
Control Freaks: Hulu Now Blocks Anonymous Proxies Too - jasonlbaptiste
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/06/control-freaks-hulu-now-blocks-anonymous-proxies-too/
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mdasen
To be fair to Hulu, the restrictions on content distribution are from the
networks, not Hulu. To explain: a television show is created by a network or a
third party and then that show is licensed for distribution within a country
by that network or third party. So, Disney makes Scrubs and runs it on ABC in
the US (although it had licensed it to NBC for a while) and, if there is a
market for it in other countries, licenses it to a network in those countries
for distribution in that market.

So, when a network gives online distribution rights to Hulu for content, it's
only for the US. In order to make sure that they keep getting content, Hulu
really has to prove that they won't be hacked - that Hulu can effectively
serve ads that won't be easily blocked, that Hulu can control distribution,
etc.

It sucks. However, the behavior is more network/hollywood related than Hulu
related. I'm sure the Hulu folks would love to be an open free-for-all, but
they also realize that by playing ball they're able to offer something that,
frankly, I find more entertaining and a much better experience while also
having a much greater potential for profit.

Who knows? Maybe someday show creators will simply license their material for
online distribution, completely bypassing networks and borders. In the
meantime, Hulu is trying to make sure they don't piss off their benefactors
and have content yanked because they can't control distribution. Is it good?
No. But I'd blame the networks before leveling my anger at Hulu.

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saturdayplace
> To be fair to Hulu, the restrictions on content distribution are from the
> networks, not Hulu.

I always thought that Hulu __ARE __the networks. Founded by Fox/NBC.
ABC/Disney recently acquired a 30% stake. This kind of thing never surprises
me, because Hulu/The networks are the same thing. Sure, Hulu is run by a bunch
of cool guys who're trying to do the right thing, but their bosses have never
_gotten_ the online side of things.

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smhinsey
i'm not sure that this is a matter of "getting it" or not. it seems like a
contractual reality that may change over time, but as of now, it prevents them
from distributing everything to everyone, so i am hard pressed to blame the
networks for this particular problem.

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cabalamat
Whether it's the networks' fault or not, lots of TV viewers outside the US are
probably saying to themselves "Hulu? Who cares? I'll continue to download TV
shows via BitTorrent".

If the TV networks are determined to go the same way as the music industry,
it's their funeral.

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smhinsey
how old is hulu? frankly i am pretty impressed with how far it has come
already. while they may be terminal regardless of what they do, it is
encouraging that they are at least starting to bleed off some inertia and
change directions.

[edited to actually address your comment]

with respect to international users, i totally understand their frustration. i
don't really depend on hulu for anything since i can dvr more tv than i can
watch as it is, but i would be upset too. i think it might be best to look at
it in the same light as geographic roll-outs of movies, games, etc. it's a
bummer, and due to mostly stupid limitations, but we can plausibly imagine a
future where those limitations are no longer in place because they are
inefficient.

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knightinblue
If I was running Hulu, I would do the exact same thing.

A user costs Hulu 'x' amount of dollars in terms of bandwidth and Hulu makes
'y' dollars off that user via ads. In the US, x < y.

In developing countries, x > y. Two reasons - one, they're eating up more
bandwidth ('x' goes up) and two, they're much harder to monetize ('y' goes
down).

It's hard enough to monetize viewers from the US. Compared to them, it's
practically impossible to monetize viewers from other countries. As a for-
profit company, Hulu is doing the right thing. Otherwise, they'd be bleeding
all over the place like youtube.

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mikedouglas
I'm sure most of us are talking about Canada, Europe and Australia, but thanks
for referring to us all as "developing countries".

~~~
knightinblue
I was talking specifically about countries like India where users consume a
lot of bandwidth, thereby resulting in a double whammy (it's not just the 'y'
that goes down, 'x' also goes up)

I guess I should have been clearer in the distinction. My bad.

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jrockway
This is why there's the Pirate Bay.

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buugs
I'd like to see someone make an international model of such a site and gain a
large backing with some popular tv show or movie content providers and beat
hulu at their own game.

It would be interesting to see how their revenue model changes.

~~~
mikedouglas
I doubt if Hulu had the bargaining power, they would be spending their time
playing "police officer". Unfortunately, its the same hand giving them the
content, that is pushing them to plug these minor leaks.

The only alternative I can see would be an HBO-style online retailer willing
to pay to produce high-quality content, cutting off the studio entirely. For
whatever reason, they don't exist yet.

