Download TV Shows

Chris Pirillo — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:15:51 +0000

http://live.pirillo.com/ – We used to have VCRs which allowed users to record videos from television. You would put tapes in them, record a show, and then watch them at a later time. The movie industry hated this, and even declared that the VCR would be the end of the movie industry – yes, they actually lobbied Congress to ban video tapes.

Of course, today they are lobbying to ban video downloads and PVRs, because those methods of distribution will be the end of their industry.

They do have a point, though: downloading videos without prior consent from the content providers is illegal. But, there is a grey area here: if you’ve already paid for access to their content, shouldn’t you be allowed to access that content in a way you want to, despite the medium it is delivered on?

Case in point: Chris pays a lot of money to Comcast every month – a lot of money – to have access to video content. Why then, is it not OK for Chris to access the same content online?

Media companies place value on the method of delivery – their relationships with distributors like Comcast – rather than their actual content (which is probably why their industry is always in danger when a new method of distribution comes along).

What do you think? Should it be legal to download television shows that you’ve always paid to access?

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Download TV Shows

Chris Pirillo » download-tv-shows

Download TV Shows