FarscapeWeekly Farscape Download Episodes Debate Round 2 opinion essay

Yeah, I Do Want to Download Those Episodes
Tom Francis ¤ February 2002

Round 1: You say you want to download the new episodes?
Round 3: She Said, He Said: The Final Round of the Download Debate

We're the fans that made the show what it is; they owe us.

This essay was written in response to You say you want to download the new episodes?

In response to your recent article concerning the downloading of the delayed episodes of Farscape (delayed to the US that is), I would like to present one view from the "other" side.

The plain truth of the matter is that SCI FI chose to ignore its US fan base (which is responsible for Farscape's success) for two years running by showing the final season episodes in Europe first. It is annoying that the very fans responsible for the success of Farscape are being totally dismissed as irrelevant without explanation of why.

If you look at other organizations, the various Star Trek's, B5 and others, there was an information flow to the fans via newsletters, insider fan web sites and moderated/unmoderated newsgroups which kept them informed of the hows, wheres and whys of their favorite shows. With Farscape, the information flow is based entirely on conjecture and supposition. Not a great way to relate to the fans.

Secondly, if Henson et.al., were really interested in securing an embargo on the US viewing of any episode, they should procure a broadcasting schedule that takes the concept of the internet and digital technology into account and insist that the episodes be broadcast at the same time or at least within the same time frame.

Third, the implication that somehow this is somehow immoral, dishonest, undisciplined, dishonorable, theft, etc., is just not true. In my view, once it airs, it is public property - fair game. The signal is not restricted to a hard line - it is transmitted - via satellite. It is a well established legal concept that once the electrons are in free space - or in this case atmosphere - it becomes public. It can't be any other way. Henson or SCI FI does not own the air - they would like to, but they don't. If somebody was profiting from this, then that is an entirely different issue. In this case, somebody is capturing a free signal, recording it and uploading it to the internet for everyone else to enjoy. Fair game. If Henson, SCI FI and others have a problem with this, then they need to restrict their episodes to a more secure technology.

Fourth is the fact that Henson, SCI FI, et.al., just isn't making an issue of the "episode previews". It would appear, at least to me, that they just don't care - no other way to say it. If they did, there would be postings on the relevant groups, BB's and a huge banner on the channel - "STOP THE DOWLOADING" in large flashing red letters.

When this first occurred during the Season One hiatus, there was a lot of good natured joshing between the Euros and Americans about the airings and everybody kept to a self-imposed restriction on spoilers and episode reviews which resulted in a certain amount of camaraderie and bon hommie between the denizens of the bulletin board and two newsgroups. When it happened during the second season, the goodwill that built up during Season One started to crack because the American side, which viewed the original hiatus episode break as an accident, now felt somewhat insulted.

The Season Three hiatus, sans any explanation to the US fans, was the proverbial straw. Technology made the episodes available, hence the episodes will be viewed. If SCI FI had stuck to their initial schedule, this would not have happened.

Plain and simple, it is not the fault of the fans. Discipline,honor and other moral issues do not enter into it.

It is the fault of Henson and SCI FI for not caring about the fans.