Stage6 to shut down February 28th

[1,000,000]

http://www.stage6.com/blog/107/

I’m Tom (aka Spinner), a Stage6 user and an employee of DivX, Inc., the company behind the service. I’m writing this message today to inform you that we plan to shut down Stage6 on February 28, 2008. Upload functionality has already been turned off, and you’ll be able to view and download videos until Thursday.

I know this news will come as a shock and disappointment to many Stage6 users, and I’d like to take a few moments to explain the reasons behind our decision.

We created Stage6 with the mission of empowering content creators and viewers to discover a new kind of video experience. Stage6 began as an experiment, and we always knew there was a chance that it might not succeed.

In many ways, though, the service did succeed, beyond even our own initial expectations. Stage6 became very popular very quickly. We helped gain exposure for some talented filmmakers who brought great videos to the attention of an engaged community. We helped prove that it’s possible to distribute true high definition video on the Internet. And we helped broaden the Internet video experience by offering content that is compatible with DVD players, mobile devices and other products beyond the PC.

So why are we shutting the service down? Well, the short answer is that the continued operation of Stage6 is a very expensive enterprise that requires an enormous amount of attention and resources that we are not in a position to continue to provide. There are a lot of other details involved, but at the end of the day it’s really as simple as that.

Now, why didn’t we think of that before we decided to create Stage6 in the first place, you may ask? That’s a good question. When we first created Stage6, there was a clear need for a service that would offer a true high quality video experience online because other video destinations on the Internet simply weren’t providing that to users. A gap existed, and Stage6 arrived to fill it.

As Stage6 grew quickly and dramatically (accompanied by an explosion of other sites delivering high quality video), it became clear that operating the service as a part of the larger DivX business no longer made sense. We couldn’t continue to run Stage6 and focus on our broader strategy to make it possible for anyone to enjoy high quality video on any device. So, in July of last year we announced that we were kicking off an effort to explore strategic alternatives for Stage6, which is a fancy way of saying we decided we would either have to sell it, spin it out into a private company or shut it down.

I won’t (and can’t, really) go into too much detail on those first two options other than to say that we tried really hard to find a way to keep Stage6 alive, either as its own private entity or by selling it to another company. Ultimately neither of those two scenarios was possible, and we made the hard decision to turn the lights off and cease operation of the service.

So that’s where we are today. After February 28, Stage6 will cease to exist as an online destination. But the larger DivX universe will continue to thrive. Every day new DivX Certified devices arrive on the market making it easy to move video beyond the PC. Products powered by DivX Connected, our new initiative that lets users stream video, photos, music and Internet services from the PC to the TV, are hitting retail outlets. We remain committed to empowering content creators to deliver high quality video to a wide audience, and we’ll continue to offer services that will make it easy to find videos online in the DivX format.

It’s been a wild ride, and none of it would have been possible without the support of our users. Thank you for making Stage6 everything that it was.

--Tom

[nejih94]

that sucks,thats one of the easiest places to find episodes

[1,000,000]

Yea, the quality of the videos were outstanding too

[nejih94]

so now we need to find another way to find videos

[1,000,000]

eh, veoh will still be up

I'm wondering what will happen to all of the stage6 videos here?

[nejih94]

well,looks like weve got r work put out for us*sigh*:(

[silkshadow]

they ll be gone lol unless you download them and upload to another site

[1,000,000]

Sorry staff. I didn't want it to be surprise to you all though

[silkshadow]

lol i dont use it to much anyway

[psychosk8r]

yea im thinking we are going to have to go thru all eps 1 by 1 to see which ones are frm stage six so the members might not be able to watch a lot of videos till we can catch up with the dropdown of all the stage6 vids.. i hope you will all understand the situation and be patient enough to wait till we can catch up. but this is only a guess at what will have to do its not certain yet

[leerock89]

BBBOOO!! its going away!! wat next? looks like the staff are gonna be spending alot of time replacing the vids. have fun

[silkshadow]

yes leerock we know already... i dont know about the rest of the staff but i find that post aalmost disrespectful.

and 1, 000,000 could you send things of this nature in a pm to staff.

[Jack]

Well ain't this a bitch? It can't be helped I suppose. The world of streamed anime is going to be a little hyper for a bit. On the bright side maybe we'll end up grabbing up the left-over viewers because of it. Who knows? Either way, this development is pretty disappointing.

-Jack

[Corwin]

this sucks, I have 2 or 3 series at least that I uploaded on there, now I'm going to have to dl them to upload them to another site b/c they are no longer on my comp, that bites

[leerock89]

yes leerock we know already... i dont know about the rest of the staff but i find that post aalmost disrespectful.

and 1, 000,000 could you send things of this nature in a pm to staff.

sorry about that i just got off work which was miserable.

[Corwin]

well all I can say is we kind of knew this could happen, it was just a matter of when and to which site, personally I thought something like youtube would be the first to fall w/ crappy quality and having to get 25min eps into 3 parts, it just happens to suck harder that stage6 is the one that's taking the plunge

[1,000,000]

Bah, I really do feel bad for the staff. If I wasn't such an unreliable bum i'd help out

I haven't checked this out, but a few users on stage6 posted this link www.stage7.co.nr/. Perhaps an alternative?

[nejih94]

well,it cant be helped,u gotta do wat u gotta do

[Corwin]

And the real reason behind Stage6's impromptu shutdown rather than giving us a month or two to remove everything, http://seekingalpha.com/article/63562-can-divxs-safe-harbor-protect-it-from-stage6-pirates it's the lawsuit from Universal over the last year seeking $30million+ from them for infringing material

[1,000,000]

Ouch.... That's gotta hurt

It's all politics. Damn you youtube!

[Ariya]

Ugh, well this sucks.

$30+ Million? Wow. Sucks even more.

Well, staff members, I think you have your work cut out for you for quite some time.

[leerock89]

why cant it be free!! i say entertainment should be free for all. that way these hassles dont come up.

[Ariya]

Yeah, but the entertainers need to make money somehow. You have to remember that.

[leerock89]

the entertainers should do it for the love of doing it. only then do u get truly outstanding performences. and to be honest i thought it would have been more then 30 mil.

[Corwin]

I think that's just the starting price, depending on how the court rules it could be more or less and there is nothing saying that other major production companies won't pop out of the woodwork to sue stage6 as well, I mean think of all the anime that has been removed since the inception of that site and then put back up by innovative users, yes it's the user's fault for putting it up, but stage6 is the one who will get screwed for hosting the file, depending on how much money each company can wring out of stage6 and divx w/o breaking the bank, these companies could stand to turn a tidier profit than if they had relied on actual dvd sales of their material

[tangaloor5]

Well, that just sucks, the damn vultures:mad:.

It's their own damn fault for making anime too expensive to buy that anime is watched on the internet so much anyway.:mad:

I hope the staff doesn't have too much trouble over this.:(

[Corwin]

I wouldn't go quite that far, I mean most ppl pay $15-20 for a movie on dvd, so 3-5 eps of anime for the same price on dvd isn't unreasonable, I think what the buyers don't like is two-fold, one that they have to constantly wait for that next dvd to come out w/ more eps when they can watch an illegal fansub online right now to finish the series, and 2, that they fluctuate the number of eps in a dvd, you always see the first one w/ 5-6 eps but the second one will have 3-4 and the 3rd one and on will only have 2-3 eps all for the same price, now that's a little ridiculous, that's them trying to stretch out profits by falsely creating the need for another dvd or two w/ each series, that I think is a big point in the reason no one wants to buy anime, now I say that, but I still buy anime, I like having my own copies of the stuff, especially in case my connection is down or my comp crashes, I can pop something in my dvd player and watch days worth of anime

[tangaloor5]

What about when a 26 episode series is 100 dollars or more? Is that really reasonable? Besides, I really want to own them, I just can't afford anything right now.

Forgive my venting.:o

[Corwin]

I understand what you're saying, some series cost $30 for 50 eps, and some cost $150 for 60 eps, it's ridiculous but at the same time that's a mark of the popularity of a given product, how much they think they can get

[tangaloor5]

They would actually get more money if they offered a cheaper product. More people would buy it after all.

It would be nice if the prices were a little more consistent, too.

[Corwin]

in theory that's correct, but of all the ppl who watch anime the question is how many would actually buy the dvd's if they were even a little bit cheaper, let's say all 3-5 ep dvd's were $15, and the price went up like, maybe a 6 ep dvd was $18, and if you bought a 26 ep box set you'd save a little money b/c less packaging, or maybe more b/c of the box, but chances are most ppl will complain that they should be even cheaper, and chances are those ppl have no real intention to buy in the first place it's just a convenient way to say it's not their fault that they commit or encourage video piracy, my stance is that if I find a product I like, I will buy the dvd eventually, I may get it when the individual dvd's are coming out or wait for the box set, but I can stand by my word and buy the dvd's, most ppl won't do that, they want the stuff for free regardless of the cost, it's in their best interest financially to just pay for broadband, and heck maybe even pay a low monthly fee for a site like this so that they don't have to buy 6 dvd's a month or wait for dubbed copies to come out

[tangaloor5]

I guess your right, most people are like that. However, not everyone.

For example, have you ever gone to a used book store and ended up buying 3 or 4 times the number of books you would ever buy from a new book store because they were cheap. I have. The same with used games. I refuse to pay $60 for something that is only worth $20. I think anime should be the same. Unfortunately, I don't know anywhere they sell used anime.

[leerock89]

its to much i say. i remember when i wanted to buy gundam seed the whole series was going to cost me 210$ not including tax

[tangaloor5]

Your kidding! That much. That's insane.:eek:

I hope you didn't buy it.:(

[Crymson]

Can you get anime through iTunes (or like services)? I was told that you can get normal TV shows for like 1.99 a piece or something like that.

[leerock89]

Your kidding! That much. That's insane.:eek:

I hope you didn't buy it.:(

i did not! only the first disc cause i didnt have a comp then.

[Corwin]

well I know there are places to get anime used, mostly if you can find anywhere that sells dvd's used you can get anime although I'm sure that there are more specialized stores that do that where you could find a better selection as the selection in those normal stores is so so, and yes I understand the used book idea, even used cd's some of the time, but not all, but for the most part, games and dvd's I prefer to get those new, even if I have to wait for the price to go down, b/c chances are I'm going to have those until the format changes so I'd rather be the one screwing up the discs rather than getting one that's already scratched and smudged and may stop working in a week

[tangaloor5]

Have you seen game prices recently. The prices don't seem to come down anymore and after they stop selling the games new sometimes the prices skyrocket, look at Persona 3.

As for smudges you can clean them off with isopropyl alcohol and a soft cloth.
And if the scratches aren't too deep you can use a special grinding machine to get rid of them, I fixed my Suikoden 3 game that way.:D

[leerock89]

in all honesty i havent bought a game in ages. everything is torrent.

[Corwin]

yeah I know, I had all the persona games, might still have them, as for stuff like disc doctor it depends on the damage to the disc, sometimes it only works for a little while, sometimes it doesn't help at all

[Crymson]

Of course, if you buy it used and it stops working, you could torrent it. If they try to sue you, you tell them that you only have one copy of the game, as the original is just a coaster with a pretty picture on it. :D

[tangaloor5]

As long as you get the used game from a reliable store you can return it if its damaged.

As for the torrent, as long as you have an authentic copy of the game, even if it doesn't work I don't think they can sue you.

[nejih94]

exactly:D:D

[Crymson]

actually they can. you don't have fair use rights in the USA. a copy of a game is illegal even if you own the game. because what you have bought is a single license of the game, not the right to make more. so if your copy is broken, then you should be able to make a new one without any problem

[tangaloor5]

That doesn't make any sense. After they stop selling the game you can only buy it used, which doesn't net them anymore profit then if you get if off a torrent. Why the hell should they care?:mad:

[Crymson]

becasue they can net a profit by sueing you of course.

Edit: Don't ask me. I dont understand capitalism that well. I try to avoid intimate knowledge of pure evil

[tangaloor5]

Damn them. They shouldn't rely on lawsuits for profit. They sell games after all. They need a better selling plan so people don't turn to torrents.

[Crymson]

Yea, like good games at a decent price. that would sell a lot of games.

[tangaloor5]

Hear, hear.:)

But I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.:(

[Crymson]

No. I dont think I've bought anything since Homeworld 2. wait... 10 bucks for Sword of the Stars, which isn't bad for 10 (compusa closing sale). every time i look though, there just anything that catches my attention.

[Corwin]

As interesting as this topic has become I think we've gone a little far afield, maybe there is nothing left to be said on this topic and I know I was partly to blame for it's change, but let's try and take it back

[tangaloor5]

Alright.

Since they're taking down the site soon, when will you remove the posting a Stage6 video thread.

[Corwin]

as soon as one of the admins has a moment

[tangaloor5]

It's not that important. I was just curious.;)

[silkshadow]

actually the usa copy right laws allow for people to make a backup copy (or burn) of movies or games they own already

[Corwin]

yes but the problem w/ that idea is that w/ all the copyright protection they put on discs now the only things it's really easy to make copies of is music cd's, I mean yeah it would be great if we could make copies of our ps3, xbox360 and wii games just in case the original gets dmgd, but it doesn't exactly work out that way does it

[silkshadow]

lol you sure about that. i know you can burn ps2 games all you need is a file from net to burn on disc with game.

[supersaiyu]

that bullshit, I love the quality of the video on that site. I even finish the entire series of Claymore in HD on that site.

[Koopaking]

looks like the site is finally down now... It was actually working this morning...

[Crymson]

I suspect that has to do with time zone differences

[Felix42]

It is so sad i loved Stage6. When i heard they were closing it i downloaded as many episodes as i possibly could in the last two days. :dead:
:pissed:
Well Veoh will have to do from now on, i guess. Veoh Tv is ok, though i can't watch it full screen as i could at stage 6.

[nejih94]

magavideo is good too
:dance::dance::dance:

[Awakening]

its sucks that they have shut down there videos were good quality

[Jsj222]

Off topic a bit but, Why dose every freaking website have some admin named "Tom"?

[silkshadow]

yeah thats way off topic why dont you start a new thread on it

[Corwin]

Well if the topic is starting to wind itself around to random thoughts like that then I think this thread is done, stage6 will be missed, now let's just pray to whatever gods you worship that the other sites we use don't go down as well