The licensing issues may be a problem but the solution is not piracy enforcement. You will never win that war, EVER.
The studios job is to make money for their shareholders and artists. The best way for them to make that money is to work to get rid of these restrictions they are under so they can distribute these products without these problems you mentioned.
To me this is practically a horse and buggy (the studios) vs the automobile (the internet) type issue. I'm sure some people complained "you can't go supporting cars! I'm livery will go out of business". Well too bad for you. Make a change or be left behind. The world doesn't care about your union agreements or any others.
I also don't agree you can't compete with free. You can! How else do you think iTunes Music Store has been kicking butt even though all the music can be had for free? It's unlikely piracy sites will ever get to the level of convenience that is something like iTMS. The studios have the opportunity to do the same with movies. If their past agreements shackle them to failure boohoo to them. They're not going to get people to stop pirating as long as they continue to keep adding more and more incentives to do so by making legit ways of accessing content painful, frustrating and limited.
The studios job is to make money for their shareholders and artists. The best way for them to make that money is to work to get rid of these restrictions they are under so they can distribute these products without these problems you mentioned.
To me this is practically a horse and buggy (the studios) vs the automobile (the internet) type issue. I'm sure some people complained "you can't go supporting cars! I'm livery will go out of business". Well too bad for you. Make a change or be left behind. The world doesn't care about your union agreements or any others.
I also don't agree you can't compete with free. You can! How else do you think iTunes Music Store has been kicking butt even though all the music can be had for free? It's unlikely piracy sites will ever get to the level of convenience that is something like iTMS. The studios have the opportunity to do the same with movies. If their past agreements shackle them to failure boohoo to them. They're not going to get people to stop pirating as long as they continue to keep adding more and more incentives to do so by making legit ways of accessing content painful, frustrating and limited.