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I pirate Top Gear. BBC America butchers the hell out of the program. For starters, because they can't be bothered to secure music rights worldwide, they repla

I pirate Top Gear. BBC America butchers the hell out of the program. For starters, because they can't be bothered to secure music rights worldwide, they replace all the well-chosen, synchronized music with awful public domain stuff. Assuming we're all uninterested and intolerant, they often cut out the guest interviews, despite the usually witty banter being enjoyable on its own. Finally, in the ultimate insult, before every ad break they actually show you the punchline to the next segment! They literally ruin each and every show, segment by segment! If I'm watching BBC America, it's because I want to watch the BBC. I don't want to watch some watered down, Americanized version. I truly don't whether they hired dumb Americans, or they're just snobby Brits who think Americans are too dumb for their shows. Either way, it's insulting and not very entertaining. So, I can't speak for Downtown Abbey, but if it's treated anything like Top Gear, I can't imagine why they would think we'd want to watch their delayed, edited, watered down slop. Incidentally, I have looked into legal channels for purchasing Top Gear and they're all edited. The only one that, I think, is legitimately original is the British-release of the DVD, but I'm pretty sure that I would be technically committing a crime by bypassing region limitations on those discs. So, is it legal? No. Is it morally correct? No. Is it okay? Yes, in my book, because the value I place on the original, unmodified, timely content outweighs the legal and moral argument against pirating it.

driverdan 15y ago
Hear hear! I'm a huge fan of Top Gear. I even had a subscription to the magazine (shipped from the UK) before it got ridiculously expensive. Downloading is the only way I can watch it. Years ago, before I got rid of cable, it wasn't on BBC America. Now that it's available, in a horrible edited form, I don't have cable. I've considered watching it on iPlayer via VPN but AFAIK the quality is much lower. Plus this would actually put the BBC in a worse position, having to pay for bandwidth I'm otherwise using from fellow enthusiast sharing the file. I would pay if there was a way to legally watch it online, preferably in HD and close to the original release date.
ticks 15y ago
On the point of music. I don't think they can do much about it. In the UK the BBC can basically use any music they want - even if the artist doesn't want it used - but as soon as it reaches DVD or is shipped abroad it becomes expensive and complicated. An example is the series Monkey Dust. It had an amazing soundtrack and was a cult hit (until the guy behind it died). The distributors for the UK DVD release had to pay bands to perform cover versions for a lot of the tracks because it was too difficult to get the rights. The alternative is to limit their choice and pick the music with the aim to sell it. I am not a fan of this. It's like when you see a BBC show that's been made for advert breaks, so every 15 mins we (people in the UK) get a recap and some padding that they obviously plan to cut later. Or the show is only 40 mins, instead of 60.

driverdan 15y ago

Hear hear! I'm a huge fan of Top Gear. I even had a subscription to the magazine (shipped from the UK) before it got ridiculously expensive. Downloading is the only way I can watch it. Years ago, before I got rid of cable, it wasn't on BBC America. Now that it's available, in a horrible edited form, I don't have cable. I've considered watching it on iPlayer via VPN but AFAIK the quality is much lower. Plus this would actually put the BBC in a worse position, having to pay for bandwidth I'm otherwise using from fellow enthusiast sharing the file. I would pay if there was a way to legally watch it online, preferably in HD and close to the original release date.

ticks 15y ago

On the point of music. I don't think they can do much about it. In the UK the BBC can basically use any music they want - even if the artist doesn't want it used - but as soon as it reaches DVD or is shipped abroad it becomes expensive and complicated. An example is the series Monkey Dust. It had an amazing soundtrack and was a cult hit (until the guy behind it died). The distributors for the UK DVD release had to pay bands to perform cover versions for a lot of the tracks because it was too difficult to get the rights. The alternative is to limit their choice and pick the music with the aim to sell it. I am not a fan of this. It's like when you see a BBC show that's been made for advert breaks, so every 15 mins we (people in the UK) get a recap and some padding that they obviously plan to cut later. Or the show is only 40 mins, instead of 60.