If
television networks abided by a Couch Potatoes' Bill of Rights for
viewers, they wouldn't face such a threat from file-sharing networks
such as BitTorrent.
US internet service provider Comcast has
been accused of deliberately choking its customers' file-sharing
traffic - a practice that's not unheard of in Australia. With a growing
number of legitimate services using BitTorrent as a distribution tool,
customers are entitled to be upset. Still, let's face it, the bulk of
BitTorrent traffic on the intertubes is copyright-infringing music,
television and movies.
Comcast
is now trying to save face by introducing a P2P Bill of Rights, but I
think we need to go back a step and look at why people share files in
the first place. The financial advantage of stealing music and movies
is obvious, but why do people steal TV shows when they're already free?
The answer, in Australia at least, is because the networks treat
viewers with absolute contempt. If networks want to fight piracy,
here's a viewers' Bill of Rights they might consider:
COUCH POTATOES' BILL OF RIGHTS:
1. Viewers have the right to watch a TV series in the order the creators intended.
2. Viewers have the right to watch a TV series weeks or months after it first screens overseas, rather than years.
3.
Viewers have the right to expect a TV series to appear at the same time
every week, rather than be moved to the graveyard slot and then
screened on random days.
4. Viewers have the right to watch an entire
series in one stretch, rather than suffering through weeks of repeats
and "best ofs" before the series finale.
5.
Viewers have the right to expect a TV program to start on time, rather
than 15 minutes late in order to screw over PVR owners.
6.
Viewers have the right to watch a TV show in its entirety, rather than
have scenes cut so more advertisements can be crammed in.
If
television networks could abide by these simple rules they would go a
long way to bringing BitTorrent users back into the fold. What
ammendments would you add to the Couch Potatoes' Bill of Rights?
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