As many of us are aware, a couple of incidents involving Funimation and anime piracy have recently come up. The first incident involved the halting of Funimation’s simulcast of Fractale by the anime’s production committee until Funimation put a stop to illegal uploads of the series (after a week’s delay, it was just announced that the simulcast will resume this Monday). The second incident involved Funimation suing 1,337 bittorrent users who downloaded a fansub file of One Piece episode 481. A recent post by Ultimatemegax got me thinking about possible ways to combat anime piracy in this day and age of streaming and torrents…
After giving it some thought, I’ve come up with a possible method. Before I get into it, I just want to make it clear that I don’t know much about how licensing works for anime companies, nor if the technology and expenses I infer in my method are even possible for anime companies. This is simply one fan’s idea of what would personally give me no incentive to download fansubs of licensed anime:
Several years ago, the solutions for diminishing anime piracy were 1) making the episodes available within hours of the Japanese airing, and 2) making the episodes free (or relatively cheap) and easily accessible. In current years, these issues have been addressed with simulcasting and large archives of free (for most non-new episodes at least) streaming episodes on sites like Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Funimation’s site. But despite this, there are still tons of fansubs being made of licensed or even simulcasted anime. Why is that?
Obviously I don’t know everyone’s reason for choosing a fansub torrent of the latest show over Crunchyroll’s official stream when they’re released on the same day, but for me, my main reason is that I don’t like streaming nor does my computer do well with it.
I have a six year old computer and I haven’t yet had the funds to buy a new one. My computer has been working perfectly fine all these years, so buying a new one hasn’t been a pressing issue. But whenever I play streaming videos via YouTube, Crunchyroll, or whatever site, it rarely plays smoothly – there’s always choppiness and sometimes the audio and video get momentarily out of sync. When I play downloaded videos however – .avi, .wmv, .mov, and most .mkv – I don’t have this problem. My old computer can even play some large H.264 .mkv files smoothly, but an HD YouTube video streamed at 720p is almost unwatchable.
I know I’m not the only one who has this problem with streaming videos. Even if the capacity of your computer isn’t the issue, in order to enjoy streaming videos one must not only have an Internet connection, but it must be a good one. If your Internet gets a little slow or uncooperative, which I know happens to all of us, your chances of watching a streaming anime episode smoothly are practically nil. And what if you’re suddenly without Internet for an indefinite amount of time?
In summary, one issue to combat anime piracy that hasn’t been as fully addressed as simulcasting is – the ability to download actual episode files of anime rather than just streaming them. Again, I don’t know if such a thing is financially or technologically possible for companies, but here’s a rundown of what I had in mind:
– When a company, let’s say Funimation, licenses an anime, the anime will be available on their site(s) for streaming and for download as an .avi and/or .mkv files (in 480p, 720p, and perhaps 1080p since I know video quality is another common reason to turn to fansubs). This way, those who prefer streaming can still watch streaming and not have to use up the bandwidth for those who want episode downloads.
– If bandwidth expense is too much of an issue for direct downloads, perhaps Funimation could incorporate their own private IRC channel or something that would only be available to members who sign up on their site.
– When signing up, there would be different options available for paying and non-paying members, but both will have to make an account on Funimation’s site first in order to access any anime and both will be able to access the latest episodes subbed within hours of the Japanese airing (unlike Crunchyroll, which makes non-paying members wait a week for the latest episodes, which greatly increases their desire to watch fansubs).
– For non-paying members, in order to access an episode to downloaded, you’ll be forced to watch a couple of minutes of advertisements, visit a few pages of a sponsor site, or something similar. After you fulfill this obligation, you’ll get a code that will allow you to download the episode to your hard drive. The downloaded episode file will “expire” after a number of days so you’ll have to watch it before then or else it won’t work properly. Your account on Funimation’s site will keep track of all the episodes you’ve either streamed or downloaded and will prevent you from downloading the same one within a certain amount of time. There could also be other restrictions such as not being able to download more than 70 episodes per month or something (but streaming will always be available).
– For paying members, you can choose to either pay by episode or pay a monthly fee. As a paying member, you’ll be able to access your anime ad-free. You’ll also be able to keep your downloaded episodes longer before they expire (I’m debating whether paying members should keep them permanently or not). Your account will also keep an archive of everything you’ve streamed or downloaded. If you pay per episode, you can download as many as you want per month. If you pay monthly, you can stream as much as you want but there may be limits on how much you can download. There could also be other additional perks for being a paying member.
– If you want to download batch files of an entire series all at once, you’ll have to pay. I’m not sure what a good price would be (cheaper than the DVD box set for sure), but perhaps paying members can get a discount and non-paying members can choose to pay just for that or some other obligation.
This is basically what my method entails. The main piracy issues nowadays are 1) fans want episodes to download rather than just stream and 2) they want such episodes to be better quality than 360p-480p. My method should satisfy both issues. If I were a non-paying member, I certainly wouldn’t mind sitting through a few minutes of advertising if I could download official files of anime episodes that are the same quality as any fansub…
…but like I said, a method like this could be impossible to implement for financial reasons (hosting all those video files if something bittorrent-like isn’t plausible) and technological reasons (how can you make the episode files “expire”?) There are other problems too, such as preventing people from illegally re-uploading the episodes (on YouTube, bittorrent, or wherever) after legally downloading them, or what to do with fans who prefer to watch fansubbed blu-ray episodes. And what about all the fans who want to watch the latest anime that don’t get simulcast? Well, the post is titled “A possible method for combating anime piracy” not “ending anime piracy,” as I don’t think such a thing is possible, at least not anytime soon.
Do you think my method, or some variation of it, is possible? If not, what do you think should be changed, or do you have an entirely different idea you think is better? If people don’t get their thoughts out there, we’ll never find a solution =)
I honestly think that streaming of anime is better than downloading anime. I’ve found that the quality (at least with newer shows…say the past year or two) of streamed episodes is just as good as the quality of downloaded episodes. And you don’t have to wait for the whole torrent to finish downloading before you watch it. And you don’t have to worry about getting caught for downloading a torrent (happened to me twice).
As for piracy, maybe if we got Japanese programming in the USA (somehow subbed) then that would be great, but that really is impossible, so piracy lives on! (good for me since I’m broke)
Wait, you got caught for torrenting, Glo?
Did you get sued or something?
As for the piracy issue, I prefer not to think about it. Whenever I download a file illegally I convince myself that I won’t get caught. I know that I’m delusional, but there is honestly nothing beneficial from watching it legally online, so I’ll continue to download. I do think that buying DVDs is rewarding, but they are expensive sooo…
About the blog post: I think that you’ve got some great ideas here, even though I would probably still download torrents. What can I say? I’m lazy and I need files to make AMVs. Also, I think you can make downloads expire. Just look at trial versions of programs like Sony Vegas. They expire after a certain amount of time, and you have to enter an activation code. Maybe this new download system you were talking about could run similarly?
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I would also like to point out how much I hate episodical reviews. I rarely follow the anime airing in a particular season; I usually wait until after they have finished to marathon the whole thing in a sitting, so reading episodical reviews not only spoils me, but bores me 90% of the time. I REALLY appreciate all the effort you put into bringing unique blogposts to the aniblogosphere. Plus, your writing has a certain flow to it that makes topics I would’ve thought were boring very interesting. Anyway, keep up the good work. :)
I got 2 warnings. The first was actually because of my sister’s music, but the second was because of an episode of Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom. Just one more reason why Bee Train sucks.
lol I have yet to watch Phantom… It’s on my plan-to-watch list. Should I be taking it off?
In response to your two warnings:
What happened exactly?
Is it “third strike you’re out?”
You still torrent, right?
lol this whole reply was filled with questions. Sorry. xD
I no longer torrent, especially since I consider streaming easier and better.
Phantom was okay. It was kinda boring, but it’s better than anything else that Bee Train has ever made.
They said if they catch any downloading again I lose internet or something. I don’t really remember.
@ Yumeka: I still can take screencaps (print screens) and it only takes about 5 seconds to do. AMVs are one thing that are a drawback, although I don’t really make them anyway…..I did put up a song from Futakoi Alternative up on youtube back when I still had a shit-ton of anime on my computer (it all got erased in my latest crash).
If I was at a university then I’d torrent all the time, because it’s not really my internet. I feel like the only get in trouble if you are using something like the late Limewire (which no longer exists). I’ll still direct download stuff because no one ever really catches you with that. I’ll also download shit off of youtube, which is totally illegal and pretty easy to get caught doing. I kinda stopped doing that though.
Yes, another advantage of having downloaded episodes over streaming is that you can use the files to make AMVs, rip the OPs and EDs, take screencaps, etc,. Of course, AMVs bring in another piracy issue…
Thanks so much for the compliments about my blog ^^ That really makes my day.
Streaming video quality has gotten better over the years, at least for Crunchyroll. Funimation’s 360p streams, however, could be better.
I don’t mind waiting for torrents to download since I usually watch anime at night and will let the torrent download during the day. For new episodes, like the latest episode of Bakuman or something, the torrent could be done in five minutes.
The only time I ever got in any kind of trouble for using bittorrent was when I was using it with my university’s wireless Internet. They temporarily took away my Internet until I e-mailed them back saying that I received their warning (didn’t take more than a day to fix). Other than that, the only Internet I’ve used bittorrent with were my university apartment and my house, both through ethernet cables rather than wireless, and I’ve never had any problems torrenting on through them.
I think many of us have been looking for a method not unlike this for a while now. The trick is to find a platform where the ID time stamp can be placed on the files so that this is monitored per member. The download option, however runs across so much of what the Japanese distributors refuse to understand, let alone accept. And as much as streaming is still far from a perfect means, there are new methods being fielded as the technology races to new plateaus. Personally, I’ve always seen the streaming model as a temporary solution as tvs and computers continue to merge. <= It is here where the fate of media will lie in the coming years.
The other problem lies within the Japanese production companies, and their affiliates, where the bulk of the speed-sub problems are often leaking from. This is a core concern that must also be brought to light as this is one of the primary sources of raws. There is only so much we can do on our side of the ocean, while the shows keep on coming through a fence that should be a great deal tighter.
Another thing worth considering, is perhaps the manipulation of online space ala Dropbox, where it is less a matter of mere downloading. While I like the idea of temporary files for paying members, there's still so much to do on that end of data alteration that wouldn't allow loopholes. Tricky stuff.
I agree about TVs and computers merging together in current years. Companies are still so driven to make DVDs the bulk of their sales, not realizing that many fans would rather watch the episodes on the better quality .mkv files on their computer rather than DVDs. My HD TV is also my computer monitor, so there’s really no difference whether I’m watching anime through my DVD player or computer, but usually the computer files look better.
I also agree that anime piracy outside Japan starts from Japan. If Japanese fans didn’t upload the raws, fansubbers would have nothing to work with. It is indeed a tricky business with no guarunteed solution in sight as things are going now.
What is Dropbox by the way?
Crunchyroll used to have downloadable episodes, but discontinued that. My computer’s powerful enough to handle their 720p video though, so I have no complaints. I am an opportunistic pirate, with the ability and willingness to pay, but not the patience to wait. The anime companies probably want to target guys like me for simulcasts.
It’s too bad they discontinued their downloadable episodes but maybe they just weren’t ready for it at the time. I wish they would give it another chance and perhaps implement some of the things I mentioned in the post.
To remove this problem, you have to appease the people who are doing the ripping and remove their incentive to offer the video and audio with their releases, just their own “added content”.
That means offering high-quality downloads that allows the user to mix in their own audio and subtitle tracks, at a reasonable fee that permits them to be able to archive their copy of the video.
But this won’t happen because it’s impossible to offer up one standardized 720p and/or 1080p download of something to all regions, let alone using a format like Matroska that permits the user to change audio/subtitle tracks etc.. people are too greedy and/or picky for this to happen.
Worse, there will still always be that one group that decides their post-processing, upscaling, etc is better than “the official release” or they’re just jerks who feel they’re doing everyone a favor by “pirating”. It’s tough to work around the former without a lot of extra work, and it’s practically impossible to solve the latter.
If things like region locking were removed to catch up with the modern distribution methods of the web, and the offered products were reasonably priced and at a comparable quality to the “pirated” versions, and those versions let the non-casual fan manipulate them as easily as desired, then this problem might be diminished to the point where it’s not a huge issue.
But there will always be greedy jerks on either side of the fence.
Good thoughts. I don’t even know how to add my own subtitles and stuff to .mkv files, so that wouldn’t be an issue for me (that’s also why I’m still willing to download .avi files). But yes, in addition to video quality, not being able to manipulate the file is another thing that could turn some people off to official releases.
What you said in your last paragraph pretty much sums up what’s needed to but a huge dent in anime piracy nowadays. But I don’t see it ever ending though, as those jerks you mentioned will always be around.
Certainly some viable ideas in there. This sort of reminds me of the years before and during the initial outpouring of DVDs at rental… because there was a time when expiring DVD technology was experimented with as well. Loosely recalling, I think the discs were coated with a chemical that would ruin the item within twenty-four hours, after being exposed to oxygen. Obviously, it never became standard.
The idea of a personalized distributor minisite that tracks individual downloads is an interesting idea. I note this because it could be easily integrated into a distributor or online retailer’s current online efforts in building an online community (or at least, easier than other models that would require ground-up development). The tracking methods they could implement behind-the-scenes might prove promising.
We can spin the download-to-own model a few ways: Encoding or stamping electronic files so they can only play on the computer terminal on which they are downloaded, for example. If the rights holder requires the user to utilize a specific (internally developed) downloader/viewer for their video files, then they might have a few more options in customizing (or limiting) their content for broadcast/viewing through this channel.
Also, perhaps distributors could take more of a liking to MOD – manufacturing on demand. Although more open to piracy on the back-end, I’m sure there’s a licensor’s dreamworld out there, somewhere, that more thoroughly involves letting consumers determine what they want to purchase; how much they want to pay; and in what quality they want to purchase it; while still getting customers to buy a physical copy.
Your ideas of making the downloaded files only playable on one computer terminal, and requiring a specific program, customized by the company, to play them, are great.
MOD sounds too good to be true…but maybe one day ;)
I agree with a lot of what you mentioned in this post.
I think a higher subscription fee should be required if one wants to download but they’d be limited to strictly newly releasing stuff, or make it like Netflix or Gamefly where you can have one or two animes saved at a time, and are free to download once those files have been deleted. Basically, a rental system. then like you said, pay for large batch file downloads, if one simply doesn’t want to pay box sets. As long as I have my anime, I don’t necessarily need to bonus features.
I do believe anime piracy is a huge problem that needs to be solved, but for downloaders it’s more often than not, based on the overall quality. I’ve got an HD monitor and hate to watch anime in 480p, though I’ll suck up my pride for a show that I’m dying to watch. Your solution seems very manageable aside from the costs.
One thing I’ve noticed about fansubs in comparison to officially subbed works, is that I like the fonts more in a fansub. The fonts seem to be clearer, or just nicer to look at and still easy to read.
Speed is a big part in my opinion. You either download from a trusted source, or it turns into a first come, first serve kinda deal.
Limiting the number of anime you have on your hard drive at one time could help slow down traffic and bandwidth. But it could present a problem for people who like to save multiple episodes for later use, such as taking screencaps for their blog or something. It’s hard to please everyone =/
I totally agree about the actual subtitled quality that fansubbers have compared to official releases. I think Funimation’s subs are too small and they cram too much on screen at any one time. And the karaoke that fansubbers use for the OPs and EDs have a certain charm to them.
If you have read my opinions, I absolutely hate streaming not only because you need an internet connection, but the restriction of freedom. Streaming does not allow you put the episode on something like an iPod so you can watch on the go. Plus, some ISPs are supporting capped internet since they are greedy. For example AT&T put caps on their mobile internet for new smartphone users and can no longer choose an unlimited plan. Overages can be a big negative for streaming if everyone catches on since they would be paying extra by the GB just to watch their favorite shows.
Also, I am highly against DRM (Digital Rights Management) since it severely reduces the user’s freedom and some can actually ruin the computer since some of these DRM install rootkits. DRM does not prevent piracy, but encourages it. Companies should just release these episodes DRM free, but place a restriction on how much you can download and put the full name on the file to make it clear that video is owned by a certain user for use.
Third, the current streamed anime are missing some things. Most importantly, the karaoke is missing. Sometimes, people want to know the lyrics of the song or something. Another thing is the typeface, it’s ugly and not as clear if you use a readable typeface. In most fansubs, they are colorful and even have effects. Anime Companies like Funnimation has to implement this so that fansub viewers would be persuaded to watch the legal copy.
In the end of the day, while the stuff I mentioned would theoretically reduce piracy, there will always be a tiny group of people that refuses it. If the companies reduce the disadvantages of their version and make it downloadable DRM-free video, I think more people would decide to watch the legal copy.
I don’t know anything about DRM, and I don’t watch anime on the go, but from what you’ve said, these are additional strikes against streaming and the current state of things digital-wise.
Like I said to Karasu above, I agree that the lack of karaoke is a bummer, but it’s not a huge deal to me. I can always look up the translations later on sites like AnimeLyrics. Rather than spending money to get the rights to these songs, I’d rather the companies use that money for the other things I’ve mentioned =)
Yes, there will always be that group of people who refuse to go with official releases even if there’s virtually no difference between them. That’s just the way some people are unfortunately =/
I think you may have contradicted yourself a little in your paragraph on DRM. There are some implementations of digital rights management that not as effective as they should be, sure, but DRM is not a singular technology that is applicable to only one or two media types.
DRM can and does include things like download restrictions, flagging abusive consumers, purchase tracking, e-book installations, and software/game verifications and authentications… There are forms of digital rights management that include all of these. The problems that need to be addressed–in our social media information-is-everywhere century–regard user privacy. In implementing new technologies, opt-in policies should be at the fore…
Thanks for the additional DRM info XD Obviously I didn’t know what I was talking about there.
I didn’t mean to call you out or anything (sorry if that’s what it seemed like). My comment was a response to the post above yours, really.
DRM makes a lot of people mad, and for a lot of reasons (some of them, rational). But there’s no other way to express how companies owning these titles simply cannot “give us the raw”… which is what everyone is asking but in a different way. It swings the pendulum in the complete opposite direction, I think.
The main problem to solve here arguably isn’t the technological/logistical problem, but the financial/business model problem. The companies involved in these decisions are, like pretty much all companies, in this to maximize their return on investment. To this point, they’ve made their money by selling territory-specific broadcast rights and merchandise rights to various other companies (see Funimation’s recent blog post on this topic). So anything that loosens the perceived control they have over their franchises and their ability to sell and resell rights and merchandise is like money thrown out the window. Yes, exposure to a franchise is required in one way or another to build a market for the merchandise you’re trying to sell (most late-night anime airs on TV in Japan as a way of advertising its own existence). But you have to be able to sell enough product to compensate for whatever it costs to do that promotional work.
Even if the proposed service is a paid service, and/or people have to pay for what they watch/download either directly or through ads, the amount of money usually made through these channels (at least so far) is still a tiny fraction compared to what they’re used to making through traditional avenues. And once people have seen themselves as having paid money for a product, not everyone is going to be willing to pay again to get the same media in another form. For example, if you already paid for an official, perfectly-legal high-quality translated HD download of an anime, would you still be interested in buying the same show again on DVD or BD? It it’s a tiny bit different if all you could do was watch a stream, because that has its inherent limitations and drawbacks as noted in the original post.
Anyway, I’m sure I could go on and on… but I have no doubt that with enough conversation we could come up with a pretty decent model for a fictional legal service that “everyone would like”. But the real issue is what the rights holders want, and that’s basically a way of growing their bottom line and expanding (without contracting) their available revenue streams. Of course I don’t honestly think they’ll get everything they want, because times are changing whether they like it or not. But right now I think all the media companies around the world are waiting for the brilliant business scheme that will save them from what they no doubt see as the impending digital apocalypse for their profit margins. And when it comes to solving that side of the equation, it’s a lot harder to come up with good suggestions. (But if/when someone does solve it, they’ll probably be rich! :p )
Thanks as always for your informative input.
Like I said to Wintermuted above, it seems like the companies can sense that this “digital apocalypse” – when TVs, DVDs, computers, music, etc., merge together via the Internet – is coming, but they’re having trouble accepting it. They still want the bulk of their sales to be BD/DVDs, not realizing that the quality of .mkv files distributed on the computer is just as good.
If they don’t want to completely abandon DVD sales, they need to offer some incentive for people to buy them, something that can’t be copied online. One way is to offer physical goodies along with the DVDs, such as art booklets, pencil boards, figures, etc,. I was also going out on a limb and thinking of the official companies offering customized DVDs through their site for a reasonable fee. Users can choose what pictures and design (related to that anime of course) they want on the DVD box, the covers of each DVD, and the menus, and then those will be shipped to them. Again, these things could increase incentive for buying physical copies of anime, but they’re probably not plausible cost-wise.
Therein lies the problem. There is no silver bullet solution.
Because there are so many different demographically branded industries and product categories, broadcast on increasingly specialized networks, devising a single, scalable model to deliver them all is an improbable task.
I have never actually downloaded a torrent. I probably never will. The fact that my computer still lives to this day is a testament to that somehow. Probably!
But regarding the streams, recently I’ve just been having a problem watching anything on Crunchyroll without the computer having to restart the tab. I don’t know if that’s a sign or not (because it’s not just my own computer), but it’s certainly strange. It might just be my problem though, but I might have to ask Crunchyroll what the problem is. Maybe streaming is more of pain than I thought.
Anyways, the ideas could work. But there are probably things that could work against it…and even so, it’ll still produce fansubbers. But I definitely commend you for your idea.
Perhaps the Crunchyroll streams are just getting more intense and advanced while your computer is getting older. Hopefully Crunchyroll themselves can offer you a better reason for why you’re having trouble with their streams.
Like I said, my method cannot end piracy but can only combat it. I don’t think there’s any method that won’t have any disadvantages. But we should keep trying =)
Right now streams are the only way I can watch anything. But I’m not about to wait a week for new subs. Yes, I should get a cruchyroll subscription, and someday I will have have the cash for one, but for now, it’s not enough of a priority for me, so I’m being bad.
Some people just won’t not pirate. I remember a conversation about video games in the commons, I was talking about my plans to pick up Pokemon White, and someone was telling us how he had it on his computer. I mentioned that I wanted to support the game industry and he laughed at me and said he was poor and thus was never going to do that.
Making non-paying members wait a week for all new episodes is a huge incentive for them to turn to fansubs. That’s why I made sure that new episodes are available to both types of members in my method. I’m willing to site through a few minutes of ads and watch the episode the legit way rather than be a week behind everyone else. People think a Crunchyroll subscription is cheap, but they don’t know how tight money is for others and how alluring it is to just get those new episodes for free elsewhere.
Heh, I wouldn’t play a Pokemon DS game on my computer since half the fun is that the game is portable, as well as all the wireless capabilities, online and local, that I don’t think a ROM can emulate.
As RS said above, Crunchyroll used to give you the option to download episodes to your computer, but they stopped offering that at some point.
I’ve never done torrent, and I’ve never downloaded anime episodes to my hard drive either – it’s all been streaming (and DVDs). I think streaming is still the best way, though it has its quality issues as you’ve noted. (My computer usually can’t handle the 720p version on Crunchyroll, but then I used to watch Bleach episodes in horrible resolution on You Tube so even the SD version on Crunchyroll looks better – and is legal to boot. :)) I think the industry is likely to view downloading as files as giving too much away. This might be why Crunchyroll stopped allowing its users to download episodes to their computers, actually.
My computer can handle YouTube and Crunchyroll videos at 480p or lower, though there’s still some choppiness. But when I play a downloaded rip of Crunchyroll’s 720p files, it plays perfectly smooth ~_^
I think the main reason for lack of official downloadable episodes is, as a couple of above comments suggested, the companies feel that it will give people no incentive to buy DVDs, which they still consider the bulk of their profit. I do wish they would give it another shot though – if they put their heads together I’m sure they can come up with a good method that will please the crowd that doesn’t do streaming for whatever reason.
Haha I love how idealistic everyone is. It’s almost adorable~ .>
I really don’t want to write up a giant long response to this, but suffice it to say that any “solution” that would fix the anime piracy problem would have to also fix the American piracy problem. There’s a reason why Netflix/Hulu hasn’t implemented anything close to these ideas.
And on the topic of Hulu, have you seen their 360p and 480p videos? They’re actually pretty damn crisp and clear. I’d be fine watching anime on Hulu if it looked like what other shows look like. But anime on Hulu certainly doesn’t look like that. Why doesn’t it? Well, it’s not hard to figure out.
Heh, it may be idealistic, but I still want to hang on to the hope that we can come up with a solution that will greatly diminish anime piracy while still pleasing the majority of fans. I don’t know about other fandoms, but anime fans are good at musing over stuff like this, and if we, and the companies, come up with something good, why not also use it to help the American piracy problem? =)
I did watch Inuyasha: The Final Act on Hulu and it looked okay. It’s just that my computer had some “hiccups” that made the stream a little choppy.
Problems:
1. This might address the piracy problem in America, but it does nothing for the rest of the world. Places like Australia have 0 hope of getting much streamed since Madman entertainment isn’t large enough (to be fair, the user base isn’t large either to support this either) to license everything that people are interested in (ie: only popular shows).
2. DRM in all its forms is bad. If a file is playable on somebody’s computer (a la Aaron B’s suggestion) it can be cracked or circumvented and be playable on anybodies computer. No exceptions. Also, if it can only be played on one PC, what about legitimate users who have a PC and a Laptop? Inconveniencing legitimate users to try and stop pirates is ineffective (since pirates will get it anyway) and annoying (see previous sentence).
(@chikorita157’s suggestion) Unless the video itself is watermarked with the users name (Which inconveniences legit users), any other type of marking (file name, crc data, hidden subtitle lines, etc) would easily be found and removed, and then the video becomes anonymous again, which makes it easy to share with no repercussions. Even if the users name was watermarked onto the video, one could just go into a video editing program like WMM and put a black box over your name for the length of the video.
For your #1 point, unfortunately I don’t know how stuff like this works in other countries – I just focused on Japan-America licensing since that’s what I’m familiar with.
As for you #2 point, I agree that pirates will always find ways to crack everything. So all we can do is just make it more difficult for them. Average users probably won’t know how to do the tricks you mentioned – I certainly wouldn’t know – so that’s at least some progress. But yeah, you’re never gonna stop the piracy completely.
There is nothing to be gained by combatting anime piracy. Companies don’t make money by people not pirating products. They make it by people buying them. (And making it impossible to find information in the information age doesn’t work anyway.) I pirate everything, but I’ve also bought plenty of Funimation DVDs. But I want my money to go towards creating anime, not extorting more money out of my friends through corrupt legislation. I won’t be buying any more from them.
Yes, the pessimistic side of this whole thing, which I occasionally waver towards, is that there’s no point in combating piracy, at least as things are now, because you just can’t stop it. Will a dent in piracy really bring great profits to companies? Those who buy will keep on buying and maybe a tiny percentage of those who pirated will buy, but not a significant amount.
I’m similar in that I mostly download fansubs, but I buy DVDs and other official products too. It’s the people who refuse to buy or support anything while constantly pirating who are the real problem.
But if the license holders don’t pursue those who illegally distribute their wares, they go out of business. If they go out of business, there are no more products for you to purchase. If there are no more products for you to purchase, then your money no longer “go[es] toward creating anime,” or whatever the reason.
Lessening the impact of piracy is as much a business decision as it is an artistic one. If a creative enterprise cannot make money because their content keeps slipping through the cracks, then their creativity will fizzle out… No one can support a dead business.
If western licencing companies like Funimation and Madman go out of business, it won’t have any effect at all on the creation of new anime as the japanese publisher/creator bottom-line is basically unaffected by western sales. As in, anime production will keep going irregardless of whether it gets sold in the west.
Japanese DVD(+Bluray) and merchandise sales is where they make their money, and the Japanese target audience of anime (view note!) doesn’t pirate (or at least doesn’t pirate in any significant number).
Note: The target audience of most anime (The exceptions to this are the gundam series, Miyazaki’s films, childrens anime – Naruto, OP, Prettycure etc, and noitamina shows which either don’t need dvd sales to be successful, or have a more general target audience) is otaku, and they buy sufficient amounts of dvds/merch to support anime. View this link for an idea of the kind of sales that would be considered ‘successful’.
http://animapple.blogspot.com/2010/12/info-misconception-breaker-dvdbd-sales.html
They’ll be able to stop piracy is they offer HD downloads without restrictions. Otherwise people will find ways to disable those restriction, which is probably not legal. I’m also against DRM since it probably doesn’t work in Linux and I wouldn’t be able to put my stuff on other computers (I can play DVDs on different devices, right?).
Streaming is usually not a solution for me, because I’m not a US citizens. Bullshit crap. I’ve also had this problem with some music stores. This doesn’t motivate me to buy music/movies/anime.
I’ve also looked around on Crunchyroll, but there’s nothing that interests me.
Importing DVD is expensive. Besides that: I don’t want DVDs. They take up too much space in my tiny room. And besides that: DVDs have low quality and I have a full HD display. And in my area I can’t buy DVDs of anime. Well not those that interest me.
So the best solution for me would be downloadable content (high quality) that doesn’t require me to be a US citizen and doesn’t restrict my freedom. I am willing to pay for that.
Your situation is unfortunately one that the companies and anti-pirate enthusiast don’t take into account. My method would be good for you since you would get your high quality downloads, and if you’re willing to be a paying member, you wouldn’t have as many restrictions, if any. But in order for such a method to be implemented to everyone around the world who watches anime, region locking would have to go…
I personally hate streaming video with passion. I really hate it when I’m watching something, and it pauses because the buffer ran out, or something like that. I also like to have the files so I can re-watch them, or I may just want to look at a part of an episode again (something that was really funny, or touching), or just want an opening or ending. That can be done with streaming, but it’s not so easy to do.
I have to say I’m guilty of getting fansubbed anime. Proud of it? no, I’m not. I do not live in the US, and if you can imagine anime is sometimes hard to get in the US, it’s almost impossible to get in some other countries. And when some anime gets down here, the price is astronomical. 3 or 4 times what it would cost in the US or Europe.
The solution is the one you mentioned, to allow people to download the anime files from official sources, for a decent price ($1 or less per episode, making a series $24 for example). Even with commercials, I don’t mind.
Piracy is not going to stop no matter what they do. People will find ways to get the files, get the subs, and enjoy what they want to enjoy. So if they just people officially, easily, and cheaply get what they want, then more people will opt for those options more often. Will that stop piracy? nope. But it would lessen it, and increase their income a bit more.
I mean, right now I can easily get even the latest anime from torrent sources, sometimes a few hours after it airs in Japan. And with great high quality subtitles, and in 720p. Oh, and for free. Companies have to offer better options for people if they want them to opt for that.
Again, not proud of it, and I do not mind paying for entertainment. I love going to the movies, I pay and play world of warcraft, EVE, and will probably start DCUO soon. I can easily pay for those and get what I need even when far from the US or other places, so I gladly pay. If anime companies could offer something similar, I would go all for it. but sometimes they make it so hard to easily get anime, that we have to opt for other sources. So I either get it fansubbed, or can’t get it at all.
What you said in your first paragraph is exactly why I’ll take torrents over streaming any day.
Your situation is similar to Frank’s above in that where you’re located makes it nearly impossible to get anime officially at all, much less at a reasonable price. I think the higher-ups are having trouble seeing that region locking, DRM, etc., are becoming almost pointless in this day and age. For anime companies at least, they really need to give more attention to their fans outside Japan and English-speaking countries as far as access to official releases.
I have an idea to make pirating seem like a good idea for companies (sorry if someone already said this). Companies can make it so that commercials appear on every episode they release, so if someone steals the documents and make it available for downloading, the commercials will also make it to the viewers that download anime. Therefore, anime companies can charge more for advertisements, since more commercials are flowing around. Personally I don’t like seeing ads everywhere, but this might make pirating seem like a good thing and can stop companies from wanting to get rid of illegal websites (keep in mind that I don’t know much about laws and such). It is possible for people to cut the advertisements from videos though..if only there’s a way to stop that, maybe give important information about the anime below the commercials?
I personally wouldn’t mind sitting through a few minutes of commercials if the quality of the official release via download is the same as any fansub. But I know plenty of people will be able to edit out the commercials no matter what and then pirate the video commercial-free. Like my method, it would help, but it’ll only be a drop in the ocean.
so the possibility doesn’t exist as of now, unless some Funimation staff member reads this post? DDD:
Wouldn’t it be great if they did? For that matter, I wonder if people like manga-ka, anime studio heads, etc., ever read fans’ blogs about their series. It would certainly be an interesting thing to find out.
I always stream episodes rather than download. My laptop has this thing where if I put things to fullscreen they look pixelated no matter how good the quality of the video is if it’s a file on my computer but if it’s online it works fine on fullscreen.
As for the piracy issue… I choose fansubs over ‘professional’ ones mostly because they’re much easier for me to access. There’s no waiting time and I don’t have to pay (reason why I quit crunchyroll way back). I also generally like the quality of fansubs better, not just the video but the actual subs. I don’t care if the ‘pro’ ones might be closer to being 100% correct, I don’t need them to be for me to understand and enjoy them. Plus, fansubs just look nicer >w.<
Also, and this is probably a stupid sounding question, what in the world is simulcasting? I googled it but the definitions about showing stuff at the same time… I just don’t get it :/
That fact that videos look pixelated when you play them via a non-Internet media player sounds like something that should be able to be fixed if you change your computer settings. What media player do you use for downloaded videos? (and what kind of files are they?)
Simulcasting is when new episodes of new anime are streamed and subbed officially at roughly the same time as the episodes air in Japan (the word comes from “simultaneous” and “casting”). Crunchyroll is simulcasting Naruto and Bleach, as well as many currently airing series like Gosick and Tegami Bachi Reverse. Some subs you find on YouTube or wherever may even been simulcasted episodes ripped from the official source.
I use VLC usually, although this also happens if I use WMP and that’s the only other one I have, and the files are mostly avi files. It would be great if it could be fixed by changing some settings, I’m bad with stuff like that >.<
Oh I see, thanks for explaining that ^^
the thing about piracy is…
as long as you made new ones… they try to copy it.
And as long as there is a source there will be piracy.
Asides, not many people can have the money and time to wait for the DVD copies, and so much for me… Piracy is always an extension of globalization.
Hmm…. I think it’s an interesting idea, and if Funimation could do that i would definatly become a member. ^^ But like you said there are financial issues to be taken care of and you’d still need a good internet connection.
bye.
–End–
What you describe here sounds almost exactly like a system that is already in place: iTunes. Funimation (and most Hollywood studios) sells episodes and seasons on iTunes for cheap, and when you buy them they are downloaded to your computer in all their HD goodness. If you want to back them up to a DVD, you can. If you want to delete them and redownload them later, you can. I believe, though I haven’t tried it, that you can also watch an episode as it downloads, in effect streaming it.
As for allowing people to watch episodes for free, it would be easy for them to publish a free version with ads and a paid version without them. And unlike TV raws, stripping a commercial out of an iTunes file would be nigh-impossible. I suspect their is no real commercial reason to do this though, especially since the Hollywood studios seem to be selling vast amounts of episodes without such a thing. Funimation recently gave away a free episode of FLCL on iTunes as a promotion for their Blu-ray release; giving away an episode or two to get people hooked seems like a better idea than ad supported shows, especially since the only advertisers would most likely be Funimation themselves.
The main drawback to iTunes is you must register every computer you want to be able to watch your downloaded content on. The files you download are unique to your account, and you must authorize each computer you use your account on. By linking the files to your account (and thus to your credit card) they can ensure that your life will be quite unpleasant if you choose to distribute the files to other people. To some this is unacceptable, while others are simply allergic to the idea of using a service owned by Apple.
You also discuss the idea of paying by the month for the ability to download whatever you want, or getting this “all you can eat” service for free via ads. This has been tried by numerous companies for music (Napster 2.0, Ruckus, etc). Most of these have since closed or converted to selling individual songs. None of them have even really be successful or popular. My guess is that while people can understand not being able to access a stream on a website anymore when they stop paying, the idea that a file on their computer will suddenly stop working as soon as their stop paying turns people away. For these same reasons I can’t see this system working for videos.
Of course, all these legal options already exists and yet piracy is clearly not stopping. One thing I’ve learned about pirates is that some of them simply enjoy “sticking it to the man” and pirating things. Others simply feel entitled to get everything for free (and without ads), while others will do anything they can to justify the act (“I don’t like the font CR uses”, etc). No amount of legal options will stop them from pirating things, which is why, as you said, piracy can only be combated, not stopped.
Why not use/create a streaming protocol that VLC can support?
If it allows for caching the file (to a point where older computers can play it), and since VLC allows custom subs/audio that solves that problem.
But the biggest threat to piracy is netflix. It’s so much easier just watching it off netflix using an xbox then finding/and downloading the file.
So you need to have a good internet connection to watch streamed episodes thats bullshit haha ever thought about waiting until the vid buffors than it plays, basically what streaming does is download the video into you’re temp file, so if you wait untill the download is over you can watch the episode smoothly
Since were on the subject, there should be a division made for content for which we should pay and for content thats free to air. the content made free to air should be allowed to be ‘pirated” while the exclusive content should be protected. All Media content should have shows,music, anime, games that can be shared for free as a sort of promoting a network or whatever. (just like these free previews that were once brodcasted on pay for view television) in case of anime there could be even studio’s that would develope internet anime for fansubbers since its a very popular genre in the internet community. Im suprised they haven’t developed this into an idea. There’s a lot of anim e producers and writers and a lot of manga lol Just make Anime and add some product placing lol