gofer articles

Blank media allows people to record programming off the television or video they create themselves. It also allows people to copy pre-recorded programming to which they own the rights – specifically, all those movies. However, while in theory it is flawlessly legal to burn content which you have bought, the law also makes the technical ability to do so a crime subject to financial penalty and actual imprisonment – both.

Highly speaking, each and every blank media DVD has its own unique characteristic. For instance, a dual layer DVD has the potential to store double the volume of data than regular blank DVDs and can be purchased in larger bundles whereas a blue ray blank DVD will have its power to improve the quality of movies as well as present the full outcomes of blue ray movies(1080p as well). Other than that, the copyright laws prohibit movies or shows to be copied, catch-22?

So what is one to do with all the blank media, then? Good query. Unfortunately, no one has the heavy pouches of the movie studios and so the problem is never really settled in the courts (there seems to have been out-of-court negotiations, to be sure, but these never touch on the policy in place). Typically speaking, the court has recognized that not having the means for something that is a right is to de facto reject the right. This is why, for instance, school desegregation came about: having the right to appropriate schooling is incomprehensible when no proper schools exist.

So by the same token, if anyone had the money to go head-to-head with the movie studios all the way to the United States Supreme Court, it is conceivable that the judicial system will eliminate the onerous laws currently in place which prevent consumers from legitimately backing up their property – property which the laws recognizes they have a right to make duplicates of but which the laws also avert from actually happening by barring the technology necessary!

A small sliver of hope does exist, nonetheless, short of a remarkable court battle. The studios themselves have now recognized that the consumer is in the proverbial driver’s seat more than ever before. DVD has been a marketing success story that they fear may well never be repeated. High-speed broadband and on-demand programming may render their copyright protection schemes irrelevant, while assuring consumers anytime-anywhere access to content for which they have paid. Advances in technology will make irrelevant the whole controversy. It’s just a matter of time.

Right now, however, the United States is sorely lacking in connectivity. Americans pay more for less compared to citizens in many other advanced countries. Reliable broadband is still a luxury in many parts of the land, while on-demand programming is quite limited and nowhere near fulfilling its potential. But at least the movie studios understand that focusing on intellectual property is no longer just a simple matter of inconveniencing law-abiding consumers!