Turns out Hasbro can get into a lot of legal trouble if they release the episodes internationally on iTunes. And according to the email in the article, Hasbro cannot allow YouTube videos to be shown internationally for legal reasons as well, as it infringes the deal made between them and TV networks... http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/01/clarification-from-hasbro-about.html
I'm glad that Hasbro is working with and supporting its fanbase. The law is an ass and almost never has anything to do with justice. Hasbro really is just as much a victim of the legal red tape as its customers are. The difference is that Hasbro has much much more to lose and therefore has to be that much more careful. At least the takedown of Youtube videos has been slow. I have yet to have a problem watching any episode.
Yea, I think its in our best interest that Hasbro doesn't break international law. Not that they would, they obviously aren't stupid and aren't going to risk that. It still sucks though as Hasbro is slowly removing YouTube streams. It's going to become harder and harder for international bronies to watch MLP legally.
I think trade regulations are in need of being heavily globalized. This is how you really stop piracy, not stuff like SOPA. I am no longer mad at Hasbro for this, but I do feel the distrubution method of tv shows in general need to be modernized. As for the youtube streams, there will never be a time they will be all gone, as long as demand is high, new videos will be uploaded faster than they are taken down.
Yup the way TV shows are distributed does need to be modernized. And SOPA will just make everything worse unfortunately.
