Backlash from shut down of Pony Archive Options

[Adam G]

So... Pony Archive, a site that made it convenient to download My Little Pony episodes, was shut down by Hasbro.

The site as it is has a less than kind message to Hasbro about the shut down...

http://ponyarchive.eu/

Ponyarchive



hug you, Hasbro.

Dear Celestia,

Today we learned that Hasbro, are no real bros. They are indeed proper wankers.

We were only trying to spread the word that friendship is magic, and then these twats came along with their fancy threat-letters.

Please, banish HasNObro to the hell-holes forever.


Yours truly
Pony Mc Archiveington

Here's a pretty horrible article by Gawker on the issue.

http://gawker.com/5871969/hasbro-crushes-d...-my-little-pony

Thoughts?

I download the show, out of necessity. I don't get the Hub, and have no option to. As a Canadian I don't think it's reasonable to wait extensive periods of time to watch a show, and could never remain competitive with the Ponyville Gazette if I watched it on Treehouse's schedule. It's not legal, I don't pretend it is. I don't expect Hasbro or anyone involved with the show to support piracy. Whenever someone does, this confuses me. Whenever fans openly speak about pirating the show to people affiliated with it, this confuses me. All around I don't really understand the outrage. It's a game of cat and mouse, and Pony Archive sat down with a hunk of cheese right in front of the cat, and was surprised to get swatted away.

This post has been edited by Adam: Jan 1 2012, 10:18 AM

[wonko the sane?]

Well hug. I started using that exclusively to get my eps. Their raws are the best I've seen and convert wonderfully for my ipod.

[WorkbenchManiac]

The guys over at ponyarchives are just behaving like entitled little dicks.

[TM2-Megatron]

Also being in Canada, I really have no choice but to download episodes. The show does air in Canada on Treehouse TV, but that's a specialty "ultra-kiddy" channel that I don't get (I barely watch any cable television, favouring Blu-Ray and DVD, and have only bothered to subscribe to the most basic of packages), but isn't available on the pathetic version of the iTunes Store we get up here. I'm not sure if it's Hasbro or Apple to blame for that, but whoever determines these things obviously doesn't care to acquire the online distribution rights for Canada. That particular phenomenon is hardly exclusive to FiM, though. Canada is terrible for online media in general.

Ponyarchive's reaction is a bit disappointing, and doesn't exactly give a great image of the fanbase, but it's about what I'd have expected, too. A lot of the people who download the episodes illegally seem to think it's their right to do so, and will rage when they're denied.

It's not like there still aren't ways to get the episodes, though. I'm kind of surprised Ponyarchive lasted as long as it did, considering how public and easy they made it rather than the relative hassle that hunting down torrents, or browsing usenet or whatever for download links. Hosting the iTunes episodes was what killed them ultimately, I think. Hasbro may have let the Hubworld or cable dumps slide, but no way they could ignore the iTunes episodes being offered for free. Especially when they were in the infinitely more convenient and DRM-stripped MKV container, also able to be colour-corrected. It was undoubtedly making Apple and iTunes look terrible by comparison, and perhaps making their legitimate customers feel bad about not being able to gamma correct their paid-for episodes.

It would really help if there was any certainty at all that the show would eventually get a complete release on DVD (and Blu-Ray), rather than half-assed 5 random episode volumes.

This post has been edited by TM2-Megatron: Dec 31 2011, 03:07 PM

[TM2 Dinobot]

What's wrong with Youtube? 0-o

[TM2-Megatron]

Youtube is fine for casual watching, but for any other purpose (burning your own DVDs, editing a fanvideo, etc.) its content has usually been subject to too much transcoding, which is why I've always preferred the direct Hubworld dumps (which I usually do myself, using a VPN with an American IP address) or raw iTunes MKVs. Those haven't been processed at all, other than what was done by the companies themselves in preparing the video for mass consumption.

While it's much more difficult to discern variations in audio quality after just 1 or 2 transcodes, that isn't the case for video at all. Especially not if MPEG-2 was used at some stage.

This post has been edited by TM2-Megatron: Dec 31 2011, 03:53 PM

[Nayuki]

I frown upon anyone illegally redistributing (pirating) the itunes versions of the episodes.

[TM2-Megatron]

Yes, I imagine it was those that got them targeted. I downloaded them when I could find them, while acknowledging the illegality; but redistributing isn't something I'd do myself. Not of the iTunes eps, anyway. I think I've provided one or two people here with links to the 360p Hubworld rips of a few early episodes, which I think is acceptable given that they were made freely available online by The Hub anyway, just limited to access from American IP addresses only.

All that said, ever since Ponyarchive went down, and given my preference to have the raw iTunes files, I've been considering using some American iTunes gift cards to buy the Season 2 pass. I can strip the DRM myself (after I've downgraded iTunes a tad, anyway) and make my own MKVs. I just need to buy additional US iTunes gifts cards, as I've only got about $25 worth right now. They seem widely available on eBay, though. I guess there's a lot of demand for US iTunes content internationally.

While iTunes is an inferior service, it's about the only option for HD right now, and the foreseeable future. I don't consider the episode volume DVDs much of a substitute for anything, though. Season-set DVDs, maybe. Blu-rays, definitely. Hopefully one day we get them, even if it takes a few years. I've never taken issue with paying for something if the price is fair and the product is good (iTunes is only one of these things).

This post has been edited by TM2-Megatron: Dec 31 2011, 05:01 PM

[Rhinox]

It's hard to get that pissy when you know you're doing something thats technically illegal. If the episodes on on iTunes for download, but these guys are offering them for free, what did they think would happen once Hasbro got wind?

If you want to be angry about it, fine, but let's not come at this from a position of higher moral authority.

[ChessPieceFace]

They really don't have a hoof to stand on here.

[Blueshift]

I'm not surprised in the slightest to be honest. If Hasbro don't take action to protect their IP, then someone could take it over and claim Hasbro didn't protect it so it is fair game.

That said, I do wish they would make their iTunes downloads available internationally. As a Brit I do rely on youtube to watch eps, but I'd happily give Hasbro my money. I'd also happily buy a season boxset, or any boxset (the DVD with random episodes is a really weird move though.)

I have spent silly money importing the little PVC figures that Hasbro UK won't release over here. I'm going to have to spend more to buy the new blind bag stuff. I would buy all their plush toys if only they would make some / make some that even vaguely resembled the show characters.

I want to give Hasbro my money. I would spend so much money on their products if only they'd let me.

[TM2-Megatron]

(the DVD with random episodes is a really weird move though.)

It's a pretty common move with shows like this, though; and was even more common a few years ago. They make these for parents to have something to just shove on to keep their kids occupied for an hour or whatever; I wouldn't be surprised if the menu itself is skippable like those Disney "fast play" DVDs. Even perusing a menu is more effort than these parents want to put into it. You don't even need to know how to use a DVD player extensively, which is fortunate because I imagine the people who they make these products for don't have a clue.

This post has been edited by TM2-Megatron: Dec 31 2011, 05:28 PM

[Legion Maximus]

PonyArchive was too visible and too blatant. It's hard to feel sorry for them. I mean, what did they expect, really?

On a different note, are the iTunes episodes free from the things like the giant "TV-Y7" black box at the start of the episodes and the Hub logo and things like that?

[Guardian Prime]

On a different note, are the iTunes episodes free from the things like the giant "TV-Y7" black box at the start of the episodes and the Hub logo and things like that?

The iTunes eps have no logos or watermarks. The hubworld rips don't have them either, regardless of the hub logo being present on hubworld's video player.

[Blueshift]

PonyArchive was too visible and too blatant. It's hard to feel sorry for them. I mean, what did they expect, really?

On a different note, are the iTunes episodes free from the things like the giant "TV-Y7" black box at the start of the episodes and the Hub logo and things like that?

Yeah, they don't have watermarks and logos. More than that, they fixed colors for season02.

I seem to remember hearing that the season 1 iTunes versions used earlier animation though (ie vanishing ponies in the Diamond Dogs ep). Is that still the case?

[Creature SH]

I would gladly buy the iTunes versions if they accepted money that doesn't come from a credit card.

[Dvandom]

Well, simple solution to that one. Get an iTunes gift card at just about any retailer, use that. I know people who have credit cards but use the gift cards anyway, as it's more secure...even if something is compromised, you lose no more than was on the card.

---Dave

[TM2-Megatron]

Yep, if it's anything like up here iTunes gift cards should be everywhere from convenience stores to shopping centres. I'm relatively close to the US-Canada border and across it every now and then, so ideally I shouldn't normally have to resort to eBay to buy a US gift card, although I'm not sure when the next time will be right now. Even for people in further-off countries, though, a $100 card on eBay seems to go for about $107-$110, so the premium you pay isn't too bad.

[MrBlud]

They were completely in the wrong and acted incredibly immature when they were caught.

[Destron D-69]

The way I've always looked at it is thus:

The show is not available in my market, so I will watch today's version of my friend's vhf copy that he made off his tv. Until such time that the show is made available to me in some form I can pay for, I will support it in other ways - like BUYING THE TOYS LIKE I'M SUPPOSED TO >_>

and eventually getting the dvds.

I feel no sense of entitlement to this show being provided to me. I have never downloaded an episode to keep, nor do I plan to.

I can't Support the people behind that site at all, but as an under-served fan I can't completely support the Hub like I want to either.