The Long, Slow Decline of BitTorrent (2017)

Post by xur17 » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 9:50 PM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #283

bringtheaction wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was about to argue that Netflix is still not viable for Linux users but then I googled it and apparently Netflix now works out of the box in Google Chrome. https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/watch-netflix-natively-linux-e... Does that include Chromium though? I think probably not. I will give it a try in Chromium but if that doesn't work then I will not be able to use Netflix still.

Yeah, I've been happily using Netflix on Linux for years. (As well as on an Android tablet and a Roku box for my projector.) Like many others, I'm entirely happy to pay money for content; my torrenting was about convenience. I'll still torrent when I buy a movie on DVD, because it's way easier to download than to rip it myself.

Post by jug » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 9:57 PM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #283

bringtheaction wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was about to argue that Netflix is still not viable for Linux users but then I googled it and apparently Netflix now works out of the box in Google Chrome. https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/watch-netflix-natively-linux-e... Does that include Chromium though? I think probably not. I will give it a try in Chromium but if that doesn't work then I will not be able to use Netflix still.

Yeah, I've been happily using Netflix on Linux for years. (As well as on an Android tablet and a Roku box for my projector.) Like many others, I'm entirely happy to pay money for content; my torrenting was about convenience. I'll still torrent when I buy a movie on DVD, because it's way easier to download than to rip it myself.

Post by dest » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 10:01 PM UTC

efdee wrote: post #140

dest wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The blank media tax is probably a compensation (i.e. not a tax) for the right to do private copies of legally acquired media. At least, this is what it is in France.

At least in Belgium, that right has existed for ages without the compensation on blank media (cassettes, VHS tapes, ...). When they introduced the tax it was quite explicitly stated that it was a compensation for illegal copying. Why I, who never use my CD/DVDs for copying anything but homemade content, have to pay for someone else's illegal copying is not clear to me. Especially since the tax doesn't change anything…

Post by ProfessorLayton » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 10:02 PM UTC

kbenson wrote: post #208

ProfessorLayton wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix seems to be pretty opinionated about subtitles. Try watching Narcos without subs, you can't. "Off" means the Spanish parts are subbed, and switching it to Spanish means the English parts are subbed! Netflix, a Californian company, simply couldn't fathom that some people might understand English and Spanish.

> Netflix, a Californian company, simply couldn't fathom that some people might understand English and Spanish. Or they just decided the path that serves the most people without complicating matters is to assume you want subtitles for any language not selected as the primary audio language. I think the relevant question here is how would you design a control panel that allowed you to define which of the many language…

Post by FabHK » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 10:05 PM UTC

gsich wrote: post #284

lotsofpulp wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix isn't locking it down, the company they are buying the media from is locking it down.

Netflix is enforcing it. They do the actual technical action of blocking access.