[mythtv-users] Zap2it Labs Shutting Down?
Brian Wood
beww at beww.org
Wed Jun 20 15:05:05 UTC 2007
John Drescher wrote:
> Let's see, the CATV operators trying to rent DVRs, all the TV
> advertisers, ad agencies, the DVD distribution folks, the Movie
> Studios,
> The newspapers who sometimes get subscriptions from people just for a
> "better" TV channel guide (and remember that TMS is, after all, really
> newspaper people), the retail stores selling DVDs, Netflix, Microsoft,
> and I'm sure many others.
>
>
> If one of these stipulated in a contract that we should no longer get
> access to this data I guarantee we will not be able to get these
> listings even if several thousand of us band together and use that
> buying power as they would not want to violate their contract with the
> larger customer.
Precisely my point. It's not David vs. Goliath, it's David vs. the
entire universe.
If TMS wanted our little 10, 20 or even 50 dollars a month they would
have asked for it. It would probably cost them more to collect in such
dribs and drabs than it would be worth to them. They have most likely
(and probably correctly from their standpoint) figured out that it is
better to sell the data "wholesale" to major outfits, as opposed to
"retail" and have to keep track of and chase down our little payments.
Add to that the problems of their actually getting paid. If we used
credit cards they would have to comply with a whole slew of regulations
designed originally to "protect" us.
The mere fact that I or anybody else might be "willing" to pay a fee of
any sort means nothing. I am certainly willing to pay a reasonable (or
even an unreasonable) fee for an anti-gravity machine or
faster-than-light travel, but what does that mean?
I think at this point all we can do is wait and see. TMS has known for
years that some of are "willing to pay", repeating that endlessly is a
waste of time.
BEWW
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