last weekend, i had a small eureka moment that i would like to share;

as i was walking into the largest original DVD store in lebanon to buy a pc mag, i passed by the DVD section and saw a lot of people buying orginal dvds... i was shocked and realized that as soon as we will get high speed in lebanon, DVD sales will virtually end (torrents, usenet etc.)

then, i went to Bourj hamoud to what is know as one of the biggest copied DVD stores in leb and thought that the distributor of copied DVD's in lebanon must be making a lot of $$ and high-speed internet might also put him out of business.

IMO it's not far off that there are big shots DVD guys that might be bribing gov. officials to delay high-speed implementation :)
I already thought about those conspiracy theories . Your might add:

- The oil companies because you will spend less time on the road
- The cable companies because you can get live programming online
- ogero (international calling)
- VOIP places
people who buy pirated DVDs will still buy them (1000LL is somehow cheaper than waiting several hours to download a DVD unless you have a 100mbps)
lol, ya I told some my friends "I think the DvD stores(copy) have some kind of mafia organization where they bribe the government to delay the IMEWE and FTTH so not to go out of bussiness"
ZeRaW wrotepeople who buy pirated DVDs will still buy them (1000LL is somehow cheaper than waiting several hours to download a DVD unless you have a 100mbps)
10 mbps @ 80 % is 1 MB/sec download for a 700mb typical torrent movie that's 700 seconds ~ 12 minutes
dp0001 wrote
ZeRaW wrotepeople who buy pirated DVDs will still buy them (1000LL is somehow cheaper than waiting several hours to download a DVD unless you have a 100mbps)
10 mbps @ 80 % is 1 MB/sec download for a 700mb typical torrent movie that's 700 seconds ~ 12 minutes
10Mbps is a long shot, maybe 1MB unlimited target for Lebanon is reasonable:
that's 128K/s , that's 1.5hrs per 700MB.
in 1.5 hrs you can go buy 10DVDs alrighty burnt and ready to be archived.

the best source out there is usenet and a truly good usenet service is around 10-15$/month)
this is like 15 copied DVDs per month (more than I watch per month).

The most damage is for the original DVD stores.
Every thought about why we don't get 24/7 electricity ? :-)

*hint* double bill *hint*
ZeRaW wrote10Mbps is a long shot, maybe 1MB unlimited target for Lebanon is reasonable:
that's 128K/s , that's 1.5hrs per 700MB.
in 1.5 hrs you can go buy 10DVDs alrighty burnt and ready to be archived.

the best source out there is usenet and a truly good usenet service is around 10-15$/month)
this is like 15 copied DVDs per month (more than I watch per month).

The most damage is for the original DVD stores.
I'm sorry ZeRaW, but no, I for one do not care about the quota as much as i care about content being delivered to me fast. I already have a 1mbps which i totally abuse and never exceed my quota, so my time is spent mostly waiting.
I've basically stopped getting stuff from those stores except for seasons of episodes (bones, simpsons, family guy, house, etc)--and I won't get those unless I can preview in the store (almost all of them are cool with that). There are bluray rips out there at 350 megs or less for full length movies which are much better anything in the those stores. A few years ago, you couldn't find hour long episodes less than 350 meg, now we have full length movies.

If you want to look for a conspiracy, it's from the cab drivers. If we could order our stuff online, we would drive less and those guys would have less business. :P
xterm wroteEvery thought about why we don't get 24/7 electricity ? :-)

*hint* double bill *hint*
Yes, that's true. The only reason we don't get 24/7 electricity is the bribes government officials take from "black market" electricity providers A.K.A. "moteur".
hussam wrote
xterm wroteEvery thought about why we don't get 24/7 electricity ? :-)

*hint* double bill *hint*
Yes, that's true. The only reason we don't get 24/7 electricity is the bribes government officials take from "black market" electricity providers A.K.A. "moteur".
Every time I have mentioned that, I get laughed out of the room. At least, I am not the only one who thinks this way.
I don't think that fast bandwidth will affect "original" DVD sales much. Its impact will be more substantial on copied DVD's.

A lot of people (me included) like to own original CD's or DVD's, especially if they include bonus material and come with neat packaging.
Its not worth downloading it in my opinion specially if download will still be limited
dp0001 wrote
ZeRaW wrotepeople who buy pirated DVDs will still buy them (1000LL is somehow cheaper than waiting several hours to download a DVD unless you have a 100mbps)
10 mbps @ 80 % is 1 MB/sec download for a 700mb typical torrent movie that's 700 seconds ~ 12 minutes
You forgot that most people want there movies subbed in arabic, therefore, pirated movies will still be here even if we get high speed internet. Don't get your hopes up too much, we will never have unlimited internet.
bigjudge wrote
dp0001 wrote
ZeRaW wrotepeople who buy pirated DVDs will still buy them (1000LL is somehow cheaper than waiting several hours to download a DVD unless you have a 100mbps)
10 mbps @ 80 % is 1 MB/sec download for a 700mb typical torrent movie that's 700 seconds ~ 12 minutes
You forgot that most people want there movies subbed in arabic, therefore, pirated movies will still be here even if we get high speed internet. Don't get your hopes up too much, we will never have unlimited internet.
You can still download the subs in arabic for the most popular movies--the brrips coming out usually have subs in 3 or 4 languages (none of them arabic of course) built in. Other subs you have to wait until the dvd's are released or if someone took a camera into a movie theater in an arabic speaking country.

You really don't need unlimited internet to download the movies--a more reasonable quota system say 10-15 gig down and you can download almost all the movies you want. Most of the movies I am downloading are 500 megs or less now.
Or just keep the unlimited night quota.
What about the mega band width in Europe the US etc.. Do you think users have not thought about downloading many movies music etc.. I am sure there will be in Lebanon the same restrictions for such downloads once we have the fast interent..
1.5 hrs to download a movie on 1Mb assuming theres no quota limits or very small limits...You can download 3 movies /day ..or the Top 10 blockbusters in less than 4-5 days.
This theory is flawed.
Louis40 wroteWhat about the mega band width in Europe the US etc.. Do you think users have not thought about downloading many movies music etc.. I am sure there will be in Lebanon the same restrictions for such downloads once we have the fast interent..
In the US, you can rent movies and you watch them online (netflix, blockbuster). Since renting the movies is reasonable (monthly rates are $20 or less for 10 movies or so), there is less risk of piracy. In addition, you can go to sites like Hulu, ABC, CBC, Fox, and NBC and watch the episodes online free of charge. The only restriction is that your IP must be from the US. To reduce piracy, you just have to make the cost of the legitimate good comparable for where you are selling it. Selling original DVD's in Lebanon for $20 is going to encourage piracy when you can buy it for 1000LL at a local DVD store--do what they do in Russia, make DVD's that are reduced in quality at a much lower price (R5's), say $5 without all the extras and sell those predominately. That will make piracy less profitable in the long run.
17 days later
The 700mb movies have lesser quality then the 4.7 compressed dvd quality + lack of 5.1 surround .
So I will stick to buying dvd movie + surround + picture + cover for 1000L.L :)
and not waste my quota