe choice that they're SURE will make money because they know if it's a flop people won't pay, they'll just download it, so why take the risk. Hope you're looking forward to Fast and Furious 8.

Where do you get the idea that when you stick it to a corporation, only the .01% of people who work there that are super rich feel the pain? A corporation is 1% rich fat cats and 99% hard working everyday people. And considering the fat cats decide who gets a raise and who doesn't, which ones do you think you're stealing from?

I didn't say stealing is ok. What I'm really getting at is that I feel the government has no business enforcing copyright laws. I know there are "federal copyright laws" but I feel those are unnecessary and a waste of the peoples money. The government is to protect the people and a nation as a whole, keeping them safe from enemies and to provide services to those in assistance in dire circumstances. None of these corporations are losing big piles of money, they are just losing potential for even more piles of money.

And I don't know where you got (or made up) these statistics but they don't sound realistic at all. Regardless I don't appreciate your insinuating that I am a thief. I am simply stating my opinion and you are drawing your own conclusions about me.

Considering the success of Netflix, one would think these businesses would want to embrace that type of marketing structure. However perhaps you are right and they feel low cost content easily available is a risk. They want to continue getting money in the pre-internet era methodology. So if these corporations go bankrupt because they wouldn't try to adapt to the new marketing possibilities then that is their own fault. I say good riddance.

 

[9Nails]

Considering the success of Netflix, one would think these businesses would want to embrace that type of marketing structure. However perhaps you are right and they feel low cost content easily available is a risk. They want to continue getting money in the pre-internet era methodology. So if these corporations go bankrupt because they wouldn't try to adapt to the new marketing possibilities then that is their own fault. I say good riddance.

This x1,000!

Whimsical DVD purchases for movies were ok, when titles were $15 or less. Now that they are $20+ I'm no longer willing to pick up a movie title to see if I like it. I'm a cost conscious consumer cable cutting who will look elsewhere for entertainment. Some places are Netflix, Redbox, etc. Even Youtube is starting to get into the video rental department. That's all ok, and I accept these, but prices can be better. However, I totally agree that the modern consumer's behaviors are not being considered here by executives. Throwing tax dollars into a corporation/distribution issue is not how I want my taxes spent!

 

[Hexic]

Ehh... I say stop wasting our hard-earned tax dollars on this crap. It isn't our fault these multi-billion Dollar corporations creating entertainment aren't smart enough to capitalize and use the convenience of the internet to its advantage. All they do is cry "Billy stole my video! Make him pay!". Make entertainment cheap and very easy to access and share, and I bet they still start seeing better profits.

Just my opinion. Take it with a grain of salt.

So it's ok to steal because the content isn't available online and cheaply enough? And when one of those 'billion dollar corporations' loses a pile of money, what do you think happens? Think the executive team says, 'Oh, well, I guess we'll just take a pay cut this year...' No.. what happens is they decide NOT to make some movie that was a little risky. So some young writer isn't going to get his/her movie made and a bunch of actors who are scrapping for work get to keep working at the coffee shop. Those execs instead go with a safe choice that they're SURE will make money because they know if it's a flop people won't pay, they'll just download it, so why take the risk. Hope you're looking forward to Fast and Furious 8.

Where do you get the idea that when you stick it to a corporation, only the .01% of people who work there that are super rich feel the pain? A corporation is 1% rich fat cats and 99% hard working everyday people. And considering the fat cats decide who gets a raise and who doesn't, which ones do you think you're stealing from?

Agreed that the big wigs at said corporations producing these movies aren't worried about their own hides (yet), and the little guys do end up getting screwed over time - especially on 'risky' ventures.. which could turn out to become excellent films, possibly changing the industry.

The problem isn't with said argument, stealing that material IS wrong AND illegal. The way that the RIAA and the Feds are going about is also wrong, futile, and a complete waste of money. While their cause is just, the way they are handling it is pathetic.

Every time they shut down a domain, three more pop up with the exact same content. Every time they raid mountainsides and clear out server rooms, 24 hours later, it's ALL back online and functional. There are NO long-term tangible results that have been shown with their current tactics.

It's impossible to win this fight - and the sooner the general public realizes that.. Piracy won't be such a large issue. The argument against the fed's strategy has (for the most part) been the same -- The pirates will always get what they want for somewhere, for free. How about changing the way your corporation does business in today's society, so that their material is easy to access, cheaper, and actually has appeal to purchase their products?

Or they can continue to fight a losing battle, and waste all of our tax dollars attempting to catch Casper.

 

[cliffordcooley]

None of these corporations are losing big piles of money, they are just losing potential for even more piles of money.

The fact that they haven't adapted is proof they are still making money. They refuse to adapt and quite frankly that is why I don't care how much money they loose. Loss is the time when they will be forced to change. That time will come, I don't care how long or hard they continue to fight the inevitable.

 

[CanadEan84]

"But we all know that these changes will come only when a new generation of people (CEOs & what-not) will take over.

It would be nice if these new CEO's would stop cutting Canada out from so much of the media. I don't know how many times I've seen, "This video isn't available in your area". WHY NOT?! It's not like the video contains American military secrets or anything.

Not to mention how Canadian Netflix doesn't have content simply because the rights either aren't available or are too expensive.