New Disc Formats Not Compelling

Competing disc formats of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD offer little incentive to millions of consumers to buy into the new formats, if and when they are released.

Compatibility and price will be the bigger issues for consumers, and no one wants a replay of the dueling formats war that occurred with VHS and Beta. However, the organizations and companies promoting the new disc formats have had difficulty lining up the entertainment studios due to concerns over security measures. Movie studios claim that piracy skims $3 billion (USD) annually from their receipts, and while there is no debate that piracy exists, product pricing and under-the-table agreements by the studios and their distributors have contributed to the problem. Recall that the justice system finally cracked down on pricing schemes a few years ago, after the recording industry had been unfairly setting high CD prices for years.

Many young consumers were not around for the VHS vs Beta war, and many are not aware that the movie studios fought videotape production and distribution for years, until losing the case in court. Studios cried foul over movie rentals, while raking in millions, and benefited from the growth of a new industry that they fought. Today, more income is realized from video releases that from theatre revenues.

Piracy exists in every sector of the global economy, from governments stealing secrets to industrial spying. The MPAA and the RIAA make the most noise over DVDs and CDs, but much of the piracy occurs in foreign markets, especially southeast Asia. Borrowing DVDs and CDs in the USA is akin to kids borrowing LPs in the 60's and 70's. Trying to convince consumers that a new hardware purchase is necessary to access the new formats' content is wishful thinking. These outfits should be focusing on high-speed digital distribution instead.