ext_37719 ([identity profile] guyindkny.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] morgan_dhu 2007-07-28 08:52 pm (UTC)

I am similarly having my ethical dilemma about downloading television programmes. As a rule, I don't download things. In fact, I personally haven't downloaded anything. But last Xmas, my dear ex gave me the first ten episodes of Torchwood, downloaded and burned to DVD, as a way of trying to engage me in dialogue again. (He sent them through a mutual friend, but I still refuse to speak to him). A couple of my friends downloaded and burned the remaining three episodes, and we watched them all together. Because the CBC has taken so bloody long with it (and I did write to the CBC to complain about the way that they have treated Doctor Who and Torchwood fans), I feel less guilt about it.

Likewise, I got hooked on Green Wing when BBC Canada aired it. But they aired edited and truncated versions to make sixty minutes of UK transmission fit into forty-eight minutes of Canadian transmission (and you can bet that they would have chopped it to forty-two minutes in the States). So these friends downloaded and burned the complete episodes for me (though I haven't watched them yet). With both of these series, the DVDs aren't available in Canada yet, and with Torchwood, there are continuity issues that I would otherwise have missed out on.

Normally, I'm quite intolerant of piracy and downloading of an illegal sort. But with television, when we are forced to wait six months-plus for series, or when the broadcasts we do get are of an inferior quality (I'm having issues with Spooks (aka "MI-5") right now with chopped episodes again and a full season behind), is it fair to the consumers to ask them to sit and politely wait? Not really--especially when the shows have taken either Canadian funds or talent (Who/Torchwood, almost anything on SciFi in the States) and we are still treated like second-class citizens as viewers. And somehow I doubt that the CRTC will be willing to do anything about it.

I still haven't downloaded any kind of Torrent programme on my machine yet. But I may be tempted sooner than later.

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