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HBO Max new Captcha system

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Re: HBO Max new Captcha system

#271

Post by michaelmior »

jacurtis wrote: post #9

I experienced the HBO Max captchas just a few days ago. Everyone did since they launched a new app and made everyone switch to that and re-login. Some of the solutions are clearly just wrong. I have a PhD in Computer Science and if I am failing multiple basic addition problems, I assure you that it isn't me, the answers are wrong. I had to do the same audio puzzles and got the first audio puzzle wrong too, and I even…

I never experienced the CAPTCHA across four different devices and on at least one, I didn't even have to log in again.

Re: HBO Max new Captcha system

#272

Post by jghn »

HeavyStorm wrote: post #253
wrs wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am baffled as to why they had to launch an entirely new app rather than just rename the existing one. Could Apple have made them change the bundle ID? It's like they're putting in deliberate obstacles for existing subscribers.

Because the old app sucked real bad. I can see there's no improvement.

The new one is notably worse

Re: HBO Max new Captcha system

#273

Post by danpalmer »

pixl97 wrote: post #270
bscphil wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just from that, the government now immediately knows what site you've been to If I understand the idea correctly, this isn't how it works. Your user agent sends a signed request (with proof of identity) to the GOV.UK verification server, saying "please give me a signed certificate that provides no information other than my age". Because GOV.UK knows who you are, they can provide such a certificate. Your user agent…

Heh, until the UK logging requirements ensure some component of the token that can be decoded later gets left in the server logs, then Oops, we know exactly who was on the porn server.

I'm not sure on the specifics, but the entire point of Verify as a technology was to ensure there was no government database about people. The UK has very distributed technology for government services, there is no one big database, and people have pushed back hard on this many times over the years so the government is pretty paranoid about doing it.

Each agency holds only the data they need for the time they need it. There are no national ID cards. And in the case of Verify, the verification was purposefully outsourced to private companies that already had this data due to their business (e.g. your bank, PayPal, Amazon who have a trustworthy address history, Experian, and so on).

Re: HBO Max new Captcha system

#274

Post by lxgr »

wrs wrote: post #16
jacurtis wrote: post #9

I experienced the HBO Max captchas just a few days ago. Everyone did since they launched a new app and made everyone switch to that and re-login. Some of the solutions are clearly just wrong. I have a PhD in Computer Science and if I am failing multiple basic addition problems, I assure you that it isn't me, the answers are wrong. I had to do the same audio puzzles and got the first audio puzzle wrong too, and I even…

I am baffled as to why they had to launch an entirely new app rather than just rename the existing one. Could Apple have made them change the bundle ID? It's like they're putting in deliberate obstacles for existing subscribers.

I’ve been wondering about that too. Then again, some years ago, Spotify forced all users on (I believe) Android to download an entirely new app that was visually completely identical. Login state and downloaded tracks were lost. I still wonder what happened there.

Surely that‘s among the worst things you can do from an SEO and customer retention perspectives?

Re: HBO Max new Captcha system

#275

Post by lxgr »

HeavyStorm wrote: post #256
wrs wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am baffled as to why they had to launch an entirely new app rather than just rename the existing one. Could Apple have made them change the bundle ID? It's like they're putting in deliberate obstacles for existing subscribers.

The reason is probably way simpler than people think: the current HBO Max app is rated at 2.8 stars in half a million reviews in the android app store. I imagine a similar rating on apple's store. A new app gives you a blank slate, which is easier than reverting old ratings.

Doesn’t Apple already reset ratings between app updates?

I remember being nudged for repeated reviews by many apps, some explicitly listing that reason, before that was prohibited by Apple.

Re: HBO Max new Captcha system

#276

Post by xeromal »

poopiokaka wrote: post #237
jacurtis wrote: post #9

I experienced the HBO Max captchas just a few days ago. Everyone did since they launched a new app and made everyone switch to that and re-login. Some of the solutions are clearly just wrong. I have a PhD in Computer Science and if I am failing multiple basic addition problems, I assure you that it isn't me, the answers are wrong. I had to do the same audio puzzles and got the first audio puzzle wrong too, and I even…

> I have a PhD in Computer Science and if I am failing multiple basic addition problems, I assure you that it isn't me, the answers are wrong I also have a PhD in Computer Science and I assure you that the degree does not give me as much blind faith in my math ability

Agreed. In my experience, arithmetic skills are not transferable to higher-level math skills and vice versa. Of course, someone can be skilled at both but I don't think you automatically become good at one because of the other.

Re: HBO Max new Captcha system

#278

Post by shp0ngle »

doodlesdev wrote: post #94

“Piracy is a service problem.” - Gabe Newell Also, Arkose Labs CAPTCHA (what HBO Max is using) is awful, please don't use it. There's reCAPTCHA, hCAPTCHA, mCAPTCHA, and now even Cloudflare Turnstile. Or better yet, recognize your costumers can still download the movie for free whether your service exists or not and adapt your strategy to provide them with content easier :)

HBO uses Captcha to prevent bots stealing accounts by brute-forcing passwords/reused passwords from other sites.

In other words. It's not anti-piracy mechanism, it's protection against account stealing.

Re: HBO Max new Captcha system

#279

Post by shp0ngle »

Hamuko wrote: post #157
doodlesdev wrote: post #94

“Piracy is a service problem.” - Gabe Newell Also, Arkose Labs CAPTCHA (what HBO Max is using) is awful, please don't use it. There's reCAPTCHA, hCAPTCHA, mCAPTCHA, and now even Cloudflare Turnstile. Or better yet, recognize your costumers can still download the movie for free whether your service exists or not and adapt your strategy to provide them with content easier :)

Isn't hCaptcha the one that asks you "Click on all of the bicycles" and then shows a bunch of AI-generated gibberish where fucking none of them is a bicycle but you have to click on the ones that are the most bicycle-like? Because that's fucking garbage and I wish everyone using it would die in a fire. In case someone as been lucky enough to never have used hCaptcha, it looks like this: https://twitter.com/shaunkruge…

hCaptcha is garbage. Also, they use some blockchain/token stuff for no reason, at least the last time I looked.

edit: ah they seemed to have removed all traces of the token stuff from their website, except some small remains in the docs - https://docs.hcaptcha.com/faq/#what-is-one-hmt-worth . I guess they pivoted away, reasonably.

Re: HBO Max new Captcha system

#280

Post by BeFlatXIII »

nebula8804 wrote: post #51
wackget wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know one service which has never stopped being reliable, easily available, high quality, and free to use? Piracy.

New free trade agreements will eventually come for the seedboxes.

Then it's time for domestic unrest in nations that attempt to enforce such laws. Oh wait, the rest of the world likes to disarm their populations.
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