Torg 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (625)

• On the post: Hulu Continues To Wobble Along That Fine Line Between Success And Failure As CEO Bails

  

  Torg ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2013 @ 06:57am

  Hulu isn't dying because it has one-ninth the subscribers of Netflix. That's a symptom. Hulu is dying because its competition has a paid option worth nine times as much as Hulu's. When you're asked to pay for the privilege of watching more ad-supported content, you feel like you're being ripped off.

• On the post: App Developer Hijacks Customer Twitter Accounts In An Attempt To Shame Pirates

  

  Torg ( profile ), 19 Nov, 2012 @ 01:41pm

  I'm impressed. They figured out how to get paid for astroturfing.

• On the post: Publishers Can't Seem To Celebrate The Ebook Boom Without Slipping In Odes To Copyright

  

  Torg ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2012 @ 07:17am

  Re:

  How's it easier to research in a format that doesn't even let you search for keywords?

• On the post: Stardock CEO Wants To Maximize Sales, Not Stop Piracy

  

  Torg ( profile ), 29 Aug, 2012 @ 09:13am

  Re: Stardock the new weiner kid on the block

  If Stardock wanted to get users to install DRM up their asses, they would probably be putting DRM in their games. Closest they've come to doing that is letting people buy their stuff on Steam.

• On the post: If Publishers Can't Cover Their Costs With $10 Ebooks, Then They Deserve To Go Out Of Business

  

  Torg ( profile ), 20 Aug, 2012 @ 05:57pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Help me out here...

  "$13 is a reasonable price for ebooks as it stands."
  
  That's five more than your average paperback, so no, it's not.

• On the post: Where Fan Fiction Stands On Copyright: A Legal Primer

  

  Torg ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2012 @ 09:45am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  "A derivative work, by definition, would be less creative, as it uses the characters and settings created by someone else. A portion of the world is done for them."
  
  That depends on the original work and the fanfiction in question. There are forms of creativity beyond creating something out of whole cloth. For example, the creativity required to make the worlds of Fallout and My Little Pony mesh nicely together is substantial.

• On the post: Two Open Source Communities Battle It Out Over Trademarks

  

  Torg ( profile ), 10 Aug, 2012 @ 04:59pm

  I'm confused about how dilution of a trademark could hurt an open source group. Under what scenarios could hardware bearing a logo similar to one associated with open source software be problematic?

• On the post: Australian Advertising Watch Group Says Companies Are Responsible For Comments On Their Facebook Pages

  

  Torg ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2012 @ 01:43pm

  Does the ASB have a Facebook page? I want to go connect alcohol with social or sexual prowess and promote irresponsible drinking and excessive consumption on it.

• On the post: More Anti-Youtube Whining: 'YouTube Complies With Our Takedown Requests Just To Make Us Look Bad'

  

  Torg ( profile ), 06 Aug, 2012 @ 10:07am

  Re: Re: Re:

  Unfortunately, that fails to identify who holds the copyright, which actually is useful information. Something like "This video is no longer available because User XXXXXX has been accused of violating Company YYYYYYY's copyright" is the closest you can get to that without removing relevant information or including potentially false information.

• On the post: Homeland Security Issuing Its Own DMCA Takedowns On YouTube To Stifle Speech

  

  Torg ( profile ), 01 Aug, 2012 @ 07:30pm

  Re: Re: Re: Embarrassment

  "Seriously, just try and find a contact link on any Google related site."
  
  I Googled "google customer service", found this in 0.55 seconds.

• On the post: Alex Day Sells Half A Million Songs By Breaking All The 'Rules'

  

  Torg ( profile ), 01 Aug, 2012 @ 12:46pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  "So who am I to trust to make the more profitable decision Torg? The heads of major game companies or you?"
  
  Who am I to trust to make the more profitable decision?
  
  The heads of major game companies or the heads of other major game companies?

• On the post: Alex Day Sells Half A Million Songs By Breaking All The 'Rules'

  

  Torg ( profile ), 01 Aug, 2012 @ 09:29am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  "Yes as I said we can keep going back and forth with examples."
  
  I'm not actually presenting counter-examples, which would mean saying no-DRM makes things sell better. I'm saying DRM is tangential to sales. Better games with broader appeal sell more. The Witcher fell short of Diablo because not as many people want that kind of game. The Sims is ahead of it because it's the best entry-level video game ever made. Diablo is selling a lot because it's Diablo. Your "counter-example" to my point is not.
  
  "But companies have shown they would rather restrict the game with drm and even change their entire development strategy by moving to consoles than put up with piracy."
  
  That only demonstrates that the heads of the companies in question view piracy the same way you do. I can come up with counterexamples there, too, if you'd like.

• On the post: Alex Day Sells Half A Million Songs By Breaking All The 'Rules'

  

  Torg ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2012 @ 02:26pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  "Yeah now you're liking it aren't you."
  
  No, I'm still not keen on having to put up with server lag in a single-player game.
  
  "Imagine, people paying for digital copies! Some kind of magical wonderland."
  
  If this kind of thing was actually necessary, Diablo 3 wouldn't be losing to Half-Life and Minecraft wouldn't have earned a dime. Imagine, people buying things without being forced to. Some kind of magical wonderland.
  
  "Maybe I'll just go download his music and not pay."
  
  You could at least watch it on his YouTube channel and contribute to his ad revenue. It's not a big deal, though, because half a million of his fans are better people than you.

• On the post: Alex Day Sells Half A Million Songs By Breaking All The 'Rules'

  

  Torg ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2012 @ 01:41pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  Huh. Okay. It's still annoying and a huge overreaction, but at least it seems to be doing its job.

• On the post: Alex Day Sells Half A Million Songs By Breaking All The 'Rules'

  

  Torg ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2012 @ 12:35pm

  Re:

  "Is Blizzard trying to push cryptic drm onto the masses in order to sell 0 value digital copies for $59.99 each?"
  
  Yes. They haven't actually been successful in keeping people from pirating the game, but they're trying.
  
  "If there was a way for the music industry to restrict access like this, they would."
  
  It's been tried.
  
  "All pirates are not necessarily customers, but some customers are pirates given the choice."
  
  Anyone who wants anything electronic has the choice to pirate it. No DRM scheme yet used has prevented that. Those eight million Diablo 3 purchases are because eight million people chose to buy it, not because they didn't have another option.

• On the post: Dear Permission Culture: This Is Why No One Wants To Ask For Your OK

  

  Torg ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2012 @ 06:47pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  "But the incessant whining about how you can't use other people's property to the extent you feel as though you should be entitled (even though in fact you aren't) just gets old."
  
  Except I am entitled to do what this guy was asking permission for. Parody is fair use in America, which means that I can do this without fair of retribution:
  
  Bad laws, bad laws, bad laws, bad laws
  They cripple innovation, they make singing a sin
  If you aren't a corporation then you just can't win
  They need evaluation, but so much money's coming in
  A heinous crime? Rewriting songs,
  Unless you suck EMI's dong
  Bad laws, bad laws, bad laws, they're bad
  Electric and Musical Industries is watching so beware
  There are no parodies that they will let you share
  So just pay them and say please,
  Or you will know true fear
  They're lawyered up, they'll find your flaws
  There's no saving you
  Signed, bad laws.
  
  See that drivel I just whipped up in half an hour? That's what Huge was trying to do. It's what he was being asked a thousand dollars for the honor of doing. If this post had been written by an Australian, they could be taken to court for this, but it's cool since I'm posting from the other side of the ocean. That doesn't seem the least bit silly to you?

• On the post: Dear Permission Culture: This Is Why No One Wants To Ask For Your OK

  

  Torg ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2012 @ 11:41am

  Re: Re: Re:

  Except that this isn't "just like everything else in the world". Parody is fair use in the part of the world I live in. No one in my portion of the world needs to ask permission to make "If I Had Soup" and upload it to YouTube.

• On the post: Dear Permission Culture: This Is Why No One Wants To Ask For Your OK

  

  Torg ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2012 @ 11:09am

  Re: Re: Re:

  "He's trying to get permission. He may never get it. Life goes on."
  
  Yes, but it goes on without "If I Had Soup". A condition that would not apply if Huge didn't need to ask permission to make fun of someone's song.

• On the post: Dear Permission Culture: This Is Why No One Wants To Ask For Your OK

  

  Torg ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2012 @ 11:06am

  Re: Re: Re:

  Treason.

• On the post: Dear Permission Culture: This Is Why No One Wants To Ask For Your OK

  

  Torg ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2012 @ 11:04am

  Re:

  Who gave you permission to look?

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