Warner Bros. recruiting students for anti-piracy internship

Hulu?

Everyone I know who may have had even a passing interest in downloading TV shows no longer has an interest in that thanks to Hulu and streaming shows on the network or show website. Even though I personally hate streaming (it always seems to mess up/have crappier quality than a download) these non-technical people will put up with all of that for the on-demand ease of use of watching TV like that.

So sure, pirating tends to get easier, but it's certainly not easier than going to nbc.com/The_Office or thedailyshow.com and instantly watching your show.

Your comment assumes that these stores are actually available in all countries. I sit here in Holland with no iTunes movie store, no Hulu, no Sony PS3 store and about 20 1-and-2 star movies on the Xbox video store. We don't have Netflix, or anything even vaguely different. What we do have is crappy rental stores and overpriced media outlets selling Blu Rays for nearly 40 dollars a pop.

BREIN - the Dutch anti piracy group - has worked hard to stifle and kill off any attempts to set up a decent download service. Recently, Alice in Wonderland was picketed by cinemas due to the fact it was scheduled to be released on DVD less than 12 weeks after the cinema release - thereby avoiding the need to spend 10 euros on a movie ticket.

I honestly believe if you offer it, they will come. If I can get high quality downloads for a few euros, I'm in. It saves me going to the cinema (which is a horrible experience in Holland) and stops me having to go to the movie rental place.

> "Your comment assumes that these stores are actually available in all countries."
No, my comment is that people continue to pirate even when there are decent download services - case in point: World of Goo. Sure, piracy is increased by a lack of good download services, I'm just saying that's not all there is to the situation. I know plenty of people who pirate because it means getting stuff for free that they would've otherwise paid for, and because it means getting stuff they wouldn't have paid for at all (*which is, in my opinion, less harmful than the first category, though I'm not condoning it).

> "BREIN - the Dutch anti piracy group - has worked hard to stifle and kill off any attempts to set up a decent download service."
Weird. I can understand why cinemas would want to protect ticket sales by delaying DVD sales and rentals, but I can't understand why they would want to stop a download service in general.

How does your comment apply to "Students will open and maintain accounts on torrent sites, hang around forums and IRC channels, maintain and develop link-scanning bots, and issue take-down notices for infringing material."? It sounds more like you're arguing against DRM than the topic at hand.

Sorry about the whole DRM bashing, I'll be clear this time: I'm against the whole idea of trying to catch the pirates, insisting HUGE amounts of money and effort into clearly questionable ways to stop piracy, like the one that this topic is about. Rather thank hiring people to improve the products they offer(to make consumers want to pay for them, instead of using torrents, etc.), they are turning students against each other. Fortunately, there are some small companies that think offering a good service, no DRM, no "evil" attitude means paying customers. Like GOG.com.

Also, sorry about my English, it's not my first language. :)

It'll cut down the "casual" pirates. Sure, there will always be thieves, but if you can find the sweet-spot (like iTunes has) then you can get big results.