Comments on: Torrents and so on http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/ The News Blog of Comics Culture Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:15:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.2 by: Luke http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-591021 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:01:44 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-591021 > It seems that the media companies want all the BENEFITS new technology has to offer but none of the perceived "drawbacks". You can't have it both ways. >

It seems that the media companies want all the BENEFITS new technology has to offer but none of the perceived “drawbacks”. You can’t have it both ways.

]]> by: Sean B http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-590986 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:39:50 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-590986 "And, Sean, that 3…2…1… countdown thingy finished its 15 minutes of fame many months ago." My bad. Oh wait. That saying went out years ago, didn't it? I guess I'm just behind on the times. Too busy downloading comics, I guess. “And, Sean, that 3…2…1… countdown thingy finished its 15 minutes of fame many months ago.”

My bad.

Oh wait. That saying went out years ago, didn’t it? I guess I’m just behind on the times. Too busy downloading comics, I guess.

]]> by: Al http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-590867 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:01:15 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-590867 With the business model for creation and distribution of digital comics slowly taking shape, I can see the end coming. The end of the bag, board, slab and hoard hordes. The end of holiday-induced shipping delays. Digital comics might become (ahem) something people will read simply to enjoy and save, since there will be no added investment value to purchasing a reproduceable digital comic file. With the business model for creation and distribution of digital comics slowly taking shape, I can see the end coming.

The end of the bag, board, slab and hoard hordes. The end of holiday-induced shipping delays.

Digital comics might become (ahem) something people will read simply to enjoy and save, since there will be no added investment value to purchasing a reproduceable digital comic file.

]]> by: John Platt http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-589266 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 03:27:51 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-589266 <i>Comic book piracy has caused NO demonstrable harm to the comic industry’s bottom line. </i> But it does hurt the fan who wants quality digital comics. The few scans I've seen have been sloppy and not too attractive. Plus they edited out the ads. Most comics are produced digitally, so why not let the companies produce nice online versions from the same production files that create the printed versions? And why not keep the ads, so they can be counted and keep earning companies the revenue needed to produce new issues? Fans get better looking books, publishers get revenue and companies/creators get to say when and if they go online. Win-win-win. Comic book piracy has caused NO demonstrable harm to the comic industry’s bottom line.

But it does hurt the fan who wants quality digital comics. The few scans I’ve seen have been sloppy and not too attractive. Plus they edited out the ads. Most comics are produced digitally, so why not let the companies produce nice online versions from the same production files that create the printed versions? And why not keep the ads, so they can be counted and keep earning companies the revenue needed to produce new issues? Fans get better looking books, publishers get revenue and companies/creators get to say when and if they go online. Win-win-win.

]]> by: Alan Coil http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-589133 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 02:16:43 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-589133 Is Sean B. an accomplice-after-the-fact? HAH! :) And, Sean, that 3...2...1... countdown thingy finished its 15 minutes of fame many months ago. Is Sean B. an accomplice-after-the-fact?

HAH! :)

And, Sean, that 3…2…1… countdown thingy finished its 15 minutes of fame many months ago.

]]> by: Marcus Lusk http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-589064 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:54:52 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-589064 Marvel's digital comics site currently features the comic-shop locator number and find-a-sore by zip code. Ain't that neighborly of 'em? Yessir, they will be every retailer's buddy til about a year from now, when they begin offering new releases online every Wednesday (or earlier) for around $1.95 each. Bet on it. This is the same Marvel that devastated the entire distribution market in 1995 by pulling their product from a dozen loyal distributors...all in an effort to dominate the entire marketplace. But hey, it's just business, right? Marvel’s digital comics site currently features the comic-shop locator number and find-a-sore by zip code. Ain’t that neighborly of ‘em?

Yessir, they will be every retailer’s buddy til about a year from now, when they begin offering new releases online every Wednesday (or earlier) for around $1.95 each. Bet on it.

This is the same Marvel that devastated the entire distribution market in 1995 by pulling their product from a dozen loyal distributors…all in an effort to dominate the entire marketplace.
But hey, it’s just business, right?

]]> by: joffe http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-589043 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:41:42 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-589043 Wow, I'm impressed. Comic book pirates are much more articulate and well researched than I would have expected. Well played, gentlemen. Wow, I’m impressed. Comic book pirates are much more articulate and well researched than I would have expected. Well played, gentlemen.

]]> by: Marz Richards http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-588947 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:05:36 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-588947 Today, Judy McGrath over at MTV Networks announced that every episode of South Park ever made would be available for free viewing at SouthParkStudios.com with no bullshit strings attached. How did MTV Networks reach this decision? Because time and again we have been shown that using a website to increase the consumers taste for your product is very effective and MTV Networks understands that. Comic publishers might wake up to this strategy when there are five direct sales comic book stores left. Today, Judy McGrath over at MTV Networks announced that every episode of South Park ever made would be available for free viewing at SouthParkStudios.com with no bullshit strings attached.

How did MTV Networks reach this decision? Because time and again we have been shown that using a website to increase the consumers taste for your product is very effective and MTV Networks understands that. Comic publishers might wake up to this strategy when there are five direct sales comic book stores left.

]]> by: Fanboy Menace http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-588945 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:05:05 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-588945 "But instead of using all their brainiacs and resources to figure out a way to make a mint off this amazing new technology they are running in the other direction, or standing still and shuffling their feet, apparently caught without a comprehensive plan. Digital downloading of comics is not a threat. It’s a golden opportunity. " Agreed! Well said, sir. “But instead of using all their brainiacs and resources to figure out a way to make a mint off this amazing new technology they are running in the other direction, or standing still and shuffling their feet, apparently caught without a comprehensive plan.

Digital downloading of comics is not a threat. It’s a golden opportunity. ”

Agreed! Well said, sir.

]]> by: Kirk Boxleitner, a.k.a. K-Box http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-588895 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:44:13 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-588895 Grady, What it comes down to is the fact that most supposed "capitalists" are anything but, because it's been proven by history, time and again, that every time a change comes to a marketplace that can benefit the producers of goods, several of those companies would literally rather go out of business than adjust their practices to suit the times, even if they know that doing so would ultimately benefit them more than anyone else. Grady,

What it comes down to is the fact that most supposed “capitalists” are anything but, because it’s been proven by history, time and again, that every time a change comes to a marketplace that can benefit the producers of goods, several of those companies would literally rather go out of business than adjust their practices to suit the times, even if they know that doing so would ultimately benefit them more than anyone else.

]]> by: Alexa http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-588474 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:16:45 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-588474 Grady, I agree with you whole-heartedly, and I say this as someone who owes at least half of her pull list to books she downloaded first to a) see if I even liked them and b) catch up on the story. I have also gotten a number of lapsed comics fans back into comics after telling them that they could download them. Why are they doing this now? (OK, Top Cow I can understand. And this especially irks me now, because I'm studying abroad this year and I've been using torrents to keep up with the books that are being held for me back home. Grady, I agree with you whole-heartedly, and I say this as someone who owes at least half of her pull list to books she downloaded first to a) see if I even liked them and b) catch up on the story. I have also gotten a number of lapsed comics fans back into comics after telling them that they could download them. Why are they doing this now? (OK, Top Cow I can understand. And this especially irks me now, because I’m studying abroad this year and I’ve been using torrents to keep up with the books that are being held for me back home.

]]> by: Sean B http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-588350 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:44:03 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-588350 And the ever-popular "these people are common criminals, stealing is wrong" response in 3...2... And the ever-popular “these people are common criminals, stealing is wrong” response in 3…2…

]]> by: Grady Hendrix http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-588185 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:45:14 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-588185 Comic book piracy has caused NO demonstrable harm to the comic industry's bottom line. If one assumes that more people are downloading comics now than they were 2 years ago, then you also have to accept the fact that comic sales were up 14% in 2006 compared to 2005. Say what?!? Now if you assume that LESS people are downloading comics now than they were 2 years ago - cool! It's not a problem, is it? The thing that's been the most fascinating to me in this whole kerfluffle is that Marvel and DC (and all comics publishers for that matter) have suddenly encountered a major new technology that allows them to send their product around the world instantly with no storage or shipping costs and minimal distribution overhead. This is the magic bullet for publishing! The long-awaited dream! It's practically magic on a Harry Potter scale! But instead of using all their brainiacs and resources to figure out a way to make a mint off this amazing new technology they are running in the other direction, or standing still and shuffling their feet, apparently caught without a comprehensive plan. Digital downloading of comics is not a threat. It's a golden opportunity. Comic book piracy has caused NO demonstrable harm to the comic industry’s bottom line. If one assumes that more people are downloading comics now than they were 2 years ago, then you also have to accept the fact that comic sales were up 14% in 2006 compared to 2005. Say what?!? Now if you assume that LESS people are downloading comics now than they were 2 years ago - cool! It’s not a problem, is it?

The thing that’s been the most fascinating to me in this whole kerfluffle is that Marvel and DC (and all comics publishers for that matter) have suddenly encountered a major new technology that allows them to send their product around the world instantly with no storage or shipping costs and minimal distribution overhead. This is the magic bullet for publishing! The long-awaited dream! It’s practically magic on a Harry Potter scale!

But instead of using all their brainiacs and resources to figure out a way to make a mint off this amazing new technology they are running in the other direction, or standing still and shuffling their feet, apparently caught without a comprehensive plan.

Digital downloading of comics is not a threat. It’s a golden opportunity.

]]> by: Philip Looney http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-587741 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 18:03:22 +0000 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/11/29/torrents-and-so-on/#comment-587741 There was also some small hub bub with SLG over this. http://flashbackuniverse.blogspot.com/2007/11/slg-zcult-fm-mixup.html There was also some small hub bub with SLG over this.

http://flashbackuniverse.blogspot.com/2007/11/slg-zcult-fm-mixup.html

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