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Tracking systems of TV streaming devices

blog.acolyer.org

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Re: Tracking systems of TV streaming devices

#31

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

izacus wrote: post #21
colechristensen wrote: post #2

I knew this was the case but the reminder is just more motivation to revert back to purchasing optical media, ripping it, and using mpv on a computer. I don't want my entertainment to be tied up with advertising. I don't want my whole life to be subject to metrics.

Optical media these days has a horribly intrusive DRM system, which prevents you from watching the content on most of PCs (see AACS 2.0 on Blu-Ray drives). Ripping them is pretty much impossible unless you do some very DMCA illegal firmware patching... and even that doesn't always work.

It's mind boggling that they continue to make life so difficult for paying customers when it's possible to go to a site like Pirate Bay and get a bit-perfect rip in less than 15 minutes without Hollywood making a single penny.

Just let me buy DRM-free movies and download them to my NAS - and without all the tracking bullshit!

Re: Tracking systems of TV streaming devices

#32

Post by [deleted] »

baq wrote: post #4

money quotes > Running with a Pi-hole helps, but still misses about 27% of A ID leaks, and 45% of serial number leaks. and > Our measurements showed that tracking is prevalent on the OTT platforms we studied, with traffic to known trackers present on 69% of Roku channels and 89% of Amazon Fire TV channels… Our analysis of the available privacy countermeasures showed that they are ineffective at preventing tracking. t…

[deleted]

Re: Tracking systems of TV streaming devices

#35

Post by ryanlol »

izacus wrote: post #21
colechristensen wrote: post #2

I knew this was the case but the reminder is just more motivation to revert back to purchasing optical media, ripping it, and using mpv on a computer. I don't want my entertainment to be tied up with advertising. I don't want my whole life to be subject to metrics.

Optical media these days has a horribly intrusive DRM system, which prevents you from watching the content on most of PCs (see AACS 2.0 on Blu-Ray drives). Ripping them is pretty much impossible unless you do some very DMCA illegal firmware patching... and even that doesn't always work.

> unless you do some very DMCA illegal firmware patching

That seems very risky given the regular unannounced firmware audits by the DMCA police.

Re: Tracking systems of TV streaming devices

#36

Post by willis936 »

SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #31
izacus wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Optical media these days has a horribly intrusive DRM system, which prevents you from watching the content on most of PCs (see AACS 2.0 on Blu-Ray drives). Ripping them is pretty much impossible unless you do some very DMCA illegal firmware patching... and even that doesn't always work.

It's mind boggling that they continue to make life so difficult for paying customers when it's possible to go to a site like Pirate Bay and get a bit-perfect rip in less than 15 minutes without Hollywood making a single penny. Just let me buy DRM-free movies and download them to my NAS - and without all the tracking bullshit!

Is it though? I have never seen a bit perfect rip on tpb. I have paid for sketchy software to have access to blu-ray ripping software to get around this while trying to play with high bitrate material and understand a bit more about it. 25 GB is the smallest a blu ray gets, with most being 50 GB (and potentially up to 300 GB, though I have not seen this personally). UHD blu ray goes from 50 GB to 100 GB. No one is ripping these things, and certainly no one is seeding them, and most certainly no one is leeching them. Maybe on private trackers. I wouldn’t know.

Re: Tracking systems of TV streaming devices

#37

Post by willis936 »

samoa42 wrote: post #10
lostlogin wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can improve that stat. If you have a router that allows it, make a rule that allows port 53 out if it’s from the Pihole, and redirects it back to the Pihole if it isn’t. You’ll catch more of the sneaky crap that way.

dot/doh is here, pihole is becoming irelevant

“DNSSEC is here, man in the middle attacks are over”

- a person in 2001

Re: Tracking systems of TV streaming devices

#38

Post by pricechild »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #11
chr1 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Advertisement works because most people do not feel this way and are ok with metrics and adds as long as they get something back. Is that ok, or is there a rational argument why everyone should feel bad about being subject to metrics?

Advertising works because people have little choice in the matter. It's exploiting that people value "consumption with ads" more than "no consumption at all", and most are not skilled enough to remove the ads themselves. (It's not like they wouldn't do it if they knew how; remember the popularity of VCRs? Their main use case was that on a recorded show, you could fast-forward through ads.) People are not OK with metr…

It's not just lies of omission. Take this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/49-inches-Fire-TV-Edition-Smart-4K-...

> Plus, your TV keeps getting smarter with new Alexa skills and over-the-air software updates, so you always have the latest.

Now maybe they will provide software updates for a reasonable length of time similar to the hardware's expected life... but what manufacturer does that?

My current TV is >10 years old and I fully expect the "Smart" bits of this JVC TV to be deprecated in a fraction of that?

Re: Tracking systems of TV streaming devices

#39

Post by [deleted] »

willis936 wrote: post #36
SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's mind boggling that they continue to make life so difficult for paying customers when it's possible to go to a site like Pirate Bay and get a bit-perfect rip in less than 15 minutes without Hollywood making a single penny. Just let me buy DRM-free movies and download them to my NAS - and without all the tracking bullshit!

Is it though? I have never seen a bit perfect rip on tpb. I have paid for sketchy software to have access to blu-ray ripping software to get around this while trying to play with high bitrate material and understand a bit more about it. 25 GB is the smallest a blu ray gets, with most being 50 GB (and potentially up to 300 GB, though I have not seen this personally). UHD blu ray goes from 50 GB to 100 GB. No one is ri…

[deleted]

Re: Tracking systems of TV streaming devices

#40

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 »

Razengan wrote: post #25
chr1 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Advertisement works because most people do not feel this way and are ok with metrics and adds as long as they get something back. Is that ok, or is there a rational argument why everyone should feel bad about being subject to metrics?

How many people do you know who have actually purchased something solely because of advertisement? Sometimes I wonder if the whole pervasive advertisement racket isn’t a case of the emperor with no clothes, if not a front for more nefarious ends.

I dislike advertising as much as the next person, but dismissing it as not working is attempting to handwave reality away.

I am saying this as I am currently going through a graduate marketing course. It is bananas.

If there is one you learn from marketing really fast is:

1. what is the reality? 2. how to manipulate it

To answer your surface question. You may be an outlier, but I can name purchases resulting from an ad. Impulsive purchases are a thing.

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