Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

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John Carney
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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby John Carney » June 11th, 2009, 2:53 pm

All criminals rationalize why it is OK for them to do what they do. They know it is not right, but they look for excuses to alleviate their guilt.

Its basically about taking what they want, and doing whatever they feel like doing....and to hell with anyone else's needs, feelings, or well-being.

Pure selfishness.........I want......I take.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby SteveP » June 11th, 2009, 3:25 pm

I don't want to hijack this thread with L&L stuff so I'll make a quick reply to Mr Goat and leave it at that.

I can appreciate some of what you're saying, but I also don't think you understand the economics in play here. I'm a full-time performer and the work I do for L&L only takes me a few hours every month. Anything and I mean anything beyond that is going to increase their costs substantially.

Now they could go to a third-party to do everything, but I guarantee it's going to at least quadruple their budget for web development and that's not including the servers. I can tell you that Ellusionist is run across several servers. L&L would have more content than Ellusionist, so it would not be practical or advisable to run all of this from a single server.

You say the site is behind the times. I'm not so sure that the extra bells & whistles would add more revenue because I don't know if the demand is there right now. Maybe it is. Maybe it is for some companies like Ellusionist who have a younger demographic and it isn't for L&L. I think the model would work better for L&L if they kept their products exclusive and didn't distribute everything. But that's not the case and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Scott M. » June 11th, 2009, 3:51 pm

mrgoat wrote:
John Hostler wrote:
How many cases have the RIAA or MPAA successfully brought to court?

I think legal action is a waste of time.


To bring people here up to speed, the RIAA has ceased their multi-year practice of prosecuting filesharers:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10126914-93.html

They are now trying to work with the ISPs.

France has pursued probably the most vigorous campaign against piracy, passing a "three strikes" law in which filesharers after three violations lose their internet privileges. However, this law was just recently struck down as unconstitutional by France's constitution court:

http://news.digitaltrends.com/news-arti ... trikes-law

I'm of the belief that piracy is here to stay and content creators must adapt to a changed landscape (and, Bob Farmer, I am a content creator and make 100% of my income from the production of both film and print media). Direct relationships between creator and fans, added value beyond the physical media object, collectable items (one filmmaker I know is talking about releasing sculptural USB drives with his work on it), and, in general, simply "being human," removing the anonymity of the retail sale, and making supporting you something your fans want to do are all things niche-content creators must do in order to sustain themselves in the new landscape. Some of the younger generation, like Dan and Dave and Wayne Houchin are already developing these skills very nicely.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » June 11th, 2009, 4:14 pm

Sorry to re-read old arguments as they amount to distraction and self justification for being ineffective.

Can we hear more about "why they think it's okay" and perhaps a little about what you are up for exploring to change things?

BTW - how does lifecycle management for customers fit in with the cycle of abuse associated with selling things called "secrets", "inner secrets" and "ultimate secrets" from "underground"?

IE why should anyone care to keep a secret when they find out that the secret they bought was just the "price of their naivete" that day and why should they not wish to spare their peers that sense of being diminished and the guilt for doing that to themselves?

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby the Larry » June 11th, 2009, 7:24 pm

mrgoat wrote:I'm not saying you couldn't do a magic download store. But I doubt it would reach the impact of iTunes.

However, if magic publishers stepped vaguely into the online era, and more aped the adult movie model, it might be interesting.

What online streaming services are there for magic? Heck even L&L's site is pathetic compared to the big adult sites. Why?

Would offering punters the content they want, in a medium they want at a price they want be THAT hard to do?

No.

I think that magic publishers (no offence Mr K) are like the big 5 music labels. Old fashioned and arrogant. Think that they know best, and seem to be almost actively ignoring the internet as a distribution medium.

Look what happened to the music labels...

This is all obvious. Netflix = good. Blockbuster = screwed. iTunes = good. Tower Records = out of business.

All I think needs to happen is a site needs to launch that is a 'gatherer' of content. Just like iTunes. An aggregator. Go to L&L and the others and agree a fee, put up a site, sell the content. DRM free in a variety of file formats. And price it sensibly.

Why should you have to buy the whole Lennert Green video if all you want is one trick from it?

Why can you not just buy the one trick for a fraction of the price of the whole DVD?

Food for thought...


I know my way around the digital domain but I am no expert. So I can't offer that much. But I have seen one publisher do sort of what you are referring to: Lybrary.com

If you go to their magic->cards->moves category then you will see that they have unbundled the entire Ackerman Advanced Card Technique series (total of 8 DVDs). You can purchase each move separately. I bought two moves so far and this really works great. I can download a video file and play it on my computer, or I can view a streaming version online.

This could of course still be made better and slicker, but it is great that one can choose only those moves that one likes. Rather than putting down $30 for a DVD you can buy for two three bucks those moves you want to study.

Not sure if you would call that a magic iTunes, probably not but the unbundling is a nice step forward to make good use of digital technology.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Tim Ellis » June 11th, 2009, 7:24 pm

Okay - as the original poster I asked "Please don't derail this thread by debating his right to "share" his purchases." but it's happened anyway...

Mr Goat: "I think that's a MUCH more interesting and USEFUL discussion that bitching about 14 year olds who WOULD NEVER BUY THE PRODUCT ANYWAY pirating something."

So would you offer the same advice to the movie studios? Stop spending millions of dollars telling people NOT to pirate movies because those people would never buy them anyway??

Mr Goat thinks nothing can be done about illegal uploads. Let me give you examples with YouTube and FaceBook. Three times I have had my accounts on each deleted while I've had to come back to FB and YT and PROVE that I'm the copyright owner of what I have posted.

Yes, I've been totally cheesed off at the fact there is SO MUCH content out there already that is obviously a breach of copyright (TV shows, movie clips, music etc) but it goes to show YT & FB think it's important enough that they've STARTED to do something to try to protect copyright.


John offers a great suggestion: "Sue the bastards, disrupt their "businesses" (to the greatest extent possible), and experiment with new and innovative business models. (Signed, limited hard copy editions are a fab idea. Make the product collectable.)"

I agree - hit them where it hurts. James Clark also sends the FBI to the homes of the site administrators. This usually shuts them down immediately and puts the fear of God into them. Most people who do this sort of thing live in a false reality in front of their computer screen interacting with thousands of "friends" they'll never meet. Put them into the real world and it's like puling the Wizard of Oz out from behind his screen.



Mr Goat added "I wonder how much magic piracy is down to people simply being curious if an effect is worth buying or not. We've all been burnt buying appalling tricks that sounded good in the ads. If the appalling tricks stopped, maybe the piracy would decline?"

I've heard this said so many times before. It's a JUSTIFICATION not a reason. Why should I suffer because OTHER PEOPLE bring out rubbish products? It's bad enough they charge the same price for their DVDs as mine. But isn't this where "market forces" come into play? The products get bad reviews so mo-one buys them? No, instead they circulate forever on file sharing sites, along with all the god DVDs too. Why buy when you can get it for free?


Mr Goat asks: "How many cases have the RIAA or MPAA successfully brought to court?"

This is the beauty - they don't go to court, they get settled BEFORE going to court because the pirates don't have the funds to mount a legal defense. On several occasions James Clark has threatened to sue file sharers and they have folded immediately.


John Carney - Thanks for words of CRYSTAL CLEAR TRUTH!


As for the argument of "Why buy a whole DVD when I only want one trick" I recently put a few effects from our DVDs as stand-alone downloadable files on our online store http://magicunlimited.com/store/
It costs $10 to download the Razorblade routine. People are buying it and saying it's waaay underpriced, and they want more individual tricks from the DVDs at the same price.

What I find odd is that they could pay $25 for the whole DVD and get over 3 hours of content versus $10 for 16 minutes.

However, by selling a downloadable file, it makes it much easier for people to share the file.

If I had the expertise or budget, I'd love to set up a service like Joshua Jay has where you pay to view a file which stays on his server forever. I'm sure even that is hackable, but it seems like a much more secure option.


Bottom line is though, we sell many more DVDs when we do lecture tours than any other time. It's the marketing and promotion of a DVD that is another additional cost that somehow has to be paid for, and the file sharers rob us there too.



Getting back to the original point of my first post - the Demonoid staff requested I stop "attacking" their member by making comments in the thread about MY DVD and said if I wanted it removed, I need to email their administration. I did, and received this reply. (Legal minded readers might be able to interpret this for me):

"Hello,
We are a torrent indexing site. We host torrent files only, which are small, non copyrightable files which may be used to get a list of ip addresses only. Nothing else is ever hosted or transmitted by the server and there is no copyright infringement taking place.

Even though we are not required to do so since we are not based in america or the american continent and there is no copyright infringement taking place, and we are not obligated in any way to remove content on your request, we honor properly written DMCA removal requests in a timely manner. But need the DMCA takedown and the links to be removed in the proper format and nothing can be removed until you supply one.

Please send a properly formatted DMCA takedown request to our assigned agent (abuse@demonoid.com), with the link to the torrent page in the format specified on our contact page (http://www.demonoid.com/contact_us.php)
Also, please don't forget to read our terms of service and disclaimer. The links are available in our contact page.

Best regards,

V. Umlauf
Legal Affairs"

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby mrgoat » June 11th, 2009, 7:39 pm

Steve Pellegrino wrote:I don't want to hijack this thread with L&L stuff so I'll make a quick reply to Mr Goat and leave it at that.


I think your contribution here is very worthwhile. And as L&L are arguably the largest video content producer out there, your POV is not only interesting but essential to this thread, IMHO.

Steve Pellegrino wrote:I can appreciate some of what you're saying, but I also don't think you understand the economics in play here. I'm a full-time performer and the work I do for L&L only takes me a few hours every month. Anything and I mean anything beyond that is going to increase their costs substantially.


Of course it will increase costs. I'm not arguing that. But I believe you are wrong thinking it is expensive. Servers are cheap. Bandwidth is cheap. Encoding is cheap. A great CMS is cheap.

I think the market has shown it is willing to pay for digital downloads. Just needs a publisher to be brave, or someone to persuade all the publishers to be brave.

Steve Pellegrino wrote:Now they could go to a third-party to do everything, but I guarantee it's going to at least quadruple their budget for web development and that's not including the servers. I can tell you that Ellusionist is run across several servers. L&L would have more content than Ellusionist, so it would not be practical or advisable to run all of this from a single server.


As I said, servers and bandwidth are peanuts these days.

I see the costs of MASSIVE bandwidth adult sites - serious video bandwidth. I am estimating a thousand, or ten thousand times Ellusionist's bandwidth. It's REALLY cheap. And the more you buy the cheaper it is.

Maybe mainstream costs for this are much more than adult? But I know that the stuff you think is expensive is cheap. Really.

But, as I said, maybe our market needs one iTunes 'aggregator' of all publisher's content.

Steve Pellegrino wrote:You say the site is behind the times. I'm not so sure that the extra bells & whistles would add more revenue because I don't know if the demand is there right now. Maybe it is. Maybe it is for some companies like Ellusionist who have a younger demographic and it isn't for L&L. I think the model would work better for L&L if they kept their products exclusive and didn't distribute everything. But that's not the case and I don't see that changing anytime soon.


I don't mean to be rude about your web design when I said it was behind the times. I meant that by not offering content in a way consumers are proving they want it, it is behind the times. Which is sad for a company with the rep and back catalogue L&L has.

It's really like Hustler and Playboy. Both are useless online. I worked for Playboy, I know! One small site I work with now makes 20 times the revenue PB made. Because PB, the biggest brand in the industry, didn't 'get' online.

I can see a small, almost one man band coming in and offering an iTunes like solution and being a saviour.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby mrgoat » June 11th, 2009, 7:51 pm

Tim Ellis wrote:Okay - as the original poster I asked "Please don't derail this thread by debating his right to "share" his purchases." but it's happened anyway...

Mr Goat: "I think that's a MUCH more interesting and USEFUL discussion that bitching about 14 year olds who WOULD NEVER BUY THE PRODUCT ANYWAY pirating something."

So would you offer the same advice to the movie studios? Stop spending millions of dollars telling people NOT to pirate movies because those people would never buy them anyway??


Yes. Obviously it's a waste of money as it doesn't work. Do you think the cash that the MPAA and RIAA has spent has been worthwhile? How many court cases have they won? Have a guess.

Tim Ellis wrote:Mr Goat thinks nothing can be done about illegal uploads. Let me give you examples with YouTube and FaceBook. Three times I have had my accounts on each deleted while I've had to come back to FB and YT and PROVE that I'm the copyright owner of what I have posted.


I said nothing can be done about piracy. If you are to be taken seriously, please do not put words into my mouth.

Nothing can be done about piracy. Lots can be done about YouTube and Facebook. They are not torrent sites. They are publicly traded companies. I am sure you can see why they react to takedown notices and the piratebay laugh at them.

Show me how you have gotten the pirate bay to remove links to content and I will buy you dinner.

Tim Ellis wrote:Mr Goat added "I wonder how much magic piracy is down to people simply being curious if an effect is worth buying or not. We've all been burnt buying appalling tricks that sounded good in the ads. If the appalling tricks stopped, maybe the piracy would decline?"

I've heard this said so many times before. It's a JUSTIFICATION not a reason.


It was a question actually.

Tim Ellis wrote:Mr Goat asks: "How many cases have the RIAA or MPAA successfully brought to court?"

This is the beauty - they don't go to court, they get settled BEFORE going to court because the pirates don't have the funds to mount a legal defense. On several occasions James Clark has threatened to sue file sharers and they have folded immediately.


Awesome, so you agree they haven't won a case. No. They scare and bully innocent people into paying them cash. All they have is an IP of a device that alledgedly downloaded a file. That isn't proof, is it? No. This is why the MPAA and RIAA have been bullying and harassing little old ladies and kids.

It's a waste of time, money and effort. And it is proven to INCREASE piracy.

Tim Ellis wrote:
Getting back to the original point of my first post - the Demonoid staff requested I stop "attacking" their member by making comments in the thread about MY DVD and said if I wanted it removed, I need to email their administration. I did, and received this reply. (Legal minded readers might be able to interpret this for me):

"Hello,
We are a torrent indexing site. We host torrent files only, which are small, non copyrightable files which may be used to get a list of ip addresses only. Nothing else is ever hosted or transmitted by the server and there is no copyright infringement taking place.

Even though we are not required to do so since we are not based in america or the american continent and there is no copyright infringement taking place, and we are not obligated in any way to remove content on your request, we honor properly written DMCA removal requests in a timely manner. But need the DMCA takedown and the links to be removed in the proper format and nothing can be removed until you supply one.

Please send a properly formatted DMCA takedown request to our assigned agent (abuse@demonoid.com), with the link to the torrent page in the format specified on our contact page (http://www.demonoid.com/contact_us.php)
Also, please don't forget to read our terms of service and disclaimer. The links are available in our contact page.

Best regards,

V. Umlauf
Legal Affairs"


It means, that they are not admitting they are doing anything illegal, but if you send them a DCMA take down to the email address they gave you, they might remove the links to the content out of good will.

P2P sites, like Demonoid, do not host the content. They simply link to it. The content is distributed via thousands of people's PCs all around the world. Demonoid host a file that will allow you to get the content from these PCs. Not from them.

This is the simple reason why P2P will never be stopped. It can't be.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby mrgoat » June 11th, 2009, 7:52 pm

the Larry wrote:I know my way around the digital domain but I am no expert. So I can't offer that much. But I have seen one publisher do sort of what you are referring to: Lybrary.com

If you go to their magic->cards->moves category then you will see that they have unbundled the entire Ackerman Advanced Card Technique series (total of 8 DVDs). You can purchase each move separately. I bought two moves so far and this really works great. I can download a video file and play it on my computer, or I can view a streaming version online.

This could of course still be made better and slicker, but it is great that one can choose only those moves that one likes. Rather than putting down $30 for a DVD you can buy for two three bucks those moves you want to study.

Not sure if you would call that a magic iTunes, probably not but the unbundling is a nice step forward to make good use of digital technology.


Although Mr Lybrary does get on my tits here with his constant plugging :) , I must admit he has it spot on in this case. Exactly right. And he is now in the position to do this across the board. He could get every publisher to work with him.

Interesting....

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby mrgoat » June 11th, 2009, 7:58 pm

Jonathan Townsend wrote:S
BTW - how does lifecycle management for customers fit in with the cycle of abuse associated with selling things called "secrets", "inner secrets" and "ultimate secrets" from "underground"?

IE why should anyone care to keep a secret when they find out that the secret they bought was just the "price of their naivete" that day and why should they not wish to spare their peers that sense of being diminished and the guilt for doing that to themselves?


The lifecycle management would be engaging someone at the start of their interest. Earning permission to talk (market) to them via newsletters, free video clips, etc. Mining data on what they look at, what they do online and then tailor offers to them based on this data. Rinse and repeat.

Really, it gets back to stop selling [censored].

The internet has made us all connected. Back in the day, I imagine if something new came out, someone bought it and told everyone at their club it was a POS. Now, they tell the world.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 11th, 2009, 9:12 pm

I got the same [censored] reply from Demonoid. I provided them with all the information they required, but they then stopped responding to my e-mails.

I'm considering not publishing any more books--then they can just kiss my ass.
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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Ted M » June 11th, 2009, 10:16 pm

So at this point would anyone like to consider the concept of changing the point in the business process when payment is made, by withholding publication until a ransom of $X,000 is reached?

At that point the producers have been paid in full, and nobody has to worry about the unsolvable problem of illicit copying. See above post re: Fund and Release / Threshold Pledge / Street Performer Protocol.

Or just click here:

http://www.geniimagazine.com/forums/ubb ... Post195326

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Tim Ellis » June 11th, 2009, 10:41 pm

Mr Goat said "Show me how you have gotten the pirate bay to remove links to content and I will buy you dinner."

I don't know about Piratebay, but I did notice on SurfTheChannel, a similar site, that all the links to uploads of the final double episode of PRISON BREAK had been deleted.

Even though all the other episodes were on line, the network has somehow stopped the final two hours (which was aired in the UK and Singapore but released in the USA as a DVD) from being uploaded.

Everything is possible.

If people can find ways to take our DVDs and upload them and share them without paying, then we can find ways to stop them.

That's how our society is supposed to work. If people break the law we don't just give up, we change laws, increase penalties, put on more police etc.. to stop them breaking the law.

Or am I too naive and need to "adapt" to a world where laws are now irrelevant and the creators have no rights over their creations anymore.

If that's the case then, like Richard, I'll stop creating too.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Tim Ellis » June 11th, 2009, 10:46 pm

Ted: "So at this point would anyone like to consider the concept of changing the point in the business process when payment is made, by withholding publication until a ransom of $X,000 is reached?"

It's a weird business model.

You have to predict in advance how many items you'll sell.

You might assume 100, get paid, then release it and 10,000 sell.

Contrary, you might anticipate 10,000, collect the funds, never reach 10,000 and then what? Refund everyone?

And isn't one of the big criticisms in magic today the whole "I have a great new trick, buy it now in pre-release quickly!!!" Then it comes out and it's a dud and everyone gets annoyed?

When that happens, I can understand why people think "I'll just pirate a copy free then if it's any good I'll buy it."

I can UNDERSTAND the thinking, but I don't AGREE with it because it would mean breaking the law.

Just as me thinking what I'd like to DO to the pirates is fine, but if I was to actually go out and DO IT, I'd be breaking the law (and end up in jail.. if caught).

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Tim Ellis » June 11th, 2009, 10:56 pm

This page has helpful information with several waysn to have unauthorised versions of your copyright material removed from the internet.

http://www.dba-oracle.com/t_official_dm ... equest.htm

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Randy Naviaux » June 11th, 2009, 11:25 pm

I must admit when I first got online over a decade ago I downloaded a couple songs via Napster. I immediately realized that what I was doing was stealing and deleted the program from my computer. I have worked in the computer industry off and on ever since. It blows my mind how acceptable people find it to dl music and movies illegally.

Personally I think the only solution will be bringing each and every individuals level of honesty up to a point where they will on their own recognize that what they are doing is wrong and stop it.

"I'm considering not publishing any more books--then they can just kiss my ass. "

Hmmmm...I might be willing to.........in exchange for you getting the Jennings books done:)

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Matt Sedlak » June 12th, 2009, 1:08 am

While I don't know much about SurfTheChannel a quick browsing of the site, especially the About Us section and the FAQ seems that it is a very different site than piratebay or demonoid. In fact, STC mentions that they have recently worked out agreements with some of the major studios and networks and they make a point to note that they are pro-DMCA and even have a beta program where rights holders can get links deleted much easier than before. So, it seems like a very different site.

You mention that you, like Richard, will stop creating if things continue as they are but that seems like such a silly comparison to me. Richard, as far as I know, isn't planning on publishing material he created himself (at least not the majority of it) but rather other people's work. So it isn't that he would stop creating but that he would stop publishing. Why someone would stop creating just because they couldn't sell that material is beyond me..but then again I tend to be creative only in the fields that I have a deep love for. In magic I create for the sole purpose of sharing my creations, whether it be for an audience of laymen or just with other magicians. But then again magic is different from the other performing arts. Perhaps there are other musicians, painters, comedians, actors, etc. out there who only create new material and techniques so that they can sell them to others in their field.

One thing I find funny about some of the remarks people always say when this discussion comes up (and again I should point out that although I disagree with many of the opinions stated in this thread-from both sides-I am against the illegal redistribution of works that are put out for sale and not for free). Anyway the common phrase is, "It's stealing plain and simple. It's illegal and they should be punished for it." I certainly won't argue with that but I know of at least a handful of people who say that then ten minutes later kick back and relax with a blunt. I'm not trying to say anyone in this discussion does (nor am I trying to say that the two laws can even be compared) but I just find it funny overall.

Also what happens when a high enough percentage of the population disagrees with a law. There are some laws now that are being discussed for exactly that reason. Considering the trend, in how many years will an overwhelming percentage of the population engage in illegal file-sharing? In my experience, both in the past as a college student and now as a high school teacher, the vast majority (80% or more?) of those students openly engage in that stuff.

It is a bit unfair that people have to adapt because of illegal actions but if P2P sharing can be stopped without a major infringment on some very basic rights I don't have a clue how to do it. Those that hold-out for a solution are unfortunately going to suffer the most.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby CraigMitchell » June 12th, 2009, 3:54 am

"If people can find ways to take our DVDs and upload them and share them without paying, then we can find ways to stop them.

That's how our society is supposed to work. If people break the law we don't just give up, we change laws, increase penalties, put on more police etc.. to stop them breaking the law."

Tim - the system doesn't necessarily work in reverse ... the ease of mass distribution does not equal ease of mass prosecution.

Changing laws, increasing penalties etc. is all good & well - but if these measures aren't successful - then a different approach is needed.

The problem is not going away unfortunately - hence the need for an alternative solution moving forward that takes into account the changing digital landscape. The challenge is to find that solution ... so let's get creative ;-)

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby mrgoat » June 12th, 2009, 4:04 am

Tim Ellis wrote:Mr Goat said "Show me how you have gotten the pirate bay to remove links to content and I will buy you dinner."

I don't know about Piratebay, but I did notice on SurfTheChannel, a similar site, that all the links to uploads of the final double episode of PRISON BREAK had been deleted.
If that's the case then, like Richard, I'll stop creating too.


And here is the problem. SurfTheChannel is in no way similar to piratebay or other P2P sites. If you want me to explain so you don't waste your time in the future, let me know.

Imagine what you could have creatively done with the time you wasted getting them to take it down.

But if you want to throw your toys out of the pram because YOU PERCEIVE a loss of income from a few 14 year olds trading files, sobeit.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby mrgoat » June 12th, 2009, 4:06 am

Richard Kaufman wrote:I got the same [censored] reply from Demonoid. I provided them with all the information they required, but they then stopped responding to my e-mails.

I'm considering not publishing any more books--then they can just kiss my ass.


Seriously, how much revenue do you estimate you are losing from people trading scans of your brilliantly published books?

I doubt you are losing much, if any at all.

Some people want to own your beautiful books. Some kids want to steal whatever they can, and then trade it online. I don't believe the file traders were EVER your market. I don't believe a traded copy of Jennings equates to a lost sale for you.

But I understand your frustration seeing your work being traded like that.

I imagine more kids are trading ellusionist/penguin tat than quality work like you put out.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Jim Riser » June 12th, 2009, 4:36 am

IP Theft Problems

As one who has been repeatedly ripped off by known thieves only to see the thief incessantly praised and supported by the many fools on various forums, I have taken a few measures to curb the theft of my creations and have considered several possible protection methods for the written word.

In the immediate time frame I have compiled a list of people to whom I will not sell my items. Being officially retired, I can afford this luxury. I do not need to sell anything to anyone. I do not care if these individuals are forever unable to obtain my creations and I certainly do not care what they think of me. It is my life being put into the creation of these goodies and I feel no need to have others copy the results of my very time consuming and expensive product development results for their profit. None of these leeches on society are entitled to anything. Make no mistake about it, some very big time collectors have been actively supporting the thieves. They are like any addict and will buy from any source to get their next fix. Well, I am putting a small dent in the supply chain.

In addition, I have cut back on what I produce to sell to others. Rather than making 50 of an item, I will only make 6-10 to go to select clients only. Others will never even know the items were made. They do not need to know. I had considered writing a book with plans for making many of the items that I have made over the years; but knowing that it would be ripped off immediately, I decided against the project. Many items in magic will be lost forever due to the current rip off situation. It is the loss of the “magic community” not the loss of those creating things.

As for the written word in magic...
I see absolutely no hope coming from the governments of the world. Did these same governments (whose responsibility to the people is to oversee such goings on as were done in recent years by the financial organizations) protect anyone from financial prestidigitation? I think not. The solution to all of the illegal spread of digital and printed material must come from the private sector as they are the ones who feel the theft.

The distribution (internet) system as it is set up right now makes such IP theft too easy for the relaxed morals of today's population. So, I suggest that trying to figure out some complicated scheme to stop the out of control piracy within the current system is a waste of time and effort. I propose a possible solution to this very problem.

The situation boils down to control over IP. I would like to see control remain with the creators.

As I see it, all of the publishers in the world need to form an international organization possibly called something like “Publishers United”. This powerful (due to numbers) group hires a business like SONY to develop an easily portable proprietary solid state durable full featured reader. This reader can handle sound, video, stills, and text – collectively termed the content. The proprietary reader could not print nor save anything other than bookmarks. All content would remain on a series of master servers. Each reader would have a built in identifying code number and a proprietary signal descrambler. Content could not be accessed without the special reader and its identifying code number.

The individual publishers would pay an annual membership fee to Publishers United, as well as, a content distribution fee. The content would be sent to subscribers as requested by their reader. Publishers United software would identify the customer from the reader ID and send out only content paid for in advance. Everything would be on-demand and nothing really held by the subscribers. What people would be paying for would be access to the desired content. Since the content might easily be retrieved whenever it was required, there would be no need to save nor print it. The ownership of the content would remain with the publisher and/or author. The cost of the proprietary readers would be factored into the subscription fees – possibly as part of a setup fee.

If publishers do not take an active part in the solution as a powerful international group, someone like Amazon will with their lame Kindle product and control of content (the real goal) will leave the hands of publishers and authors.

Right now, I really do not foresee any other solution to the current massive theft problems other than some variation of the above proposal. The little publishers would align themselves with some of the larger publishers to participate in this operation.

Until then, I am afraid it is business as usual.
Jim Riser

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby mrgoat » June 12th, 2009, 6:08 am

Jim Riser wrote:As I see it, all of the publishers in the world need to form an international organization possibly called something like “Publishers United”. This powerful (due to numbers) group hires a business like SONY to develop an easily portable proprietary solid state durable full featured reader. This reader can handle sound, video, stills, and text – collectively termed the content. The proprietary reader could not print nor save anything other than bookmarks. All content would remain on a series of master servers. Each reader would have a built in identifying code number and a proprietary signal descrambler. Content could not be accessed without the special reader and its identifying code number.


Sony has proven proprietary formats are A Bad Thing. From Betamax to ATRAC, they have unequivocally shown that these formats don't work. DRM causes more headaches for consumers than solves problems.

Trying to lock consumers into one 'tablet/laptop' (which seems to be what you are describing) I can't see being a viable option in today's cluttered multi-platform marketplace. Some people want Apple, some want Dell, some want Alienware etc.

Also, whatever you built would be cracked. Probably in minutes. If there is a computer involved anywhere in the process, and a human in charge of that computer, it can be hacked.

The identifying number you mention would be spoofed. A password would be traded. etc etc.

I really think the only way round it is to create 'undownloadable' content as Reznor has proven to work (making 750k in 3 days).

People have always and will always want stuff for free. Be that Lost, Photoshop or a DVD on the pass. I can't see that going away as it's been around since the beginning of 'media'.

For the record, this isn't me saying piracy is good. It's me saying piracy is unstoppable.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » June 12th, 2009, 8:03 am

When one has a mass market for commodities one is wont to pitch to the lowest common denominator, base short-term gratification and appeals to in-group acceptance. I somehow doubt this could work for conjuring. But it can work to destroy conjuring.

The economy of scale for production is unlikely to be of great use in our market as much of what we do is fine craftwork and re-purposing of items organic to our particular venues. By way of counter example look at the gaffed coin market. I imagine there are a few coin collectors out there who could use the props to startle their visiting peers and perhaps at gatherings but beyond that small market who would truly accept the things as "real"? Same for playing cards without the costo or gold borders with prints which you find in people's homes.

In short - even if we truly wish to set up a sort of parallel world for ourselves we have some basic issues as regards personal respect, trust, knowledge, responsibility and just what one can trade for what - and with whom.

I don't see much point fretting over how to distribute pablum to a mass market. Remember it's just about trivial to post an 'expose' on YouTube and any dissatisfied or clumsy customer is within their rights to do so. The horse is dead. We are not on a deathmarch unless folks insist on dragging impertinent baggage around.

Onward please.

BTW Jim, thanks for the focus on the flow of ink. There's quite a skill to that and it's helping me focus.
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Reason: removed first pp about high school economics definitions and presuppositions.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Dave V » June 12th, 2009, 11:04 am

I never liked the idea before, but rather than selling proprietary readers, we could modify Mr. Riser's idea slightly and instead sell what's commonly referred to as a "Dongle." This would be a small piece of hardware (with present technology, probably USB) that has an encrypted code embedded in it. Any content sold would be registered to this code, and only a computer with this dongle plugged in can stream the content for "online only" viewing. With a Public/Private Key system, content would only go to someone who has access to both keys, one embedded in the device and the other via digital "handshake" from the authorization server. This system allows for changing keys so even a "cloned" device would not work past the code expiration period.

For those who argue that they can't stay online forever and want to carry the material around, perhaps a 1 week expiration can be added (although that opens the door for abuse and the cycle of potential theft starts all over again)

They have USB adaptors about the size of a dime, so it's no big deal to mail one of these rather than a packaged disk set.
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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby AMcD » June 12th, 2009, 11:08 am

Well, downloading is bad, but to me the worst of all that buzz are kids explaining, unveiling, exposing and killing Magic on youtube.

I can't count how many time I've been desirous to strangle one of these young morons. I don't understand their purpose. They download? Why not (many reasons bout that), but why exposing???

Not only they steal, they kill the Art at the same time.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Dave V » June 12th, 2009, 11:12 am

I really don't see an answer to that. Kids will always want to feel "superior" by showing off to their friends their newfound knowledge.

The difference depends on us to change the way we view magic and make the value in our own performance, not the "secret."

I don't care that someone knows how Whit Haydn's "Time Machine" works. All they can really do on YouTube is say "Look at this box. Isn't it pretty?" The value is in what Whit does with it, not the box itself.
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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby the Larry » June 12th, 2009, 11:21 am

mrgoat wrote:I really think the only way round it is to create 'undownloadable' content as Reznor has proven to work (making 750k in 3 days).


Can you explain? I don't know who or what Reznor is.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Dave V » June 12th, 2009, 11:23 am

Neither do I. Please, tell us more.

EDIT: Okay, a quick search for "Reznor" brings this up about Trent Reznor of the band Nine Inch Nails:

Criticisms of the music industry
In May 2007, Reznor made a post on the official Nine Inch Nails website condemning Universal Music Groupthe parent company of the band's record label, Interscope Recordsfor their pricing and distribution plans for Nine Inch Nails' 2007 album Year Zero.[46] He labeled the company's retail pricing of Year Zero in Australia as "ABSURD", [sic] concluding that "as a reward for being a 'true fan' you get ripped off". Reznor went on to say that as "the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more."[47] Reznor's post, specifically his criticism of the recording industry at large, elicited considerable media attention.[48] In September 2007, Reznor continued his attack on Universal Music Group at a concert in Australia, urging fans there to "steal" his music online instead of purchasing it legally.[49] Reznor went on to encourage the crowd to "steal and steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealin'."[50]

Trent Reznor announced later that Nine Inch Nails split from its contractual obligations with Interscope Records, and will distribute its next major albums independently. The last Nine Inch Nails release on Interscope was a remix album based on material from Year Zero.[51] Interscope retains the right to release a "Greatest Hits" album.[52] In March 2008, the seventh studio album by Nine Inch Nails, Ghosts IIV, was released independently, under a Creative Commons license. The eighth studio album, The Slip, was also released independently and is available free of charge on the band's website.[27]
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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Bill Mullins » June 12th, 2009, 11:25 am

Trent Reznor is a musician, from the band "Nine Inch Nails".

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby mrgoat » June 12th, 2009, 12:59 pm

the Larry wrote:
mrgoat wrote:I really think the only way round it is to create 'undownloadable' content as Reznor has proven to work (making 750k in 3 days).


Can you explain? I don't know who or what Reznor is.


http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2008 ... s-free.ars

Sorry, I referred to him earlier in the thread, so time only called him Reznor.

The link above details how he made 750k in 3 days giving away his content for free.

He is a massive fan of P2P distribution and even joined piratebay himself to post his content on there.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby mrgoat » June 12th, 2009, 1:02 pm

Dave V wrote:I never liked the idea before, but rather than selling proprietary readers, we could modify Mr. Riser's idea slightly and instead sell what's commonly referred to as a "Dongle." This would be a small piece of hardware (with present technology, probably USB) that has an encrypted code embedded in it. Any content sold would be registered to this code, and only a computer with this dongle plugged in can stream the content for "online only" viewing. With a Public/Private Key system, content would only go to someone who has access to both keys, one embedded in the device and the other via digital "handshake" from the authorization server. This system allows for changing keys so even a "cloned" device would not work past the code expiration period.



For those who argue that they can't stay online forever and want to carry the material around, perhaps a 1 week expiration can be added (although that opens the door for abuse and the cycle of potential theft starts all over again)

They have USB adaptors about the size of a dime, so it's no big deal to mail one of these rather than a packaged disk set.


You don't need a cloned device. You just crack the software. Logic Studio famously used to use a dongle for protection (as does AUTOCAD and other very expensive apps). They are cracked in hours and non-dongle versions are released.

Basically, any form of technology you create to thwart piracy will be cracked. Macrovision for stopping VHS copying. The DVD copy protection. Blu-ray copy protection. All cracked.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby mrgoat » June 12th, 2009, 1:04 pm

Dave V wrote:The difference depends on us to change the way we view magic and make the value in our own performance, not the "secret."


Ain't *that* the truth.

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » June 12th, 2009, 1:43 pm

dongles etc were cute back in the 1980s for a while. As mr goat noted such things were found ineffective a while ago.

Still carrying baggage? Jim Riser hit one of the nails on the head about precision craftsmanship being a good product. How about real and direct personal instruction like the NYCoinSyposium guys are doing?

In the mean time - What specifically do you feel motivates folks to "share" magic data? If you can figure out what folks want to share you can then produce something else that will be of little interest to them and greater interest to those you wish as customers.
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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby mrgoat » June 12th, 2009, 1:55 pm

Interesting. The Guardian suggest videogames are to blame for the demise in music sales...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog ... ads-piracy

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Dave V » June 12th, 2009, 2:04 pm

I wasn't talking about the old style "keys" but one that could have read only software embedded and relies on a two part verification system. Cloning it *might* be possible, but with periodic key changes it'll end up like the DirectTV card systems. They work, but only until the next code change. The effort/cost ratio should be great enough that most will get discouraged.
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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby jason156 » June 12th, 2009, 2:29 pm

Interesting, but...

What will stop someone from videotaping their screen with a camcorder and posting that. What will stop someone from studying the material and video taping themselves going through the effects?

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » June 12th, 2009, 2:37 pm

It makes us seem terribly ignorant to go posting dumbass methods to slow down stupid consumers, especially ones which have not been implimented and then gotten both cracked by experts and time/value estimates for other hackers to crack. Posting such seems slightly better than suggesting publishers only publish a few copies of a book and charge admission to the rooms in which they is kept. Well actually that's a far better solution as it worked for hundreds of years long ago.

As many here are too timid to discuss the elephant in the room much less befriend it, I may as well offer it a peanut and a pat. I do like that some of our works are essentially open to the public and found in libraries. The Hoffmann works, as unethical and damning as they are to our culture of secrecy, still serve as good basic instruction. As does Robert-Houdin's Secrets of Conjuring among other works. But what then of a mass market? What do we do to keen an influx of interested youngsters visiting the magicshop and joining magic associations?

Having befriended the elephant - let's get back to the rats in the walls of our market. What's motivating them to spare their peers both money and fuss? What's in it for them?

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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Dave V » June 12th, 2009, 3:14 pm

I'm sorry you feel that some of our suggestions are "dumbass," especially the ones that haven't been implemented. It reminds me of the Patent Office guy who stated "Everything that will be invented has been invented..." Just because nobody has tried it doesn't make it automatically "bad." The techniques I mention work for Top Secret agencies around the world. If it's good enough for them...

Maybe your "room admission" could work again. That's almost what I'm suggesting in a way. Magic dealers can give out "keys" like candy, with just enough "teasers" available without paying to make them want to subscribe to the streaming content. Again, the content will only go to those possessing a valid key code and registration. Kids passing their keys around will find they won't work on any computer other than the one legally authorized by the key generator.


I don't have an answer to your mass market thoughts. I don't know either why they feel the need to spare their peers money and fuss other than the "ego" thought I put forth earlier. I see us having two choices. Either we make the cost prohibitively high (with expensive hardware roadblocks) or we go the Nine Inch Nails approach and remove the value aspect and give it away for free. That would pretty much fit with my Whit example where the value is with the performer, not the gimmick.

I, like you, am trying to generate positive discussion on solutions rather than gripe about the problem. It's just that I'm a technician by nature, so I look for the "hardware" fix, while you are focusing on the "intellectual" fix. Between the two of us, maybe something will come of this that will work.
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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby Dave V » June 12th, 2009, 3:21 pm

jason156 wrote:Interesting, but...

What will stop someone from videotaping their screen with a camcorder and posting that.


Nothing, really. Although Youtube is getting pretty good at tracking copyrighted material. Try posting an MP3 of a popular song and see how long it takes for Youtube to find it and turn it off. There's software now (iphone app) that can simply "listen" to a song and identify it. If we registered our video production with a service like this, direct copies will be spotted, eliminated, and the poster stripped of the ability to upload content.

What will stop someone from studying the material and video taping themselves going through the effects?

And in the process become the next generation of performing magicians? I see no problem with that.
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Re: Why do people think it's okay to upload magic DVDs?

Postby mrgoat » June 12th, 2009, 3:29 pm

Dave V wrote:Maybe your "room admission" could work again. That's almost what I'm suggesting in a way. Magic dealers can give out "keys" like candy, with just enough "teasers" available without paying to make them want to subscribe to the streaming content. Again, the content will only go to those possessing a valid key code and registration. Kids passing their keys around will find they won't work on any computer other than the one legally authorized by the key generator.


Really. Truly. Technology of any description WILL be hacked. Barking up the wrong tree here I fear, Sir.


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