Competing with the pirates

[Commentary] The main threat to advertiser-supported video businesses is that pirates would copy and redistribute the programs without commercials (or even with commercials, if the business can't track how many people saw the ads). The more unlicensed outlets there are for a program, the harder it is for an industry-authorized site to attract the audience needed to lure advertisers and generate profits. The companies that make streaming video technology, including Adobe, Microsoft and Apple, have developed ways over the years to scramble programs while they're being piped across the Net, but they've had a hard time overcoming "stream ripping" software that records video as it's being played. Studios remain skittish enough about piracy that they won't make certain types of content available without some additional protection against copying -- for example, ad-supported downloads that could be transferred to a portable device, or feature films in high definition. But those capabilities will come soon enough, once the business-model and bandwidth hurdles are overcome. Besides, the underground market for video online is already brimming with high-definition bootlegs made from over-the-air broadcasts. The networks are already competing with that, ready or not.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oew-healey15apr15,1,1823863.story
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