*Updated* New earth shattering, breaking the paradigm, internet-y way of producing media = same retarded, heavy handed, corporate media BS.

*Update* And now, it works. And it is here - http://www.drhorrible.com/act_I.html And it is hilariously brilliant. And all that makes the following seem a little dick-ish. But I think the point still holds, mostly. Whether this was an overlooked hiccup, or something circumvented in post, it never should have been an issue. And to repeat, it is teh awesome. Easily the funniest superhero musical you'll see this week. You know what I mean.*

So, Joss Whedon, during the writer's strike, brainstormed up a new internet superhero musical thingy - "Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog." Looks hilarious.


And, it being Joss Whedon, I'm sure it's genius and I'll watch it again and again. And buy the DVDs. And the soundtrack. But I can't say for sure if it's any good [okay, I can, because Whedon is that damn good, but I digress] even though it's LIVE and out - Whedonesque : Comments on 16893 : Act one of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is live! - because... drumroll, please... I can't fucking watch it.

Apparently the brand new, earth shattering, breaking the paradigm of studio and corporate control, shaking up the establishment, internet-y way of producing media is as amazingly fucked up and retarded as the old way.

I go to check it out, earlier, and I get this message from the amazingly annoying site HULU -

"We're sorry. Currently our video library can only be streamed through the United States."

New boss, same as the old boss.

Yes, you can do all sorts of hiding-your-IP workarounds but the whole point is you shouldn't freaking have to!

This is why people 'steal' things with torrents. Because corporate culture and legalistic morons always manage to take the work of even the best and well meaning - like Joss and crew - and create nothing but roadblocks and difficulties.

Whedon responds to the complaints of lack of international viewability at the link above, in the comments, with his usual wit and self effacing aplomb -

"I Can't tell you what a thrill it was for me and Jed and Zack and Maurissa to gather round the comp-fire and await the launch of our musical... and find out it wasn't playing in many many places. And get slammed. And slammed. Yay team! Team of slamming!

The fact is, we're dealing with big companies that have moved more quickly on this venture than they've ever had to. We've always been clear about getting this out to everyone, but that just isn't as simple as we'd like."

And that's true, and I'm sure it's not simple. And they are working to fix the problem. But this is BASIC. This is the future of how media should work. How it could work. This was gonna finally be a positive step in the right direction that could finally show the dinosaurs and the hacks that open source entertainment and intelligent marketing [not to mention talent, loads of Whedon talent] could carve a new path in how they do business. And as quick as they may or may not get this problem resolved, this never should've been an issue to begin with.

You know, it's pretty much a given I'm the "target audience" here - I've all the season DVDs of Buffy, Angel, Firefly - and I'm sure I'll get this when it comes out. And I'm sure it's funny, and witty and brilliant and smart... but I can't tell you so, because I can't fucking watch it.

It's the same stupidity when I try to go watch the Venture Bros when they post an online episode over at Adult Swim. They too have a cute "sorry, don't we suck? - we can't stream overseas" message. I own both seasons on DVD, want to watch them "legally" but they won't let me. And they wonder why nobody possibly cares about downloading, P2P, or non-creative corporate entities possibly losing $$.

Frustrated now.