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Netflix has become the first streaming company to join the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Hollywood’s most powerful lobbying group. This is the first time a non-Hollywood group has joined the group which consists of the six Hollywood studios. The MPAA has been a strong proponent of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) in all technologies it touches and lobbies extensively for maximal reductions in use.
The Netflix-MPAA union coincides with the streamer becoming a card-carrying member of the Oscar race after securing an unprecedented 15 nominations on Tuesday morning. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and Sarandos are intent on upping the company's profile as a legitimate force in the movie business, and joining the MPAA will further that goal.
Additionally, once Fox is merged with Disney, the MPAA will have one less member, meaning a loss of as much as $10 million to $12 million in annual dues. Sources say the MPAA is courting other new members as well (Amazon could be a candidate).
Articles about Netflix have been featured a lot on SN in many different contexts.
Earlier on SN:
Video Streaming Services set for Cambrian Explosion (2019)
Netflix to Raise $2 Billion in Debt to Fund More Original Content (2018)
Netflix is the Latest Company to Try Bypassing Apple's App Store (2018)
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(Score: 4, Insightful) by exaeta on Wednesday January 23 2019, @04:39PM (3 children)
It seems the MPAA had cookies.
MPAA is the enemy of a free internet and the people. I cannot support MPAA members.
I would join the boycott of Netflix but I already don't subscribe because of how they treat Linux users. Instead I will convince others to join the boycott.
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 5, Insightful) by tangomargarine on Wednesday January 23 2019, @05:05PM (1 child)
"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em", I guess. All the other media companies desperately trying to kill off Netflix pivoted them to making their own content, and now this is the next logical step.
If these morons would just license all their content to one central service instead of thinking they can get people to spend 10 bucks a month for 8 different services, they could probably be making more money anyway. But that would involve being less greedy and not in total control, and we can't have that.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2, Interesting) by bussdriver on Wednesday January 23 2019, @05:22PM
Maybe if there was a non-profit in charge of the gateway to their content... one which wasn't totally beholden to the corps they support... like the MPAA but not 100% corporate whores who are stuck in a past before the transistor; with the goal of keeping customers happy so they don't copy the stuff.
More like the w3c where they define the standards for the tech of the web. Or a government dept which defines the lower level standards involved (like the US dept. of commerce does it for the internet protocols... in this case it would seem to be the FCC; but government wasn't as broken then as it is today and continue will be until the collapse.)
(Score: 2) by Lester on Wednesday January 23 2019, @05:24PM
Of course, now it is a content producer.
When it was just paying royalties for streaming other's content, maybe it was a little upset for having to pay while others did it for free, but not a big deal. It needn't to be an adamant defender of Copyright system that is not very popular in Internet. Now Netflix produces Copyrighted contents and wants exclusivity and/or royalties. Besides, it has a lot of costumers that have become Netflixcoholic, not afraid of any backslash.