US Ambassador responds to questions on Game of Thrones piracy
US Ambassador, who asked Australia to stop piracy, answers the question “Don’t Ambassadors Have Anything Better To Do?”
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US Ambassador Jeffrey Bleich has responded to an avalanche of criticism that came his way after he asked Australians to stop illegally downloading Game of Thrones, on World Copyright Day.
On Facebook he answered several questions posed by social media users.
Here is an excerpt:
“Don’t Ambassadors Have Anything Better To Do?”
Several people wondered why a U.S. Ambassador would bother to complain about the pirating of “Game of Thrones” when there are so many bigger issues. Actually, given the overwhelming response to the topic, maybe I haven’t talked about internet piracy enough. The point is, this isn’t just about “Game of Thrones” and it isn’t a small issue. As the Washington Post noted: “The pay-TV industry estimates losses of $1 billion in Asia alone. Intellectual property is getting tougher and tougher to protect in the digital age, which is a big deal for U.S. economic interests. Imagine if Americans were stealing $1 billion worth of Japanese cars and Japan thought the U.S. government was being lax about finding and punishing the carjackers.” The U.S. International Trade Commission estimated that American business lost $48 billion to copyright infringements in China in 2011 alone. Australia, moreover, has as much to lose from lax intellectual property protection since it is an exporter of movies, music, literature, and other works. It’s a global problem which is why the United Nations established UN World Book and Copyright Day. So copyright infringement is a big deal for both of our nations. Fortunately, working on this topic doesn’t mean I’ll stop working on other big issues too.
He also responded to:
“Isn’t This Just About the Money?”
“Even if Copyright Infringement Isn’t Legal, You Shouldn’t Call It Stealing.”
“But an HBO Executive Reportedly Said Stealing “Game of Thrones” Is a Sort of Compliment.”
“Distributors Make Doing the Right Thing Too Difficult, and That’s Why People Have To Illegally Download.”
Bleich also notes: “I know some people will still passionately disagree (and will let me know it). But instead of shifting blame, I’d just ask that the next time one of us considers illegally downloading a copyrighted work, we remember (and actually follow) the Lannister family code: ‘A Lannister always pays his debts.'”
You can read the rest here.
NB: A reminder that while piracy can be discussed on TV Tonight, endorsement of illegal piracy is a breach of Comments Policy.
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26 Responses
I’m sorry but everyone mentioning that Quickflix has the new series could you please prove this. I have contacted quickflix and they have said they don’t know when they will be getting the new series.
As far as I can see, as of May 2013, there are only 2 legal ways to watch GOT in Australia and that is Foxtel or iTunes. iTunes is fine but you can only play it on an i device.
Jengo, it’s almost like they seriously believe in their own lies.
Really can’t believe the excuses for illegal downloading on here, and those that believe it isn’t that much of a problem to validate their right to steal. Regardless of whether online piracy is being committed by large numbers or not, it is still illegal! There is no justification for it! Australia is reported as having one of the highest if not the highest rates of illegal downloads in the world. A country of thieves and bandits!
Secret Squirrel, I’ll give your post some credit for at least containing some logic. You have a point about all the new legal options available to us, but I still think illegal downloads outstrip all those put together. I also considered them in my arguments.
Unfortunately, many people think Quickflix is still just a DVD-by-mail service, so its brand recognition is low. Amazon only became massive in DVD retailing since we’ve had a high Australian Dollar (know that disc retailing is declining across the board). I notice that iTunes only account for 2-3% of last year’s US & European total bandwidth consumption, while BitTorrent accounts for 13% & 28% respectively. YouTube sits around 9-11% in both regions (but they offer a lot other entertainment).
As for TV ratings, your point about ‘event television’ & sports just proves my point. They all flock to the live stuff, but where are these same people for everything else? Benchmarks have been lowered across the world, so you can’t just explain it away with Australia’s Freeview (& Pay TV has always sat at 30% penetration here).
Sorry about the long posts, DK! But I’m a little outnumbered here.
@Stan – you have thus far supported your position will well-argued points, but I must take you to task regarding two statements in the third para of your comment from May 4, 2013 at 8:49 pm.
Video shops have been closing down over the last 5 years because of a massive change in how people obtain movies for home viewing.
First, it was people hiring DVDs from companies such as Quickflix, or buying them direct from Amazon, followed by a shift to non-physical content via iTunes, Netflix, etc, and latterly official YT channels and IPTV. On-line piracy (mostly torrenting) is a very small piece of this pie.
The benchmark for TV ratings is lower than five years ago because of the fragmentation of the television market. Again, on-line piracy has had a negligible effect.
There are nine more channels than 5 years ago, plus people are buying a lot more box sets, either from overseas or from local retailers, than five years ago. You’ll note that live Australian content such as competition shows and major sporting events still do big numbers and occasionally pull bigger audiences than five years ago.
Max, good to know that you find most of your favourite television, movies & music worth next to nothing.
But I think the real reason why most people steal copyright content is because they know they can get away with it. It’s like those hidden camera reports that find the vast majority of people will simply pocket that $50 note on the ground & not give it a second thought. While a very select group of people will hand it in.
Don’t worry, you’re in good company…
@Stan, May 4 – A product is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Consumers have spoken loud and clear that they won’t pay the current price for such a pitiful selection of content. There has to be new ways of getting content to consumers faster and a lot cheaper. That is the only answer here.
Why does Comments Policy prohibit endorsement of illegal piracy? I’m not saying I’m in favour of it, but I know a lot of people have that opinion, so why can’t they express it?
Fair question. Hopefully here is a fair answer: I deal with networks every day in order to bring news, programming information, interviews and access to my readers. Time and again programmers have told me how much they value the role that TV Tonight plays, including the reactions and comments of readers. If you’ve seen recent Place to Call Home ads, you’ll see the site quoted alongside traditional media such as The Age, TV Week, Daily Tele etc. But if the site were seen to be advocating piracy it would be viewed contemptuously. I would not be able to offer the same access on stories because it would begin to shrivel up.
The law currently decrees piracy to be illegal, so I’m not about to operate a site that advocates breaking the law. However, piracy is absolutely a legitimate industry issue and one they must tackle every day. So discussing the ramifications of piracy etc is fine. Openly advocating it is another matter. You will also see a lot of comments around here where people are creative and say they have already seen a series “by other means.” This could mean viewing a show on their last trip to the US or importing a DVD. It’s not against the law to watch on YouTube or to have a US iTunes account. These kinds of answers can be approved. It’s a fine line, but an important one. Thanks for asking, I hope this clears things up.
Saying “you’re a bad person, stop it now!” is a stupid approach. It actually has the opposite effect because it reminds people of all the things that piss them off about the various distribution models we have now. Rather, these distribution models need to be rethought. The audience is way ahead of the providers, who have been slow to change and need to catch up. Making legitimate content widely available, at a reasonable price with less strangeholds and monopolies won’t get rid of piracy altogether (some people will always do it, especially now they’ve got into the habit) but it will make a fair dent and will open up extra streams of revenue for content producers.
Ryaneco, GoT is also available at Quickflix which can stream on any device. But I guess you never looked into that, huh?
Bazza, that’s right. The only people who can make money now in music are massive stars, selling out live concerts. Everyone else making music gets ripped off by their “fans.”
Pertinax, there you go again with this ridiculous assumption that companies only produce a limited number of psychical products, so whenever somebody steals one, the next person misses out. Companies supply enough to meet demand, so when somebody steals one, it’s already factored into the price. Economics 101. So when somebody steals copyright content online, it stands to reason they most likely won’t pay for it. For example, video shops are closing down in big numbers, & the benchmark for TV ratings are lower then they were five years ago.
Lastly, to those saying they do it because Australians get “ripped off,” how low should they go? And what gives you the right to determine price? You’re just looking up US prices to give yourselves another lame excuse for your amoral behaviour.
Not that it applies to GoT, which is on HBO. But why doesn’t NetFlix hurry up and launch in Australia? Americans pay 14 bucks a month for NetFlix, which has a huge library of Movies and Television shows. I think a lot of people would be fine paying less than 4 bucks a week. Foxtel is just a rip off, they only have a handful of US shows worth watching, the rest is just repeats, same as on free to air.
Stealing cars is completely different to making an illegal copy of a digital file.
The $1b figure is nonsense and assumes that everybody who downloaded a copy would buy the show at the high prices the US media companies charge. Which is total nonsense. They would only get a fraction of that if they could stop all piracy, which they can’t.
Once the Pirate Party gets into power and stops copyright law being made by congressmen in the pockets in lobbyists for Multinational corporations you will get copyright reforms like banning discriminatory prices by regionalising media (which the ACCC was too chicken to take on) and bans on imports (which the ALP was too chicken to take on), removing copyright protections that remove consumer rights, stopping price fixing like Apple and Amazon engaged in, eliminating transfer pricing & tax shelters and appropriate penalties for offences, things will be different.
Copyright law will serve the population as it is supposed to, not just support price-gouging by corporations.
Multinational companies will make more legal sales, consumers will get better service and prices. The companies will still make billions of dollars and will pay a fair amount of company tax.
Love the fact GoT is ‘express from the US’ shown just hours after the US, then re-run in prime-time, like a number of shows.
But those without Foxtel I agree better pricing would help, but that is not down to Apple on iTunes. The studios negotiated the prices in different countries and for a number of reasons we pay more here but IMO it should be all the same when it’s digital.
If they want a lower price on iTunes then it’s up to the studios.
In relation to the $1B in Asia alone, Australia is insignificant. When in Bangkok I am able to buy illegal copies of any movie music in major shopping centres (Idon’t). I think he should clarify more clearly where the piracy costs are coming from rather than stating an alarmist figure to implicate Australia to the extent he has.
I have friends in the media industry and respect the intellectual property and support legal purchasing but I fully understand why people don’t.
Stop ripping us off in Australia for content and watch Aussies purchase. I think it’s a bit rich for him to complain considering the findings of the government inquiry into pricing in Australia.
For the record I do purchase the DVD Blueray.
I agree with the Ambassadors point, he is correct and made his comments on the appropriate day.
Now I thought we had a free trade agreement with the USA. If so why are US companies breaching this by deliberately preventing Legal downloads of anything direct from U.S. sites. The illegal stuff would diminish if they adhered to the FTA and allowed direct access to their US sites, they would also gain the $$$$$
I agree with Annette and Secret Squirrel.
We are charged so much more in Australia for digital media, it’s ridiculous.
For example, an album here on iTunes is typically $17. That same album is usually $10 on the American iTunes store.
$17 for a digital album is just…
Regardless of the cost of watching via Foxtel, or purchasing through iTunes, no-one has the right to steal the shows by illegal downloading. I pay, so everyone else should! I also believe the Foxtel argument will be negated with the launch of subscription based Foxtel go across multiple devices later this year. But I dare say there will still be the freeloading thieving scum that will continue to download illegally!
Australians download because no company has successfully got a product offering with the right content at the right price point.
iTunes is great if you stay with apple systems got the Apple TV etc but can’t port easily to your TV if you don’t. Drawback that all content is paid for, no linear channels.
Foxtel has content but at price points Australians aren’t prepared to pay for.
Quickflix has a good delivery method, multiple devices linked to one account, no hardware requirements but lacks content.
FetchTv is a solid IPTV offering if you want a set top box, but again lacks key content.
One issue that I would like to see addressed is why it costs so much more to download a digital copy of something in Australia than it does in the US or even Europe. There are no additional costs in having to “ship” the product all the way over here.
This applies not just to TV shows or movies, but also music, books, and software. You can understand why Aussies feel like they’re being ripped off and aren’t too keen to pay through the nose.
Ambassador you would be better off working on behalf of all australians and speak to companies like apple and microsoft and co and ask them to stop ripping australians off .why are we paying more for the same products that americans are paying much much less for . For itunes for example To charge australians twice as much to download a song is simply ripping us aussies off . For adobe to charge us aussies $1500.00 for photoshop when americans pay $500,00 is a rip off. If you want to endear your self to australians work towards stopping this rip off occuring there is no justification as there is no justification for illegal downloading but it happens and we just have to live with it .like it or not.ripping off works both ways so do we the aussie consumer feel guilty the answer is no.
Boo hoo. It’s 2013. If you don’t offer it the same time as everyone this will happen.
GoT is the same time now. About 2 hrs out from US. This was part of his original argument.
As the big record companies have found… Trying to milk the consumer by restrictive releases and manipulating regional market releases, plus charging for the same content each time there is a media change… Sooner or later, the end user stops being compliant.
I do live by the rule of ‘always paying my debts’ in a thereabouts way my money still gets spent on a show I may choose to obtain.
Usually via way of purchase of a bluray/DVD of said series.
iTunes have done a great job in getting game of thrones to be obtained legally in a decent timeframe, but unless your running Apple TV or streaming from your PC it makes t hard to enjoy on a big screen as most devices won’t play iTunes format (ie PS3/Samsung smart tv etc)