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Netflix, HBO and Cable Giants Are Coming for Password Sharers

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Re: Netflix, HBO and Cable Giants Are Coming for Password Sharers

#121

> If none of those tactics work, pay-TV subscribers could someday be required to sign into their accounts using their thumbprints. This feels like an idea from some idiot corporate suit who said "Well there are fingerprint readers on phones, let's use that to lock down accounts" without understanding that your app just gets as "Yes" or a "No" when you ask the phone to scan a fingerprint. The apps themselves don't get…

> I'm willing to concede there are some people stealing who would pay but I can promise you it's nowhere near 100%.

Hell, if the situation with games is any indication there are people who will pirate the game after paying for it to get rid of always-on requirements or other intrusive DRM.

Re: Netflix, HBO and Cable Giants Are Coming for Password Sharers

#122
post #45
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about copying a $100 bill?

By your logic wouldn't you say that the content providers are doing the same thing?

The only people who can copy a $100 bill have "the license" to do so.

The only people who can copy a show to show it to you have "the license" to do so.

When you disregard the license put in play to govern the content, you're stealing from the people who protect their property with licenses.

Even in the open source world, respecting the terms of a license is important.

Re: Netflix, HBO and Cable Giants Are Coming for Password Sharers

#123

> If none of those tactics work, pay-TV subscribers could someday be required to sign into their accounts using their thumbprints. This feels like an idea from some idiot corporate suit who said "Well there are fingerprint readers on phones, let's use that to lock down accounts" without understanding that your app just gets as "Yes" or a "No" when you ask the phone to scan a fingerprint. The apps themselves don't get…

> I'm willing to concede there are some people stealing who would pay but I can promise you it's nowhere near 100%. Hell, if the situation with games is any indication there are people who will pirate the game after paying for it to get rid of always-on requirements or other intrusive DRM.

I can tell you I know a number of people who pay for Netflix/Amazon Prime/Apple TV+/Hulu/HBO/etc and then turn around and pirate the same content because watching it though Plex/other is simply a better experience.

And frankly, I 100% understand where they are coming from:

1. What platform was I watching show X on?

2. Oh Platform X removed show Y? Well it's also on Platform Z but now I can't remember where I was in that show.

3. Oh, every Platform has a different UI/UX? Great...

4. Internet slow today? DDOS against Platform? Guess I'm not watching anything

5. Oh that's right, Platform X only work on Set Top Box A or B but not C... Guess I'll just watch this on my Phone since I can't get it on the TV

6. Going on a flight? Going to be without internet? Don't want to stream it on cellular? I hope Show X is on a Platform that supports offline watching.

7. Paid service != No Ads, you've got to deal with Hulu's BS and/or pre-roll or self-promotion crap

I know Apple TV is trying to address some of these issues and so is Amazon Prime Channels but it's all a Russian nesting doll of terrible.

All of this stands in rather stark comparison to using Plex/Emby/Jellyfin/etc:

1. All my content in 1 place

2. Content never removed except by owner, track show progress across all clients easily

3. Constant UI/UX even across platforms

4. If you are local there is no lag, remote will depend on your own internet

5. Apps for almost every platform (Phone, Web, TV, Tablet, Gaming Console, Roku/Chromecast/Fire stick, etc)

6. Offline sync options

7. No ads, no pre-roll (unless you set a custom one yourself)

Re: Netflix, HBO and Cable Giants Are Coming for Password Sharers

#125
post #9

> “I feel like I’m beating my head against the wall,” Tom Rutledge, the chief executive officer of Charter Communications Inc., said during an earnings call last month. “It’s just too easy to get the product without paying for it.” Boo hoo. All these companies thinking they can split all their content up and get people to pay for every single service are in for a (totally expected) surprise. I'll share my plex server…

>Boo hoo. All these companies thinking they can split all their content up and get people to pay for every single service are in for a (totally expected) surprise.

But people complained just as loud when cable TV "made them pay for everything even though they only watch three channels".

Re: Netflix, HBO and Cable Giants Are Coming for Password Sharers

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm willing to concede there are some people stealing who would pay but I can promise you it's nowhere near 100%. Hell, if the situation with games is any indication there are people who will pirate the game after paying for it to get rid of always-on requirements or other intrusive DRM.

I can tell you I know a number of people who pay for Netflix/Amazon Prime/Apple TV+/Hulu/HBO/etc and then turn around and pirate the same content because watching it though Plex/other is simply a better experience. And frankly, I 100% understand where they are coming from: 1. What platform was I watching show X on? 2. Oh Platform X removed show Y? Well it's also on Platform Z but now I can't remember where I was in t…

The media industry is doing it's best to try to refragment itself as it had done during the heyday of cable. Whereby you had to have this package, that package and this addon, that addon to get the content library that you truly wanted. When the main competitors were only Hulu and Netflix, it was simple to sign u an dmove on with your life.

Now, the content makers want to have their own streaming services (Disney), pushing the consumer back to that $160/month+ territory for access to media. It's kind of sad to see really.

Re: Netflix, HBO and Cable Giants Are Coming for Password Sharers

#127
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The moment I needed a bloody table with different companies/packages/subscription in order to figure-out how to watch that show I heard from a friend, I just go to a place where i can get it right now and watch it with my food still warm. Its not customer's fault that the only option for that is now piracy. You want my business earn it, I've yet to see people jumping hurdles and run 10km to get McD burger. Then momen…

I remember 10 years ago that the answer to rayiner's question was always "I don't want to pay a ton of money for a whole bundle of crap I don't want when all I want to watch is one specific thing." I saw it all the time. Now people complain about the complexities of unbundling. It's fairly clear to me that these complaints, while real, aren't the core issue which is: people would rather get content for free than pay…

The issue is that we are headed back to the "unnecessary package but I want that one thing" territory. In the olden days, there were only a few streaming services (legit ones). Now they are all splitting out with rights being given and revoked on dates that appear arbitrary to the consumer.

Re: Netflix, HBO and Cable Giants Are Coming for Password Sharers

#128
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The moment I needed a bloody table with different companies/packages/subscription in order to figure-out how to watch that show I heard from a friend, I just go to a place where i can get it right now and watch it with my food still warm. Its not customer's fault that the only option for that is now piracy. You want my business earn it, I've yet to see people jumping hurdles and run 10km to get McD burger. Then momen…

I remember 10 years ago that the answer to rayiner's question was always "I don't want to pay a ton of money for a whole bundle of crap I don't want when all I want to watch is one specific thing." I saw it all the time. Now people complain about the complexities of unbundling. It's fairly clear to me that these complaints, while real, aren't the core issue which is: people would rather get content for free than pay…

I think people aren't articulating what they want.

People hate the cable companies because you're paying high prices for a bunch of bullshit.

People hate the plethora of streaming services because now they have to pay 50 different places. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO, etc.

What people want to do is choose what "channels" or shows they want and pay one entity.

Basically Amazon Prime's model of adding on CBS All Access or HBO Go (Now? Max?) to the base. But Amazon's UI is probably the worst.

Re: Netflix, HBO and Cable Giants Are Coming for Password Sharers

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There will be people who cannot afford entertainment and will pirate no matter what. That a red hearing and it doesn't matter. I don't care about bundles/deal/special arrangement all I care about is convenience. Netflix used to be more convenient to watch quality series and I was using it exclusively. I paid fair price for convenience. Starting show where you left of skipping intros etc, all of those things made me p…

So far no solution besides “pirating” has met this one simple requirement: “On-demand access to any movie or TV show I can think of that has ever been digitized, from one service.” That’s it. If you can provide that, take my money. In the, say 20 years since broadband existed, literally no legit company has offered this yet, for any price.

I find it interesting that Spotify, Apple, Pandora and others can do this for (95%+ of) music, but no one can do it for movies or TV.
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