Blockbuster and Netflix Awake From Ripping Nightmare
Since there are more than 50 programs available that people can use to defeat the copy protection on DVDs, some feared that BlockBuster and Netflix were turning into giant free-movie banks as film fanatics could rent once and burn for all their friends.
This is not the case, says the NPD Group, a research group that has monitored the behavior of 12,000 Americans with software on their computers. Only about 1.5 percent of those even have DVD ripping software. And 2/3 of them used it in the first quarter of this year.
Interestingly, downloading video from file-sharing networks is much more popular than burning DVDs, with 6 percent of the users downloading large video files in the NPD sample. By contrast, 11 percent of the users downloaded music files from file-sharing networks, slightly less than the number of CD burners.
Downloading from file sharing networks has a different dynamic than burning disks. You download to get something yourself, while you often burn to share something you already have (legally or otherwise) with others.
