TV-Links man: 'I'm no master criminal'

Sad

Sorry to see the site go, it has been great company for me since my Dad died and I spent many hours glued to it... Respect to the man that ran it, he truly showed all the TV companies how it should be done... I hope they let you off mate!

Huh?..

I can't believe the industry is so thick to sue, instead of seeing it as an opportunity to jump in and offer a decent pay per view at a decent price - there's clearly a demand there!!!

Clearly, let's sue to make an example instead of let's do proper business and actually fill a hole in the market thinking is at work here!

When is the industry going to wake up to the fact that

WE ARE SIMPLY TIRED OF WAITING FOR FILMS/SERIES TO BE RELEASED AT LEAST HALF A YEAR LATER AFTER THEY HAS BEEN RELEASED IN THE STATES???

They're not losing money because of pirating, they're losing money because of idiocy and ignorance!

/rant over

Robin Hood Syndrome

Whether or not this bloke has broken the law, FACT (as well as the RIAA, MPAA, etc) are continuing to shoot themselves in their own feet.

The companies they represent continue to piss off their legitimate customers with DRM, forced trailers and anti-piracy messages (on DVDs) and various other methods that attempt to protect their interests (but do no more than annoy users).

The upshot of this is that most of the music and movie buying public view the 'pirates' as being more like Robin Hood than Blackbeard.

The ONLY way FACT will gain the upper hand in their fight against copyright 'theft' will be to get the consumer on-side. Taking the piss and backing it up with threats just won't work.

Kudos

First off great site full of shows I saw as a kid plus good for seeing if shows are any good or not as well as seeing stuff i missed first time (dr who classic).

Now I'm against piracy for profit as you don't know where the moneys going but we all lend dvds music etc to each other. So is this against the law? (not yet at any rate).

I'm not a legel eagle but copyright is an issue I feel strongly about, so my understanding of the law is that it is ok to share as long as you are not making money out of it. So why not leave tv-links as it is but report any sites that are allowing downloads and charge people for viewing something more than once or adding advertising revenue. Also shows that i for one watch on there i am going to buy on dvd when available and affordable.

But all in all the copyright laws need updating and making clearer not some annoying ad at the beginning of a dvd.

The funny thing...

The funny thing is that most of the content that was being LINKED to was actually being hosted by sites like you tube and google movies. It's a shame that someone can be arrested for shady allegations. I dont see anyone cracking down on google or you tube. Did anyone contact Mr Rock to ask him to remove any of the links? What about all the other thousand link sites i find who have links to the same content? And to the person who put up the directions to homes with things to steal, it wasnt directions to homes to steel, it was LINKS to websites that have illegal records of movies, links to google movies, you tume, youku, veoh, sites that are hosting the illegal content and not being arrested. SCAPEGOAT/EXAMPLE = DAVE ROCKS.

Google aid piracy

I typed "dvd clone" into google.co.uk and it came up with a SPONSORED (i.e. paid for) link for a program called... DVD Clone.

So, using the same argument as FACT, Google should be prosecuted, because they provide a link to a site which provides software that permits the illegal copying of DVDs. See you court Google? Er, I think not...

FACT Hunt - Scared of the Interweb

Typical Hollywood studio reaction. Middlemen and bean counters only saw lost revenue and failed to see the potential of TV Links - many people I've spoke to about it have all said that they'd happily pay a small monthly fee, around £5 or an annual subscription or whatever, for full access to the site.

The studios missed out on an opportunity here. This is pretty much Hollywood's Napster, only on a smaller scale.

I was looking forwards to catching up on Heroes and taking a trip down memory lane with the Mysterious Cities of Gold (which you can't buy anywhere). Ho hum.

Remember kids, Winners Never Use Drugs and Piracy Funds Terrorism.

wouldnt this make google illegal

Im not sure, but as google links and hosts many of the videos they should be more responsible legaly than tv-links. also surely Google link to millions of illegal websites, so how do they get away with it?

The real irony

is that the popularity of programs such as Battlestar Galactica and Heroes is partially down to (indeed in the UK almost exclusively down to) sites like this. Let's face it, how many people from the UK watched shows through TV links, then told our mates about them?

Why were Heroes, Dexter and Lost popular in the UK? Because of sites like this (this article http://www.mindjack.com/feature/piracy051305.html has a lot to say on the issue). Anyone who listens to radio one regularly could quite easily tell Edith Bowman had been watching hookie downloads of Heroes long before it came out, and she, like everyone else who had done the same thing raved about it to the less technologically savvy folk, who then watched it a few months down the line.

Even more ironic is the fact that I will STILL watch repeats of shows on TV despite having seen them online.

And if I'm wrong, why is it that pilots for Pushing Daisies; The Bionic Woman and The Sarah Connor Chronicles have been flying around the internet for months if not to build up publicity for shows. It's not like they've been put online by anyone other than studio marketing execs to do the same job as preview screenings for a lot less money.

I can understand studios being a bit narked about links to brand new films being posted, on the site, but even in this case most people who watch these will STILL go out and watch the film. If you don't believe me look at the increase in box office take this year over previous years, despite the increase in piracy.

Let's be totally honest here, the prosecution of David Rock isn't about money (I can't imagine he made a great deal from TV links), and it wasn't about posting copyrighted content freely available online (all the major TV studios are now posting episodes of their shows on their own websites). It was entirely to do with a fear on the part of the studios of a loss of control. Control over release dates, schedules and of course territorial screening rights.

The irony is, of course that by fighting people like Rock the studios are shooting themselves in the foot. As has been said before, if you take down one site a new one will spring up. If you beat one technology a more anonymous one will be created. What these studios, and also companies like Sky and the BBC should be doing is working with people like David Rock to work out some way of turning a profit from these services. It wouldn't even be hard: TV-links pays a premium for the UK linking & hosting rights, and then gets to cover their site in banner ads. Or perhaps a 30 second commercial before every screening (as already happens on the sites of the US TV networks)

At the end of the day a lack of patience with the vast gaps between US and UK air dates and a desire for viewing convenience are the main reason for sites like this, not an unwillingness to pay a small fee (and I stress SMALL, and monthly, not pay per view) and this is in no way funding other crimes (ironic that an organisation named FACT can be so wrong). If these concerns were addressed properly and in a reasonable fashion then this whole ridiculous situation would never have needed happen in the first place

Making a Martyr and Spreading Fear How Stupid Do They Think We Are????

This is nothing more than Fear Tactics and making a Martyr out of Rock, like everyone knows if it wasnt Rock it would have been someone else because there is a market for sites like this........We have all been controlled and puppeteered, I think the people these days are more switched on, and like someone else said why should we pay to watch hrs of pathetic advertisements with all that subliminal bullshit. I hope the fat cats get hit right in the pocket.People will just find a way around it anyway, I think if anyone is scared its the fat cats, loss of control ha ha, but what really is control Everyone knows there will just be another 3 sites in its place, so we will just see what they try and throw at Rock, but they should be careful because it could infringe on Google and a list of other high profile sites and hosts

I Say - people searching to squeeze pennys from purses.

TV links utilized the technology that was already freely available to the public wrapped in a no mess site layout - it gave the community exactly what most sites have failed to.

The wrong idea (reposted to be re-read)

I was a fan of the tv-links website, and I enjoyed watching the rerun shows that were posted there. In my opinion, these "Media Industry" people have the wrong idea. Instead of shutting down the site(s), they should collect money from the "sponsors" of the site, or a tv-movie-music studio should sponsor it themselves, inserting commercials when appropriate, just like a television network.

Take for example, the classic tv show M*A*S*H, provided by 20th Century Fox, shown on CBS back in the 70's, for free. All you needed was rabbit ears and electricity for your tv set. Today, anyone with cable television can see it several times a day on several networks, all for the cost of a monthly cable tv fee. But, for some reason, you are not allowed to watch it from a website, even though you pay a monthly internet fee.

The reason is because FOX doesn't allow it, because FOX isn't being paid for it when you watch it online. So, the solution is, to have a sponsor pay for it, with commercials and website sponsors who pay the royalties, fees, etc, to FOX; just like television networks do, and collect a small percentage from broadband internet providers that allow access to that media server.

Perhaps even better, is to have Fox themselves host the show on their media server, and sponsor the show themselves, with FOX movie trailers, links to events, shows, etc, as if it were a new tv-network. After all, what is the difference between a tv network and an internet data server?

They do much the same thing: provide information and entertainment. In fact, this could the perfect time to go ahead, and have all the tv networks (or cable networks) provide access to the classic shows online, (WITH SPONSORS) so people can enjoy high quality classic tv shows WHEN THEY WANT TO. I do not mind watching commercials on the tv, why would I mind them on the computer screen? (as long as they dont hijack my browser and try to sell me levitra, or block 9/10ths of my screen with flashing noisemakers while I am trying to watch the show).

TV Shows are segmented to include commercials anyhow, so PUT commercials IN THERE. If it's a Sitcom, like "Married with Children" then have Fox sponsor it with fox shows, movies, events, etc. Or, if it's a drama, like ER, then have NBC sponsor it, etc. My point is, it takes so MUCH to stop it, but so little to help it.

They've done all the hard work: collecting the shows and server space and bandwidth. All you have to do is tell the proprietor that you must sponsor it for it to be legal, then you can feature your shows and events on HIS server with HIS bandwidth, and if he dont like it, buy the site, improve the content, and administer it yourselves. I do not see any reason why the big tv networks dont go ahead and start providing access to their shows over a broadband connection, with appropriate commercials as sponsors.

The movies are a different subject though. If a movie can be seen on tv, then it should be viewable on the internet with commercials between segments. but in the case of the cam-corder piratings, those are wrong and the people responsible for their creation and distribution should be busted. But they are usually from China so there isn't anything that can be done. For example, I was browsing the movies and I noticed Transformers. I know the dvd was not yet out, so I knew it was likely a pirated copy, and I did not watch it.

I DID however, watch Andromeda because I was never able to catch it when it was on (it was syndicated so I could never find it on at a decent hour). But, thanks to tv-links, I was able to catch it, from the first show, thru the first season, and I have become a fan of it. Now, if the show had been sponsored, that would have been fine. But it was not, so somehow it was considered illegal, even though, it's an old rerun show, that was only "legal" for me to watch at 2 am on some UHF channel from another town.

My point is, that the internet is a new "tv channel" and someone is going to get in on it and make a lot of money, and please MANY people with high-speed connections. The PC will become the new Tivo. PC's are getting faster and more flexible, it is only a matter of time. Stop thinking Old fashioned and make ready the NEW tv-channel, on your start menu.

You hear all this talk about the recording artists trying to crack down on people for having illegal copies. But isn't is true that if you buy the media, (song, tv-show, movie) you have access to it? How long do you have access to it? Until you sell it? What if you lost it? What if I have seen it already? Am I not allowed to remember seeing it without paying a fee?

I am a big Aerosmith fan. I have bought several albums: many of which have the same songs on them. If I want to hear "walk this way", even though I have it on the "Aerosmith classics LIVE" cd, as well as "big ones", do I have to pay to put it on my computer, or to play the MP3? What if there is a compilation album, with say 2/3 of the songs are from albums I already own, does that mean I already own 2/3rds of that album? Shouldn't I be able to pay 1/3rd of the compilation album's cost to buy the songs I DO NOT own? Do I have to buy stuff I already have to get stuff I do not have? What if I go to a concert and hear the other 1/3rd of the songs on the aforementioned album, do I now get the ablbum free, because I own 2/3rds of the media already, and I have a concert ticket that granted me access to the other missing 1/3rd?

Now, what if I had went to a theater and saw Transformers? Once I bought the ticket, do I not have rights to view the intellectual property? Am I supposed to forget it once I leave? Sure, if I want to see it again, I have to buy another ticket, but that is to pay the movie theater for the service. (the seat, the screen, the speakers).

I already have access to the intellectual property, because it was given to me when it was shown. I'm not allowed to duplicate it to make money, but I am allowed to remember it and mention it to my friends. Now, once I got home, since I had already SEEN the movie, do I not have the ability to see it online? What if I could prove I saw the movie already. Do I get to watch it online? Do I get a copy of the dvd for free, since I've already seen it? Or, do I get the dvd at a discount, just to cover the cost of producing the dvd disc, since I have already been granted access to the intellectual property when I bought a ticket?

What if i bought the dvd? Could I THEN watch it online? Could I download it and watch it on someone elses computer, since I own the dvd? If not, whats the difference if I took MY dvd over to his house and let him watch it? I am curious how this works. If I am not trying to sell it or make money off its distribution, shouldn't I have unlimited access to it, once I buy the media?

It is a sad SAD world when you have unlimited access to sodomy, rape, incest, beastiality, pedophilia and murder, but you arent allowed to watch "I love lucy" without getting arrested... BUT, that's the bean counter for you. He doesn't care about you or your happiness, just your money, and he will spend every waking moment trying to nickle and dime you to death.

Windows 98 was the beginning of turning your computer into a media platform. That was 10 years ago. Why hasn't the entertainment industry caught up with Windows 98? WE NOW HAVE the hardware, and the bandwidth, it can happen. TV has to go digital in the USA in 2009 or 2010, so WHY NOT go ahead, and make it stream thru a PC? Why not have a tv-links?

IMO, tv-links was before its time, and had to rely on poor quality choices. But, I am sure that there is a tv or cable network out there that is going to make this happen, and mark my words, it is coming. TV-links shouldn't be punished: it should be SUPPORTED AND IMPROVED AND MADE LEGAL WITH SPONSORED CONTENT.