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Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

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Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it's costing this guy $45 a month apparently.

That server does a lot of other stuff. Controls zigbee devices, runs a small intranet search, handles internet archiving workloads... The hard drives are the main power cost though.

How many drives do you have in your server? Or do you just have very high power costs? I thought drives consume ~7-9w unless they're very high RPM. Maybe consider upgrading to a few high density drives? Hard drive costs have corrected recently after the Chia craze last year.

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#182
post #13

Why do you need 30TB? You can always download again if you need to watch again.

Clearly you've never found a torrent that has exactly what you want, but zero seeders.

On the rare occasion? Sure. Certainly not near 30TB of them.

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$45 a month is a pretty cheap vice as far as things go, though. You could easily be spending $45 a month just on streaming services.

Or he could spend $10 on the tracker, $10 to run a normal computer without 30 drives, and still watch all the same stuff for half the price.

Maybe there are better usenet services that don't get holes punched in their collections as much, but generally on usenet you get missing episodes over time.

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#185
post #29

Dump the movies on a backup service, why do you need a full copy locally Golden rule of data: "90% of it is not accessed after 3 months"

What's a cheap backup plan here?

If you don't want to store online: Tape, blu-ray, usb harddisk, nas that only gets electricity when backup is runnning. Preferably a combination of those. Don't use sd/ssd/nvram.

Do test your backups though.

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#186
You use your computer only for piracy? You could have gotten a much cheaper, probably less power hungry machine...

You may also have a local copy without pirating, if that's your main concern.

I don't get paying for access to pirated content. It's a total sucker move.

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#187
post #79

I think there should be a distinction between data hoarding and piracy. One can consume pirated content without keeping it around, effectively looking a bit like just paying for a streaming service, since that's effectively what you get. One could also buy blurays and rip them, keeping the result around, and having the same cost to "hoard" that content on top of paying for the content itself. For a while, I was in th…

It's not only onerous, but streaming services just suck. It's all hot garbage in AV1 or VP9 at a 10Mbps bitrate, which looks like crap. I know because I worked in this industry, how management would literally wet themselves over a slightly more efficient codec, so that they could dial down bitrates further while distracting people from terrible video compression artifacts. They also have problems keeping their servic…

> they're blind and have crap AV equipment We notice, but what are we going to do? Buy the Blu-ray?

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#188
post #169

What you’re describing is data hoarding. I pirate a ton too, but you know what I do with a movie or TV show after I’ve watched it? I delete it. Poof, gone. But it’s still in the most important dataset I have. My memory. To help with the metadata of my own memory, I write down a list of the films I’ve seen. I only keep the movies I really love and want to rewatch (Robocop). That TV show I just finished that was great…

The data is currency though, in the pirate economy.

Only if you can transfer/exchange it, no?

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#189

What you’re describing is data hoarding. I pirate a ton too, but you know what I do with a movie or TV show after I’ve watched it? I delete it. Poof, gone. But it’s still in the most important dataset I have. My memory. To help with the metadata of my own memory, I write down a list of the films I’ve seen. I only keep the movies I really love and want to rewatch (Robocop). That TV show I just finished that was great…

> data hoarding, which is a problem.

Data hoarding is not a problem. It's a hobby.

Everyone needs a hobby, most hobbies cost money.

Traveling? Cost money.

Woodworking? Cost money.

Photography? Cost money.

Biking? Cost money.

Gaming? Cost money (+ way more time).

Data hoarding is just a hobby like others. Plus data hoarding can have great value, if you choose to hoard good content.

Re: Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just paid for content

#190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paying for things you don't have to pay for is a quick way to lose money, no matter how much you make.

But that excuse justifies much more than digital piracy. You don't "have to pay for" a car if you can steal one.

You'd be denying someone else use of the car. Stealing, especially of physical things, is a far greater moral wrong than copyright infringement.
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