Hulu.com - the future is now

I have felt strongly for along time that content owners will never win the "war" on privacy, particularly considering the ease of the Internet. A common tactic is to sue the abusers, often whom are the very customers the media companies need. The only way to truly win the war is to BETTER the pirates in their own backyard. For example, pirated DVD movies become far less attractive when they can be found at Wal-Mart for $5 each. And iTunes has single-handedly revolutionized downloadable music (and now movies and television), moving digital distribution to the mainstream.

Still, television program offered digitally (at best) a mixed bag of choices. But now into the mix steps hulu.com, a joint digital distribution venture between media giants NBC Universal and NewsCorp (parent of Fox). The current issue of Wired magazine (my brainstorming magazine of choice), offers an article about the free television programming site. Hulu is nothing short of amazing--great selection, great clarity, and truly free for the viewer, thanks to non-obtrusive advertising.

One quote near the end of the article summed up what I believe is the only successful strategy against piracy: "...the media companies no longer have a choice; if they don't put their choices online, someone else will. 'The best way to combat piracy is to make your content available,' [Jeff] Zucker [NBC Universal chief] says.' "

Finally, someone who gets it. Stop suing your customers and YouTube, and start wooing them away from the pirates. Hulu sure is a great step in the right direction.