BSG Season III???

[mask2343]

I just read that the Battlestar Gallactica Season 3 DVD doesn't come out until April 2008!!! Anyone know if Universal HD is planning on airing the season soon? I finished season 2 months ago and can't wait that long to watch season 3.

[JimSpence]

BitTorrent?

[jones07]

Unethical?

[Lord_Skywalker]

If you want a legal way to watch, iTunes has season 3 available at $1.99 an episode.

[philw1776]

I just read that the Battlestar Gallactica Season 3 DVD doesn't come out until April 2008!!! Anyone know if Universal HD is planning on airing the season soon? I finished season 2 months ago and can't wait that long to watch season 3.

I'll save you the time and the money. Season 3 is pathetic compared to the 1st two. Me, I wish I had skipped it. The writers are slackers.

[Rob Helmerichs]

I just read that the Battlestar Galactica Season 3 DVD doesn't come out until April 2008!!!
They seem to believe--logically, I think--that the point of highest demand for current TV show DVD sets is right before the next season starts. And BG isn't starting up again until April, so...

[Trent Bates]

Unethical?

I find this to be an interesting point of view! (Nothing personal jones07)

1) If a show (or season of shows) has already aired on television, why is it unethical to watch it at a later time?
Most of us do the same with our TiVos every single day.

1.5) If I watch the same show or movie on my TiVo 5-10 times, am I doing something unethical?

2) If my neighbor records an entire season of an aired show for me and lets me view it later, are either of us doing something wrong? What if I watch multiple times?

3) If someone records a season of shows and I download it from them to watch, are we now doing something wrong? If so, why is (or isn't) it different than scenario #2 above?

4) If I rent the DVDs for a season of shows or borrow them from a Library, why is that different than scenarios 2 and 3?

4.5) If I pay a flat monthly rental fee to Netflix (for example) and don't watch their DVDs, but instead watch my friend's copies of aired episodes, now am I in the wrong? If so, why?

5) If my TiVo failed to record an entire episode of a show due to weather or a power outage, many networks allow me to download or stream the episode from their web site. Why is that "ethical" and downloading the same show from another person "unethical"?

My point in asking these questions is to suggest to people that some of the recent rhetoric from the RIAA and MPAA might not make sense.

I believe that some of their recent "rules" should not be blindly accepted but critically thought out. Something to think about. :)

[JimSpence]

I agree with everything Trent said.

IMO, it is unethical if you sell or charge for viewing the show you've downloaded.

You could make an argument that you are screwing the advertisers out of revenue. But, isn't that what TiVo and DVR users do with 30s skips?

[jones07]

I find this to be an interesting point of view! (Nothing personal jones07)
:)
No problem, all good points.

Believe me I'm not a fan of Hollywood's attack dogs RIAA and MPAA, after all they ran my favorite DVR company out of business while Tivo chose to play ball with them. But that's a dead horse now.

But I do have a problem with Bit-Torrents. I believe downloading a whole season of programming or a newly dvd released movie go beyond Fair use. By doing so people are taking money out of the copyrighters pocket . If BT's were not unethical/illegal they would not be run offshore and closed down every time RIAA and MPAA comes a knocking.

Really no huge deal to me, people can do what they wish, as long as they know they are using someones property without permission

[Trent Bates]

Let me take this moment to say that I agree that downloading a new movie or album instead of buying or renting it is "stealing" from the artist(s) that created the work.

I have a difficult time saying that it would be "unethical" for the OP to download episodes (via bit-torrent or network web site, etc.) that have already aired freely to anyone that had the ability to tune in initially.
Once the episodes have been broadcast, I feel that the right to view them has been granted to everyone that possibly could have received the signal whether or not a person chose to view it at that time.

Paying again for the "right" to view as JimSpence stated seems wrong to me. (Once you paid your "license" to listen to an album on cassette back in the '80's, did that license expire when the tape wore out? Why should anyone have to pay that license again to listen to the same album on CD?)


The point that I'm really concerned about with this is that there seems to be a growing overgeneralization that "downloading" is wrong or a particular method of data transfer is wrong.

I'm currently seeding some torrents at this moment for "OpenDisc-07.10.iso" and the newest "ubuntu" distros and I'm doing absolutely nothing illegal or immoral. Yet I will bet there is at least one person that is reading this right now and has now become uneasy with me because the RIAA/MPAA has convinced that person that Bit-torrent is evil/wrong/stealing. It's sad that a couple of non-governmental for-profit organizations are attempting (and able) to dictate the law in our country through dis-information and popular opinion. :mad:

BUT, there is something wrong in distributing someone else's work without permission! I don't want to hijack this thread any further so I'll stop there.

jones07, I'm sorry about Replay. That wasn't right!

Anyway, for the OP, maybe there will be some reruns of Season 3 prior to the start of Season 4. :)

[bnbhoha]

I believe it came out in the UK. Amazon.uk has it for $80 us. What a rip off. I too have been waiting for over over a year to watch this. I thought it would come out by now.

[Saturn_V]

If you want a legal way to watch, iTunes has season 3 available at $1.99 an episode.

Or simpler yet, Amazon Unbox.

Unbox's video quality is vastly superior to the iTMS versions of Battlestar that I already own. (and I've been watching D/L versions since "Pegasus")

[Rob Helmerichs]

Let me take this moment to say that I agree that downloading a new movie or album instead of buying or renting it is "stealing" from the artist(s) that created the work.
It would be interesting to know if the OP (who wants to download the season in absence of a DVD set) intends to buy the DVDs once they come out despite having downloaded it. To me, that would make all the ethical difference (e.g., I download Doctor Who as they air out in England, but buy the American DVDs when they finally come out).

And as a tangent to a tangent, downloading instead of buying/renting TV or movies isn't stealing from the artists, it's stealing from the studios. The creative people get nothing from DVDs; that's mainly what the Writer's Guild (and soon, the Directors and Actors) will be striking about. But stealing from evil, greedy corporations instead of artists still is stealing.

[Trent Bates]

It would be interesting to know if the OP (who wants to download the season in absence of a DVD set) intends to buy the DVDs once they come out despite having downloaded it.

Very good point!
I have a couple of related examples that I'd like to throw out there for discussion:

I have the first 9 seasons of Stargate:SG1 on DVD. (Haven't gotten around to getting Season 10 yet.) I have seen every one of these episodes more than once via Showtime and/or SciFi. I bought the DVDs because I knew that I liked the show and would enjoy owning them. BUT I haven't actually watched very many of the physical DVDs I own of SG1.

I happened across a broadcast of "Charmed" recently and thought it might be interesting. (I've never had the time or inclination to get into it before.) So I'm renting the first season via Netflix.
If "Charmed" wasn't available on DVD and I had no access to something like Amazon Unbox (which I don't) and I didn't own an iPod (which I don't), etc. and a friend had a bunch of VHS or homemade DVDs of Season 1 he let me watch to see if I'd like it, would that be "unethical"?
If I didn't really like "Charmed" all that much and didn't get past episode 9 of that first season, would it be "unethical" for me to NOT buy the DVDs once they came out just because I viewed them at a later date? If so, why?

IMO, (as I stated earlier) once a show has been broadcast, anyone who could have watched it should be able to watch it regardless of how long it's been. A person should not have to pay extra to watch something that was already broadcast to the entire nation for "free".
(Otherwise, Time-shifting via TiVo or VHS would also be unethical!)

I am fine with paying a content provider for their work in repackaging or costs associated with digital delivery, etc. but I don't see how it is fair to charge me again for the "right" to view something I was already given the right to view during broadcast.

The difference might be that I'd miss the commercials, but I propose that I have always missed the commercials anyway whether it be by skipping ahead, diverting my attention to something else, leaving the room, and so forth. So far, there is no law or rule that says I must watch commercials. (I fear that it's coming.)
Why does a device that is designed to skip commercials become a target for groups like RIAA/MPAA?
Is it because the advertisers can no longer trick the public into accidentally noticing their commercials? I believe so.
A device that makes the public's wishes more automatic is now considered a "unethical" device because the advertisers say so. What branch of the government are they again?


Back to the OP's (mask2343) issue. I feel that he would not be doing anything unethical in downloading Season 3 of BSG to view in any way he wished. If he decided to keep the season of shows for years and never bought the DVD's, Maybe that would be wrong but it's still an inferior broadcast version of the episodes he was given the right to view initially.
There is certainly a gray area in this situation about the distribution of media without the right to do so. Usually that's a problem if someone else profits from the "illegal" distribution. What about giving it away?

Again, I feel entirely different about the practice of people sneaking video cameras into theaters or ripping DVDs and distributing the media to the point that the artists involved lose potential sales! That's "unethical" but it's still not stealing!


mask2343, I'm sorry to take over your thread with this. :) Do you have any comments about watching Season 3 of BSG now?

[mask2343]

I just want to watch it on my big screen on DVD from Blockbuster Online. I don't have my computer hooked up to the TV or a DVD burner.

But I think I'm with those who say it is slightly unethical. Especially if you don't pay for cable.