To torrent or not to torrent...that is the question

...so instead of ripping a copy of Battlestar Galactica I decide to go the respectable route. Download from Itunes. Here is the problem. The quality is crap. The audio is crap. The download time is crap. Where is the upside other than "doing the right thing?" I tell you, if the powers-that-be don't get their collective heads out of their asses my "issues" of conscience are going to go away!!

We are experiencing a paradigm shift in the way media is received. From napster to now the "powers" have done little except pay lawyers. Sony tried to hide spy software in its media. Apple overly "protects" its downloads. If these guys don't figure out soon that their revenue stream is going to shrink and eventually go away they are in for a tough ride. If I want to see Battlestar or "24" I need only log on to one of many places on the net, launch my P2P browser and load away. It is normally great quality. It takes a long time but that is the only draw back except that it is illegal. Speaking of which. What responsibility do the vendors, creators and distributors have to the customer to provide them a modern delivery system? Is the popularity of P2P a bunch of thieves and scoundrels or a market correction? A market correction that is happening to the media industry whether the like it or pay attention to it or not. It was after all the thieves and scoundrels that first showed these media giants the new path. (napster)

Now, viacom wants YouTube to nix 100,000 vids that they say infringes on their copyrights. Google has a system for paying for video. I have never used it. I don't foresee ever using it in the recognizable future. If I have to pay a $1.00 or more to see 5 mins of an episode of the Simpsons or the Daily Show I will just do without.

I don't get my media the old fashion way. I get it via the net. All of it. News, movies, TV, Music, etc. If the "powers" can't figure a quick way to get me quality programs and the thieves can...well I don't know how much longer I can accept the "law" as my guide. Eventually, the providers have to catch up to me. Not me to them.

B.

UPDATE Steve Jobs agrees.