Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growing rapidly • Hacker News Board

Re: Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growing rapidly

#11

Post by mistermann » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:36 PM UTC

> When we started looking for similar mentions by other businesses, we stumbled upon similar concerns and, strangely enough, some identical ones. Apparently, there’s quite a bit of copying going on, as SEC filings from several companies include identical passages.

I smell a coordinated initiative to buy some "democracy".

Re: Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growing rapidly

#12

Post by jerjerjer » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:36 PM UTC

PlutoIsAPlanet wrote: post #9

Streaming became popular because it was easier than piracy and better than TV (watch anywhere, on demand, pickup where you left off etc). Streaming is no longer easier than piracy, why pay for 8 different services and have to waste your time figuring out whats on what when you can just have one service for free, even if its illegal, and have it all under one roof. The services have taken the piss and now they'll get…

Streaming also had no ads which is now gated behind even more pricey plans.

Re: Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growing rapidly

#13

Post by chaostheory » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:38 PM UTC

What annoys me about Netflix is that they go out of their way to limit the platforms that you can watch their service from. Currently, I cannot watch Netflix with a modern client that streams better than 480P on my Quest headset.

Re: Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growing rapidly

#14

Post by jMyles » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:38 PM UTC

...it's difficult to compete against even when you have the state willing to make threats of violence on your behalf if they utilize the competing model.

It seems like this says more about the future of so-called "intellectual property" than it does about these particular companies or these particular practices.

Re: Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growing rapidly

#15

Post by ilrwbwrkhv » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:40 PM UTC

Piracy is a moral imperative. The internet was supposed to be free and break down barriers. Instead what we have now is a show available in the UK but not available in the US. This is not acceptable.

This plus the fact that actual artists get a pittance, means the flag will fly high till companies learn.

Also piracy has become much more reliable these days. There are systems which will make sure you get 4k streams based on any genre you enjoy. New shows from around the world. No need to wait for Netflix to add it to your countries playlist that to hidden behind garbage UX.

At the end of the day it is about availability, user control, artist benefits and showing the middle finger to large corporations.

That is the hacker mindset. That is what I grew up with in the early 2000s and it is substantially better than what we are "supposed" to do now. Hope that makes sense.

Re: Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growing rapidly

#16

Post by alexfromapex » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:41 PM UTC

“We cracked down on account sharing, added a bunch of ads, DRM, and are seeing the logical response from annoyed consumers”

Re: Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growing rapidly

#17

Post by SllX » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:42 PM UTC

I mean Netflix has been losing to “just buy it in iTunes” for me for years. I don’t watch a lot of movies, but when I do, it usually can’t be found anywhere to stream so I just buy it.

Their UI sucks, they don’t want to integrate with the Apple TV app on my phone (search, Up Next, immediate access) because of competitive reasons, and they rarely have any decent movies anymore because they turned their entire business model to original serials, where “original” can mean they just bought the international distribution rights.

Re: Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growing rapidly

#18

Post by bojan » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:43 PM UTC

bawolff wrote: post #10

> Piracy also threatens to damage our business, as its fundamental proposition to consumers is so compelling and difficult to compete against: virtually all content for free,” Netflix writes. People emphasize the "free" part, but it really is the "all content" part that makes piracy wins. Especially if you are not in the USA, often specific content isn't available at any price. Even if it is, its split across 5 billi…

Now, it doesn't just work. You need to download the thing, find the right format, get it to the TV in one way or another, hope that the subs are good.

Compared to that, it's the streaming that just works. Except when it doesn't.

Re: Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growing rapidly

#19

Post by DoughnutHole » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:43 PM UTC

jerjerjer wrote: post #12

PlutoIsAPlanet wrote: post #9

Streaming became popular because it was easier than piracy and better than TV (watch anywhere, on demand, pickup where you left off etc). Streaming is no longer easier than piracy, why pay for 8 different services and have to waste your time figuring out whats on what when you can just have one service for free, even if its illegal, and have it all under one roof. The services have taken the piss and now they'll get…

Streaming also had no ads which is now gated behind even more pricey plans.

Even an “ad-free” Netflix plan is infested with promotion of their in-house productions.

Re: Netflix: Piracy is difficult to compete against and growing rapidly

#20

Post by avg_dev » Sun, Feb 04, 2024, 10:45 PM UTC

> We don’t know where these references originate. Netflix has mentioned it for a while, that’s for sure, and apparently, the use of this language is widespread and subject to rapid global growth.

lol