Popcorn Time in Your Browser • Hacker News Board

Re: Popcorn Time in Your Browser

#201

Post by joshuapants » Tue, May 19, 2015, 4:06 PM UTC

astalwick wrote: post #135

martypitt wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one is obliged to give me money -- unless they consume the content I created. At that point, they are. Anything else assumes that because content exists, people have the right to consume it -- for free if they can work out how. Let's be clear: I fully agree that Hollywood needs to catch up, and make content accessible in the way that Popcorn time has. But I don't have the right to consume content illegally, just b…

I consider piracy to be a form of protest. I'm happy to pay, as long as the terms are reasonable. (I have a Rdio account that's been active for years now - I can't remember the last time I pirated music... I can't remember the last time I pirated software, either). However, in Canada, the only way to watch (for example) Game of Thrones is to a) get a massive cable subscription which includes 1000 channels you don't w…

I pay for HBO and a few times I've still had to pirate Game of Thrones because their delivery is so poor. For a while it was impossible to watch on HBO Go when it aired because they were somehow unaware that their popular program would draw a lot of viewers to the site and it would crash. Now that doesn't happen, but instead I get poor quality video that pauses and stutters with annoying grey bars on either side of the screen that pop in and out and distort the video. This past Sunday I was fed up enough after 15 minutes that I just decided to wait an hour and download it in HD.

The terms aren't the only things that have to be reasonable, the quality of service must be as well.

Re: Popcorn Time in Your Browser

#202

Post by jules » Tue, May 19, 2015, 4:11 PM UTC

rhino369 wrote: post #179

jules wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that almost none of the Amazon instant content is available outside the US.

Presumably someone sells content in your country.

Yes, N years later on TV or K years later on DVD. That sucks, so people pirate.

Re: Popcorn Time in Your Browser

#203

Post by malka » Tue, May 19, 2015, 4:12 PM UTC

chasing wrote: post #191

astalwick wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not oppression, you're right. It's way, way smaller than that. My little act of 'defiance' is way smaller than it would be if it were exactly oppression, too. I'm pirating content. I'm watching something that I want to watch, and at the same time, I'm hoping that my small increment of the 'pirated_copies_of_got' metric causes someone at HBO to go and sort out the way they distribute content outside of the US. Li…

Look, you don't want to pay for it. For you, free is better than having to shell out money. I wish people would just stop with their dumb moral workarounds. The show costs $X. You don't want to pay. You know how to get the content via other means. And so you do. Don't embarrass yourself further by claiming you're somehow helping HBO out by going against their wishes and pirating the show they produced. You don't know…

I do not give a damn about price. I give a damn about usability. And usually, the "free" versions are better than paid versions in this regard.

When the paid version is at least as good, people pay for it. cf Netflix.

Re: Popcorn Time in Your Browser

#204

Post by astalwick » Tue, May 19, 2015, 4:14 PM UTC

chasing wrote: post #191

astalwick wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not oppression, you're right. It's way, way smaller than that. My little act of 'defiance' is way smaller than it would be if it were exactly oppression, too. I'm pirating content. I'm watching something that I want to watch, and at the same time, I'm hoping that my small increment of the 'pirated_copies_of_got' metric causes someone at HBO to go and sort out the way they distribute content outside of the US. Li…

Look, you don't want to pay for it. For you, free is better than having to shell out money. I wish people would just stop with their dumb moral workarounds. The show costs $X. You don't want to pay. You know how to get the content via other means. And so you do. Don't embarrass yourself further by claiming you're somehow helping HBO out by going against their wishes and pirating the show they produced. You don't know…

And one last thing: It is actually quite insulting to be reduced down to 'free is better than having to shell out money'.

No, it's not. I buy books (audible.com is amazing), I buy music, I buy software - all of which are just as easy to pirate.

I go to shows, I buy prints of photographsy that I like, I support artists. I am fully aware of how hard it is as an artist (my wife is an illustrator).

So, please don't reduce me down to "cheap bastard just doesn't want to pay". It's insulting and untrue.

Re: Popcorn Time in Your Browser

#205

Post by flavor8 » Tue, May 19, 2015, 4:20 PM UTC

rkangel wrote: post #19

Narkov wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything right? Except of course monitize it. Giving stuff away is pretty easy to do. Making a business out of it is much harder.

Given the technical restrictions on sharing illegal content, due to copyright laws shutdown of websites etc., sharing illegal content isn't that easy to do. That someone has managed to do it in as user friendly a manner as they have, putting everything in the industry to shame (apart from Netflix) is in an indication of the failings of the industry. Netflix is a great product that falls down only in terms of content.…

> Netflix is a great product that falls down only in terms of content

...and app UI. Have you ever tried to drive your chromecast with the netflix app? It's buggy as hell, doesn't display comments, doesn't display related content, and has a horrible search experience. I half believe that it's bad deliberately as a way to cover up holes in their content.

Re: Popcorn Time in Your Browser

#206

Post by StavrosK » Tue, May 19, 2015, 4:23 PM UTC

kalms wrote: post #109

Flimm wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You still need a debit/credit card for that country.

No, actually you don't. When I visit the States, or when using a VPN, I get the US version just fine, at least with Netflix.

How do you pay for it?

Re: Popcorn Time in Your Browser

#207

Post by ThomPete » Tue, May 19, 2015, 4:28 PM UTC

rhino369 wrote: post #196

ThomPete wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We aren't lacking ideas neither content, quite the contrary. And they aren't created out of nothing but that's a whole other discussion I am glad to have in another thread.

The sort of complex ideas to create a movie script or a song are lacking, especially good ones. Just because it's easy doesn't mean it isn't scarce. Any moron could make a cup, but cups don't have zero scarcity. And its easier to make a copy than a whole story for a movie.

No we aren't lacking ideas for that. There have never been so much music despite it being much harder to make a living on it.

I have played music many many years, and I can tell you from experience that its not something thats created out of nothing. Thats just not how this works.

So if you want to have a real fundamental discussion about this you need to understand how these things are made and what it means to create them.

Re: Popcorn Time in Your Browser

#208

Post by chasing » Tue, May 19, 2015, 4:33 PM UTC

astalwick wrote: post #204

chasing wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look, you don't want to pay for it. For you, free is better than having to shell out money. I wish people would just stop with their dumb moral workarounds. The show costs $X. You don't want to pay. You know how to get the content via other means. And so you do. Don't embarrass yourself further by claiming you're somehow helping HBO out by going against their wishes and pirating the show they produced. You don't know…

And one last thing: It is actually quite insulting to be reduced down to 'free is better than having to shell out money'. No, it's not. I buy books (audible.com is amazing), I buy music, I buy software - all of which are just as easy to pirate. I go to shows, I buy prints of photographsy that I like, I support artists. I am fully aware of how hard it is as an artist (my wife is an illustrator). So, please don't reduc…

I apologize -- I went off on you as a straw man instead of as someone who had literally just said that they didn't pirate music or software. That was unfair.

You touched a nerve. The "I'm not doing any harm" line is the general defense to the piracy question and I think it's very much wrong. I think I'm right in saying that too many people attempt to use it as a moral cover for the fact that they just want stuff for free.

Re: Popcorn Time in Your Browser

#209

Post by baby » Tue, May 19, 2015, 4:46 PM UTC

Sir_Substance wrote: post #108

Narkov wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything right? Except of course monitize it. Giving stuff away is pretty easy to do. Making a business out of it is much harder.

You've fallen into the classic trap: No one is obliged to give you money. Finding a business model that works is your problem, not your customers. Forced lock-in is a model, but it's a violent one that makes people want to leave, and it's entirely predicated on there never being an escape hatch for your trapped customers. There is now an escape hatch for content customers. They're no longer beholden to the choice of…

Every time I see comments like this I wonder if most people here are advocates of "unfair competition". You want everything now and it has to be cheaper and you sometimes have to stop thinking only about the consumer but also the producers. This not only goes for cinema but also for food, services, etc...

Re: Popcorn Time in Your Browser

#210

Post by locokoko » Tue, May 19, 2015, 4:46 PM UTC

chasing wrote: post #166

Sir_Substance wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've fallen into the classic trap: No one is obliged to give you money. Finding a business model that works is your problem, not your customers. Forced lock-in is a model, but it's a violent one that makes people want to leave, and it's entirely predicated on there never being an escape hatch for your trapped customers. There is now an escape hatch for content customers. They're no longer beholden to the choice of…

You've fallen into the classic trap: No one is obliged to give you free content in the form of movies, music, books, video games, television shows, etc. Just because you can pirate or steal something doesn't mean it's morally or legally justifiable.

well, in this context no one is really "giving", it is there anyway and yours to decide if you just take it or pay for it. In a society where products are intentionally and willingly overproduced to maximize profit (while at the same time trying to dump wages and social securities), the moral boundaries on piracy and/or stealing are getting a bit hazy, at least in my opinion. Of course, the legal situation is pretty clear in most cases.