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Piracy is legal when done by the right people…?

By fred | August 10, 2007

You can’t have your cake and eat it, yet network execs are trying to get there. It’s not a secret that, again this year, many pilots for new shows have leaked to the Internet and are available to download on many places, care you to look.

This isn’t just for small shows or networks, the hottest shows’ pilots found their way to people, including most talked about and intended to be watched shows such as NBC’s Bionic Woman.

Or should I say, because. It’s actually (in part) because they got leaked to the net that they become most talked about. And network executives are very well aware of this little fact, and they’re even encouraging this piracy - since it serves them.

This is why an anonymous WB exec came clean recently, and admitted that he was the “brains” behind the leak of Pushing Daises : “I just thought it was a good idea. Even though… I don’t have any direct stake in the show, it’s a really great project. It’s tough to describe, though, and while it makes great sense once you’ve seen it, it’s one of those shows that will only work if people do tune in at least once.”

To have people watch their shows, generate some buzz and help the show be a success, network execs did leak it out to the Internet. This is no surprise, recently Weeds creator told she loved that the first episodes of the new season were online.

In the mean time, you got all those retarded fucks associations like RIAA and MPAA trying to scare people and send to jail those who download those files. Just last year, the first four episodes of 24 had leaked before the season start on Fox, and 25 years old Jorge Romero - who, stupidly enough, had downloaded them and then re-uploaded them on a big public site, is now facing three years on jail.

Worst thing is, Romero only uploaded somewhere what he had downloaded somewhere else, he is not the one nor is it involved with the ones who got the DVDs, ripped them and made them available in the first place. Unlike that WB exec, who is directly responsible for the leak.
If one of them had to pay, it’s definitely not Romero.

So which is it? A good idea, or a crime? What’s the difference here?

Of course, money. Fox do not want the new season of their major hit show to be released, they want people to tune in and watch it live. They don’t want the leaks, because they don’t need them : 24 is already a huge hit and don’t need the buzz, it’ll be there anyways.

On the other hand, for smaller cable networks, or for big networks to get buzz and first feedback about their new shows, then the leaks are more than welcome.

But again, you can’t have your cake and eat it. You can’t blame all and everything on the Internet and “piracy”, and try to make money out of innocent viewers, and at the same time not only encourage it but even be an active part of it when it serves you making more money, again.

Posted in News
Shows: 24, Pushing Daisies