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Game of Thrones leak and watermark: a stupid tracking system

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Re: Game of Thrones leak and watermark: a stupid tracking system

#261
post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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I'm not wrong. Not because such things aren't possible (duh, we have cameras that can do varying frame rates), but because I am aware that content creators contract to deliver a product that will play back properly anywhere. Distributors' deliverables lists specify the exact frame and sample rates that they want, as opposed to what's potentially achievable within the format. Handing them something encoded with variab…

[deleted]

Re: Game of Thrones leak and watermark: a stupid tracking system

#262
post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

I'm not wrong. Not because such things aren't possible (duh, we have cameras that can do varying frame rates), but because I am aware that content creators contract to deliver a product that will play back properly anywhere. Distributors' deliverables lists specify the exact frame and sample rates that they want, as opposed to what's potentially achievable within the format. Handing them something encoded with variab…

[deleted]

Re: Game of Thrones leak and watermark: a stupid tracking system

#263

Next iteration would be changing the length of each scene by a few milliseconds. One can count that the first episode holds s=18 scenes. Each scene lasts several minutes. Once again each copy can be made shorter or longer by a couple milliseconds, providing a unique fingerprint for each version sent. This sort of thing makes it hard for me to take any of the article seriously. The author doesn't seem to know the firs…

I'm not sure I understand your objections with editing the content of the video. The leaked episodes were screeners, intentionally degraded in quality (low res, watermarked). Changes like these will obviously not be shown to the final viewer.

Re: Game of Thrones leak and watermark: a stupid tracking system

#264

Next iteration would be changing the length of each scene by a few milliseconds. One can count that the first episode holds s=18 scenes. Each scene lasts several minutes. Once again each copy can be made shorter or longer by a couple milliseconds, providing a unique fingerprint for each version sent. This sort of thing makes it hard for me to take any of the article seriously. The author doesn't seem to know the firs…

Anyone who was going to get hooked on Game of Thrones is hooked, and anyone who is still on the fence isn't likely to torrent the leaked episodes. Incompetence is a better explanation, I think.

I worry more about torrent piracy in Australia — with impending Dallas Buyers Club lawsuits, I'm recommending everybody I know find it through alternate means or investigate VPNs. No matter how it was leaked, no doubt they're monitoring the swarm like hawks.

Re: Game of Thrones leak and watermark: a stupid tracking system

#265
post #246
post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>reworks its content acquisition pipelines as new digital and analog technologies come to market. I would have gladly paid them to watch a stream at 8pm last night, yet somehow that still isn't an option in 2015. Instead I ended up with 4 episodes from a torrent at 8:15. Tell me more about embracing new technology as it comes to market.

In this case there's someone else who paid for you not to be able to stream it: Apple. HBO Now is Apple TV exclusive for 3 months.

No, you can get it on Sling TV, too.

Re: Game of Thrones leak and watermark: a stupid tracking system

#266
post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think illegal filesharing threatens the industry primarily not because it's free, but because it offers a lot of features and convenience which the content providers refuse to grant their customers willingly. It's a bit of a cycle isn't it? The reason they refuse to grant the convenience is because it enables illegal filesharing. Works the other way too.

> because it enables illegal filesharing Illegal filesharing doesn't need to be enabled, it's already happening regardless. Incidentally, the argument that people would simply re-share illegally what they bought had been used against getting rid of DRM in audio files for a long time. Today the major music stores provide DRM-free music by default. Yes, these files can be shared, but considering the fact that they were…

I don't disagree, but unfortunately I'm not in a position to influence copyright holders.

Re: Game of Thrones leak and watermark: a stupid tracking system

#267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am hooked on GoT, my response to HBO is thus: "Dear HBO, as a subscriber to HBO since 1983, I am saddened for this leak. As a huge fan of GoT, I am delighted, thank you, I will still watch all episodes in HD and DVR them every Sunday." --- HBO should allow for HBO GO users to see the whole season at a time - the same way netflix does. There is no reason to meter out the story. Netflix dumping a whole season on the…

Sorry, but I couldn't disagree more. Ever since Game of Thrones started, I have gathered with various groups of friends nearly every Sunday to watch the episode as it airs. Watching Game of Thrones has become a social event primarily because the release structure forces everyone to always be at the same point (even if some have read the books). In contrast, after House of Cards s3 was released and we watched a few ep…

+1 for enjoying scheduled programming.

I don't believe this model will ever go away because of things like live sports. You can't "on demand" a live basketball game and part of the joy is enjoying the results unfold together.

Re: Game of Thrones leak and watermark: a stupid tracking system

#268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, but I couldn't disagree more. Ever since Game of Thrones started, I have gathered with various groups of friends nearly every Sunday to watch the episode as it airs. Watching Game of Thrones has become a social event primarily because the release structure forces everyone to always be at the same point (even if some have read the books). In contrast, after House of Cards s3 was released and we watched a few ep…

This is something I had not ever thought of, so thank you for that. As a father of three small kids, I don't have the luxury of a weekly viewing parties. I find solace in the times when I have several hours to binge watch at my own pace.

This thread is just some incredibly nice and cordial and thoughtful discussion, thank you everyone.

Re: Game of Thrones leak and watermark: a stupid tracking system

#269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I know that - I work in film and post-production for a living and I can explain the origin and workflow aspects of video frame rates to you in excruciating detail. You know how annoying it is when you watch a movie and there's some sort of 2-dimensional 'hacker' character and s/he just says some gobbledegook about 'hacking the password' or whatever, you see something a progress bar briefly on screen, and then th…

This is a good time to bring up the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect(xhe). It's where you read a page full of comments about something you really and truly deep know something about and see how very, every wrong nearly everyone is... ...then you go on to take every other page pretty seriously without remembering just how far off people were on the topic that you know about. I experienced this the other day when people were t…

> This is a good time to bring up the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect

Thanks. Now I know the name for this.

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