The only response we've received was the two comments, and a bunch of our stuff getting ripped off again, so I'd say most people are okay with it. That doesn't mean we've come to a decision, however; just an observation.
That's what is a cause for concern. That [your] indecision after a considerable amount of time will lead to a sense of complacency. And as you pointed out, mongo, even with downloads disabled, you guys have been ripped off again. And I think most people are, or will have to be okay with the present circumstances, since in the larger scheme of things, they aren't involved in the decision making--which isn't lost on me.
I won't get into a whole debate over piracy, but I will say that as long as a binary digit's natural function is to be copied, there's nothing anyone can do about their stuff getting copied on the internet. All I wish to do is offer some perspective on the current approach. If the piracy of your material affects the way you guys conduct this site, do business, and stops people from visiting your site, then I can somewhat understand why you disabled all video downloads. But, if video downloads are disabled in demonstration of bumpworthy's opposition to piracy--which I sort of suspect, then that I don't understand.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think your stuff should be hosted on channels of youtube, vimeo, etc., but I do think that there's a better approach. The way you can fight the piracy of your material (or even piracy in general) is to stand out and stay ahead of the curve. I personally liked this site from the beginning because not only could you download video and audio, you can view the bumps on the site itself, you had information on the song and artist, dates when aired, referrals to album purchases, access to high-res wallpapers, if available, and a forum to discuss bumps and even create your own custom bumps. Not to mention, you guys have a simple and streamline template and you also put an effort into making your downloads safe. To me that's what made you guys stand out, and never felt the need to look at bumps on youtube or any other digital hosting site.
Disabling downloads only takes away one of the things that made you stand out. If you guys just wanna be the only ones offering bumps online, you can't and wouldn't be able to sustain that for long, with or without your material getting ripped off. For better or worse, the only ones this current approach targets are your dedicated visitors. I can't call myself dedicated since my work only allows me to visit this site occasionally, but I do like the site, as well as the community (I didn't forget the Tokyo Bumps, mongo!) so I do hope you guys get back to what you do best. Sorry for the essay.
