Morning, everybody.

Two articles caught my eye this morning.

According to cinemablend.com: Fox media will remove all extras from it's rental videos. Only trailers will be on videos that are shipped to the rental stores (Blockbuster,Netflicks). Videos with extra features will only be for sale.
Then, according to eff.org: Warner Music is forcing the removal of any video from You Tube that contains music from it's artists. Two of the latest casualties are videos in which babies lip sync to old Foreigner and Prince tunes.

Now I understand the need to optimize profits and protect artists rights. The entertainment industry has been hit hard lately. DVD and CD sales are down and with the proliferation of file-sharing software, downloading media is very easy and widespread.

But is this the proper course for the industry to take? Is it a smart idea to punish your customer?

It's apparent that the suits that run the industry do not understand that prohibition does not work. People want what you tell them they can't have and they WILL get it. They have the technological power now.Punish the people who buy and use your product and they will go elsewhere.

The entertainment industry needs to adapt new technology for it's own use. They need to embrace the idea of fair-use( not for profit or gain) of their music, such as the You Tube videos.
They should offer more extras on DVD's; rental or sale. If you like a particular movie chances are, after rental, you will buy your own copy. Especially if you have kids. Extras increase your audience.

You can expand your market by offering more products and services to your customers. Use the new technology, embrace it. Restricting or limiting what's available only forces consumers away.

The industry has got to stop "biting the hand that feeds it" or it will starve itself to death.