4 ms·

> It would be very, very easy for all of the content distributors to band together into some sort of... 'union', that would help them strong-arm the owners and

> It would be very, very easy for all of the content distributors to band together into some sort of... 'union', that would help them strong-arm the owners and push back the incoherent decisions made by them. I think when competing firms form a 'union' like this it's called collusion.

TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago
One person’s collusion is another person’s Motion Picture Association. the MPA has advocated for the motion picture and television industry, with the goals of promoting effective copyright protection, reducing piracy, and expanding market access. It has long worked to curb copyright infringement, including recent attempts to limit the sharing of copyrighted works via peer-to-peer file sharing networks and by streaming from pirate sites. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Association https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Association
- mullingitover 5y ago
  This is kind of apples and oranges though. The MPAA is more of a lobbying organization, it isn't an agreement between firms about how they will compete (or not compete) in the marketplace
  - CRConrad 5y ago
    Isn't it pretty much an agreement that they'll compete" (i.e. not compete) by all implementing basically the same shitty DRM?
    - mullingitover 5y ago
      A group of competitors agreeing on a standard isn't the same thing as collusion, though. There are all kinds of industry competitors that use common standards. Not defending the DRM, but that alone isn't collusion.
      - hulitu 5y ago
        The European court of justice would like to have a word with you. See recent VW and BMW fine.
  - eurasiantiger 5y ago
    HDCP is absolutely a byproduct of abusing a quasi-natural monopoly.
dylan604 5y ago
This is how I was interpreting the suggestion to "join" together as well.
fao_ 5y ago
It seems closer to Refusal To Deal, but the wiki page on that is sparse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refusal_to_deal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refusal_to_deal It doesn't seem to fit the FTC's definition of that, either: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/single-firm-conduct/refusal-deal https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-a... Not to mention, there is already precendence

TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago

One person’s collusion is another person’s Motion Picture Association. the MPA has advocated for the motion picture and television industry, with the goals of promoting effective copyright protection, reducing piracy, and expanding market access. It has long worked to curb copyright infringement, including recent attempts to limit the sharing of copyrighted works via peer-to-peer file sharing networks and by streaming from pirate sites. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Association https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Association

mullingitover 5y ago
This is kind of apples and oranges though. The MPAA is more of a lobbying organization, it isn't an agreement between firms about how they will compete (or not compete) in the marketplace
- CRConrad 5y ago
  Isn't it pretty much an agreement that they'll compete" (i.e. not compete) by all implementing basically the same shitty DRM?
  - mullingitover 5y ago
    A group of competitors agreeing on a standard isn't the same thing as collusion, though. There are all kinds of industry competitors that use common standards. Not defending the DRM, but that alone isn't collusion.
    - hulitu 5y ago
      The European court of justice would like to have a word with you. See recent VW and BMW fine.
- eurasiantiger 5y ago
  HDCP is absolutely a byproduct of abusing a quasi-natural monopoly.

dylan604 5y ago

This is how I was interpreting the suggestion to "join" together as well.

fao_ 5y ago

It seems closer to Refusal To Deal, but the wiki page on that is sparse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refusal_to_deal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refusal_to_deal It doesn't seem to fit the FTC's definition of that, either: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/single-firm-conduct/refusal-deal https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-a... Not to mention, there is already precendence