Does the MPAA remind anybody else of South Park’s underpants gnomes?

Seriously, guys.  How many times have I trumpeted this horn?  If the MPAA wants to substantially slow digital piracy, they should make content available online for a small monthly fee, and people will pay for it.  That’s precisely what some of our friends across the pond are doing, and the MPAA says they are a threat – bigger than people downloading via P2P.

So, let me get this straight.  Phase 1: make movies available online within a few days of release and people will pay a monthly fee to watch them.  Phase 2: sell banner ads to some small companies, like KFC and Netflix.  Phase 3: profit!  Or, if you are the MPAA, you can launch international campaigns against such practices, and spend, I’m assuming, millions of dollars to stop giving people what they want.

My suggestion is, stop treating your customers like the enemy.  Take a page out of the pirates’ book, and offer up quality versions shortly after release in theaters.  Now, instead of the Interwebz costing you money, it’s actually going to generate income!  People will pay for a quality product, if you can be a little less confrontational about the delivery method.

Or, just go back to collecting underpants, and try to figure out Phase 2 on your own.