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His description of why he did it: To those who might wish to "torrent" this video: look, I don't really get the whole "torrent" thing. I don't know enough abou

by turoczy 15y ago

His description of why he did it: To those who might wish to "torrent" this video: look, I don't really get the whole "torrent" thing. I don't know enough about it to judge either way. But I'd just like you to consider this: I made this video extremely easy to use against well-informed advice. I was told that it would be easier to torrent the way I made it, but I chose to do it this way anyway, because I want it to be easy for people to watch and enjoy this video in any way they want without "corporate" restrictions. Please bear in mind that I am not a company or a corporation. I'm just some guy. I paid for the production and posting of this video with my own money. I would like to be able to post more material to the fans in this way, which makes it cheaper for the buyer and more pleasant for me. So, please help me keep this being a good idea. I can't stop you from torrenting; all I can do is politely ask you to pay your five little dollars, enjoy the video, and let other people find it in the same way. Sincerely, Louis C.K.

freemarketteddy 15y ago
absolutely brilliant!
yangez 15y ago
Wow. His simple tone belies the brilliance in his writing here. I seriously doubt he just spent 5 minutes scribbling this out as an afterthought. He gets a few key ideas across: - he doesn't understand torrenting and so is helpless against it - he cares about his viewers more than taking advice about DRM - the video is owned solely by him and not some soulless corporation, and you're directly hurting him by torrenting - you'll destroy his faith in mankind if you torrent - five dollars is nothing compared to all that! All of which combines to make you feel like a huge asshole for even considering pirate bay - in the nicest possible way. This type of thing makes a lot more sense than DRM in his case, and I bet it's a lot more effective too.
- shadowfox 15y ago
  Indeed. But I am curious what would happen if a lot more people did this. Would such an appeal lose effectiveness?
  - jgeralnik 15y ago
    Definitely. The only reason I bought it was to support DRM free content, not because I was actually particularly interested in it. If this was standard practice I would not just be buying for the novelty. That said, I definitely think it is possible to build a scalable system that works, it just needs some innovation.
  - angstrom 15y ago
    The answer to that is complex, but worth considering what happens without it. A perfect example would be the Bill Hicks guest appearance on David Letterman that was not allowed to air because the material was considered too sensitive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkptz2YfZik http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkptz2YfZik http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf340K_Ed0o&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf340K_Ed0o&feature=relat... I fullheartedly support comedy as a form of free speech that should not be influenced by sponsorship. Remember: Nothing is free. If something is "free", that's because it's you that's being sold.
- Natsu 15y ago
  Damn, I would've bought it if not for requiring PayPal. I don't have an account or want one.
  - twinwing 15y ago
    You don't need an account, you can just use PayPal as a CC processor.
    - Natsu 15y ago
      You appear to be right. My mistake.
  - dangrossman 15y ago
    You haven't needed a PayPal account to pay through PayPal since at least 2005. Unless the merchant disables "Account Optional", it's just a run-of-the-mill credit card payment form with an option to log in to the side.
    - jakobe 15y ago
      But PayPal makes it as inconvenient as possible for non-members. The form is extremely long and if I recall correctly, doesn't work with Safaris Auto-Fill feature.
      - ishi 15y ago
        First world problems, huh?
      - swombat 15y ago
        Holy shit. Typing in your address is hard work. Fuck that guy, who does he think he is, asking me to use PayPal to buy his shit? What an asshole.
      - dangrossman 15y ago
        "Extremely long"? - Credit card number/expiration/code - Billing address - Name, e-mail and phone That's all it asks. That's exactly what everyone else asks for. The merchant can even pre-fill all these fields but the card info before sending the buyer to PayPal if they filled them out on the merchant's website already. It's especially weak to make such a complaint based on your "recollection" while you're two pages away from the actual payment form for Louis' show.
- conradev 15y ago
  This is especially seen in the alert you get after clicking the 'What is this?' button. "It's nothing, I just wanted to say hi! Hope everything is going well for you!"
  - qohen 15y ago
    I like this self-referential bit on the Terms and Conditions page (in the Disclaimers section): https://buy.louisck.net/terms-and-conditions https://buy.louisck.net/terms-and-conditions "WE DO NO PROMISE THAT THE SITE OR ANY CONTENT, SERVICE OR FEATURE OF THE SITE WILL BE ERROR-FREE"
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- corkill 15y ago
  I agree, he obviously understands the entire issue much much better than most artists.
danso 15y ago
In this email purportedly from Louis in 2009, he sternly but politely asks someone to take down their bootleg taping of his routine: http://www.zeropaid.com/news/86011/comedian-louis-ck-asks-mininova-uploader-to-remove-content/ http://www.zeropaid.com/news/86011/comedian-louis-ck-asks-mi... >>HI. I’m Louis CK. Can you please take this down? This show is a work in progress and was not intended to be passed around the internet. I have absolutely no problem, personally, with file sharing, and if you take everythign [sic] I have on the market on DVD, CD, and put it up for free downloading, I don’t care. But this is an artistic and personal request. Please take this torrent down. thanks. LCK
- mietek 15y ago
  Clearly, the reason is that he's not happy with an unfinished version of his work floating around.
- nikcub 15y ago
  That isn't a copyright thing though, that is a standup thing.
  - danso 15y ago
    Right, sorry if I implied otherwise. My intent was to show that he's not an asshole in these matters (I guess I should've excerpted more of the post).
fanboy123 15y ago
From Twitter: I'm going to be doing an IAMA on Reddit, Monday around 1230pmEST I don't know what IAMA or Reddit are, but I'll be doing that. awesome bunch of geeky-openness from ck.
- hyperbovine 15y ago
  I'm a huge fan, but professing total ignorance of all things technology reminds me of being in the fourth grade. Luckily for him doing an IAMA on Reddit doesn't involve performing sex acts on a donkey. Seriously, either he's become one of America's most successful standups in spite of his complete naivete, or he's a lot more shrewd than he's making out.
  - tnorthcutt 15y ago
    Professing total ignorance of all things technology != professing ignorance of Reddit and torrents.
    - omarchowdhury 15y ago
      It takes less than 30 seconds to understand what a torrent or Reddit is. Or does CK not know how to find and understand (read) basic information?
      - badclient 15y ago
        You're taking this way too seriously. Comedians claim ignorance all the time to sound funny. It doesn't mea. They are real ignorant or stupid.
        omarchowdhury 15y ago
        Too bad his comedy doesn't translate over text.
        deleted 15y ago
        [deleted]
tgrass 15y ago
Personal respect for the artist notwithstanding, this is not a replicable model for others. He makes it up in volume. This is not a general solution.
- tg3 15y ago
  why not? He already got paid a significant sum by the ticketholders at beacon theater, so all he has to recoup is the cost of producing the special, which he did largely himself. The marginal cost of distributing an additional copy of his work is minimal, and his pricing reflects that, and makes people more likely to pay for it rather than steal it. Can you elaborate on why you don't think this is a general solution?
  - wwarkey 15y ago
    i'm guessing it's because of this monetization model wouldn't work for everyone, and so it's not a solution in any which way to the copyright problem. This works for him because you, and i, know and (probably) appreciate his humor, and he's going to make some money from it. It's not going to work for someone who's not quite as good, and rely more on having that product actively sold to you ...
    - tg3 15y ago
      Even then, you're looking at similar economics. HBO is willing to pay you $X for your special because you have an audience that is worth (at least) $X to them. For a lesser known artist or comedian, you lose the power of the distribution channel, but you gain in margins. The opportunity for cross-promotion in the form of an opening act is still alive and well, and I don't see why it can't continue in a digital form.
    - collypops 15y ago
      I'd argue that if someone isn't 'quite as good', then they don't deserve anyone's money. The biggest problem with the music/movie/entertainment industry today is that all of the backing is behind 'sellable' artists, not talented ones. Take all that promotion and marketing and brainwashing away, and you have a group of entertainers being judged on their true merits. I think thats fair - I don't really understand how anyone else wouldn't.

by turoczy 15y ago

freemarketteddy 15y ago

absolutely brilliant!

yangez 15y ago

Wow. His simple tone belies the brilliance in his writing here. I seriously doubt he just spent 5 minutes scribbling this out as an afterthought. He gets a few key ideas across: - he doesn't understand torrenting and so is helpless against it - he cares about his viewers more than taking advice about DRM - the video is owned solely by him and not some soulless corporation, and you're directly hurting him by torrenting - you'll destroy his faith in mankind if you torrent - five dollars is nothing compared to all that! All of which combines to make you feel like a huge asshole for even considering pirate bay - in the nicest possible way. This type of thing makes a lot more sense than DRM in his case, and I bet it's a lot more effective too.

shadowfox 15y ago
Indeed. But I am curious what would happen if a lot more people did this. Would such an appeal lose effectiveness?
- jgeralnik 15y ago
  Definitely. The only reason I bought it was to support DRM free content, not because I was actually particularly interested in it. If this was standard practice I would not just be buying for the novelty. That said, I definitely think it is possible to build a scalable system that works, it just needs some innovation.
- angstrom 15y ago
  The answer to that is complex, but worth considering what happens without it. A perfect example would be the Bill Hicks guest appearance on David Letterman that was not allowed to air because the material was considered too sensitive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkptz2YfZik http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkptz2YfZik http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf340K_Ed0o&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf340K_Ed0o&feature=relat... I fullheartedly support comedy as a form of free speech that should not be influenced by sponsorship. Remember: Nothing is free. If something is "free", that's because it's you that's being sold.
Natsu 15y ago
Damn, I would've bought it if not for requiring PayPal. I don't have an account or want one.
- twinwing 15y ago
  You don't need an account, you can just use PayPal as a CC processor.
  - Natsu 15y ago
    You appear to be right. My mistake.
- dangrossman 15y ago
  You haven't needed a PayPal account to pay through PayPal since at least 2005. Unless the merchant disables "Account Optional", it's just a run-of-the-mill credit card payment form with an option to log in to the side.
  - jakobe 15y ago
    But PayPal makes it as inconvenient as possible for non-members. The form is extremely long and if I recall correctly, doesn't work with Safaris Auto-Fill feature.
    - ishi 15y ago
      First world problems, huh?
    - swombat 15y ago
      Holy shit. Typing in your address is hard work. Fuck that guy, who does he think he is, asking me to use PayPal to buy his shit? What an asshole.
    - dangrossman 15y ago
      "Extremely long"? - Credit card number/expiration/code - Billing address - Name, e-mail and phone That's all it asks. That's exactly what everyone else asks for. The merchant can even pre-fill all these fields but the card info before sending the buyer to PayPal if they filled them out on the merchant's website already. It's especially weak to make such a complaint based on your "recollection" while you're two pages away from the actual payment form for Louis' show.
conradev 15y ago
This is especially seen in the alert you get after clicking the 'What is this?' button. "It's nothing, I just wanted to say hi! Hope everything is going well for you!"
- qohen 15y ago
  I like this self-referential bit on the Terms and Conditions page (in the Disclaimers section): https://buy.louisck.net/terms-and-conditions https://buy.louisck.net/terms-and-conditions "WE DO NO PROMISE THAT THE SITE OR ANY CONTENT, SERVICE OR FEATURE OF THE SITE WILL BE ERROR-FREE"
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
corkill 15y ago
I agree, he obviously understands the entire issue much much better than most artists.

danso 15y ago

In this email purportedly from Louis in 2009, he sternly but politely asks someone to take down their bootleg taping of his routine: http://www.zeropaid.com/news/86011/comedian-louis-ck-asks-mininova-uploader-to-remove-content/ http://www.zeropaid.com/news/86011/comedian-louis-ck-asks-mi... >>HI. I’m Louis CK. Can you please take this down? This show is a work in progress and was not intended to be passed around the internet. I have absolutely no problem, personally, with file sharing, and if you take everythign [sic] I have on the market on DVD, CD, and put it up for free downloading, I don’t care. But this is an artistic and personal request. Please take this torrent down. thanks. LCK

mietek 15y ago
Clearly, the reason is that he's not happy with an unfinished version of his work floating around.
nikcub 15y ago
That isn't a copyright thing though, that is a standup thing.
- danso 15y ago
  Right, sorry if I implied otherwise. My intent was to show that he's not an asshole in these matters (I guess I should've excerpted more of the post).

fanboy123 15y ago

From Twitter: I'm going to be doing an IAMA on Reddit, Monday around 1230pmEST I don't know what IAMA or Reddit are, but I'll be doing that. awesome bunch of geeky-openness from ck.

hyperbovine 15y ago
I'm a huge fan, but professing total ignorance of all things technology reminds me of being in the fourth grade. Luckily for him doing an IAMA on Reddit doesn't involve performing sex acts on a donkey. Seriously, either he's become one of America's most successful standups in spite of his complete naivete, or he's a lot more shrewd than he's making out.
- tnorthcutt 15y ago
  Professing total ignorance of all things technology != professing ignorance of Reddit and torrents.
  - omarchowdhury 15y ago
    It takes less than 30 seconds to understand what a torrent or Reddit is. Or does CK not know how to find and understand (read) basic information?
    - badclient 15y ago
      You're taking this way too seriously. Comedians claim ignorance all the time to sound funny. It doesn't mea. They are real ignorant or stupid.
      - omarchowdhury 15y ago
        Too bad his comedy doesn't translate over text.
      - deleted 15y ago
        [deleted]

tgrass 15y ago

Personal respect for the artist notwithstanding, this is not a replicable model for others. He makes it up in volume. This is not a general solution.

tg3 15y ago
why not? He already got paid a significant sum by the ticketholders at beacon theater, so all he has to recoup is the cost of producing the special, which he did largely himself. The marginal cost of distributing an additional copy of his work is minimal, and his pricing reflects that, and makes people more likely to pay for it rather than steal it. Can you elaborate on why you don't think this is a general solution?
- wwarkey 15y ago
  i'm guessing it's because of this monetization model wouldn't work for everyone, and so it's not a solution in any which way to the copyright problem. This works for him because you, and i, know and (probably) appreciate his humor, and he's going to make some money from it. It's not going to work for someone who's not quite as good, and rely more on having that product actively sold to you ...
  - tg3 15y ago
    Even then, you're looking at similar economics. HBO is willing to pay you $X for your special because you have an audience that is worth (at least) $X to them. For a lesser known artist or comedian, you lose the power of the distribution channel, but you gain in margins. The opportunity for cross-promotion in the form of an opening act is still alive and well, and I don't see why it can't continue in a digital form.
  - collypops 15y ago
    I'd argue that if someone isn't 'quite as good', then they don't deserve anyone's money. The biggest problem with the music/movie/entertainment industry today is that all of the backing is behind 'sellable' artists, not talented ones. Take all that promotion and marketing and brainwashing away, and you have a group of entertainers being judged on their true merits. I think thats fair - I don't really understand how anyone else wouldn't.