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I'm done with Google

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Re: I'm done with Google

#161

Post by deelly »

gorgoiler wrote: post #147
usui wrote: post #16

> So I pirate the movie (please don't arrest me, it's google's fault) I really like the frank tone of the article and I wish people in general would just write unabashedly more often when it comes to stuff like this. Writers online love to dance around the idea of "pirating" their digital goods when communicating on the topic: "Ooh my 'friend' may or may not have downloaded 'xyz' movie from 'abc' website, but I don't…

If you pirate something for which you’ve already bought a license, is it even pirating? If the license is for a particular set of bits then unless you are pirating those exact bits I guess so. You licensed Lemonade.drm.mp4 so downloading Lemonade.mp3 is pirating. But then again it’s not pirating to re encode your audio files once you’ve downloaded them. So I feel more confident in saying it’s not the bits that are li…

> for which you’ve already bought a license...

Bought a temporary license to use/read/watch. Its not like you bought a digital file. Nope.

Re: I'm done with Google

#162

Post by silisili »

jsnell wrote: post #152
silisili wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the current system where Google plays lame duck, sure. But all G has to do is say 'yeah if you want us to feature your content, you must agree to X' With 90% of the search market, half of phones, and who knows what percentage of the smartTV market, they could institute a death sentence to those they wanted to. IF they wanted to.

So just to be clear, you're suggesting that Google use threats of blocking content providers from their other products, to strong-arm them into better licensing terms? There's a reason they don't do that, in any business. How do you think e.g. anti-trust regulators would feel about that?

Perhaps I wasn't clear, apologies. Not other products. Google is a video seller and distributor. They have a right to decide what terms they like or don't, just as Walmart does.

As a seller of widget X, there's no way I'd accept a product with a license that says they could just take it back anytime for any reason. No sane seller should agree to that.

Re: I'm done with Google

#163

Post by FullMetalBitch »

_cenw wrote: post #68
LAC-Tech wrote: post #46

I still pirate movies - despite being able to afford them now - just because the experience is so much more pleasant. There's a file, you can open a file with the media player. Simple. No crapware, no phoning home to the internet. Feel zero guilt about it.

Unfortunately it looks like the kind of person who prefers a file over an app with a magical cloud is becoming more and more rare as apps erode the very notion of such concepts. It's like trying to explain to your aunt that "the fediverse is like email" when email itself might as well be a Google service for most people.

I remember reading an article about younger generations not knowing what a file is (or a folder).

Re: I'm done with Google

#164

Post by verisimi »

JodieBenitez wrote: post #101
yellow_lead wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even a hardcore pirate like me tried to do the right thing when it comes to music - I got Spotify. But when I moved to Taiwan, I tried to switch my payment location to get regional pricing and they refuse to accept my Taiwan debit card. Now I pirate music or use Vanced (YouTube).

> Even a hardcore pirate like me tried to do the right thing when it comes to music - I got Spotify. This is not the right thing to do. Spotify is peanuts to artists. If you want to do the right thing, buy music at Bandcamp: you get files you can keep forever and artists get a fair share of your money.

Yes you're taking peanuts from the artists and sacks of peanuts from the music corporations, that provide.. er, promotion, a contract, and own the rights to the music the artist created.

Although it is true artists do get something, the lion's share goes to the music corporation.

Re: I'm done with Google

#165

Post by josteink »

gundamdoubleO wrote: post #10

I'm always reminded of Gabe Newell's quote on piracy[1]: >Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem And by in large I still agree with it. For me I've only ever turned to piracy when the legitimate service has become a complete mess of red tape and user frustration. [1] https://www.escapistmagazine.com/valves-gabe-newell-says-pir...

> And by in large I still agree with it. For me I've only ever turned to piracy when the legitimate service has become a complete mess of red tape and user frustration.

I think service quality is an issue too, at least for me.

Recently I wanted to rewatch Twin Peaks on TV. I found out I can stream it on Sky Showtime, which also has an AppleTV app. Sounds great!

I sign up, pay the cash and start watching.

And they are sending me a 1080p video stream with stereo audio.

This show has 5.1 and 7.1 DTS-MA audio-mixes on Blu-ray, so official surround-mixes definitely exists.

It would have perhaps cost Showtime 200kbps extra to offer me a 5.1 AC3 track?

But instead they will nickel and dime me to save some measly amounts of bandwidth and only give me a 128kbps stereo-track.

I’ll be honest and admit I went out and downloaded a “proper” release for this instead, and the subscription is now cancelled.

Because the service quality was not on par with a pirated alternative.

Re: I'm done with Google

#166

Post by sircastor »

I rip physical media to a reasonable quality and put it on my NAS. I try to add subtitles to it. I don’t mind paying for it, but if I’m going to buy a movie I expect to be able to watch it. It should be easy, portable, and fail safe.

Re: I'm done with Google

#167

Post by BoardsOfCanada »

di4na wrote: post #73
silisili wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With all due respect, I feel like Google is large enough to refuse to be told what to do. If they really cared...

No they are not. The courts have been swift and merciless on this shit for music, video and similar things. Google may seem big but they do depends on the law still.

The whole music industry's yearly revenue is less than two months of Google's revenue, so I'm sure there is a way.

Re: I'm done with Google

#168

Post by [deleted] »

magic_hamster wrote: post #109
vincentkriek wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is true for the majority of people, and I think music streaming is the example of this. I know almost no people who still pirate music, everyone has spotify. The competition between services (tidal, deezer) seems to be fought over music quality and some minor exclusives but the majority of the music collection is shared over services.

I don't have Spotify. And I never will. I don't like depending on subscription services. There are satisfactory alternatives (I find pre-compiled YouTube sets to work well) but having a local copy has always been a priority for me, and I don't see it changing any time soon.

[deleted]

Re: I'm done with Google

#169

Post by usui »

notpushkin wrote: post #125
usui wrote: post #16

> So I pirate the movie (please don't arrest me, it's google's fault) I really like the frank tone of the article and I wish people in general would just write unabashedly more often when it comes to stuff like this. Writers online love to dance around the idea of "pirating" their digital goods when communicating on the topic: "Ooh my 'friend' may or may not have downloaded 'xyz' movie from 'abc' website, but I don't…

> Spytify records the same quality that Spotify outputs But it's still doing bad transcoding. It's like taking a screenshot of a JPEG photo: if you save it, you end up with more artifacts. I'd just use one of the numerous Deezer downloaders – they decrypt the actual audio stream, and the input quality is just as good.

Yes that's a fair criticism. I still want to use Spotify for discovery, and I'm not an audiophile, so the quality ends up being sufficient for me.

Re: I'm done with Google

#170

Post by codethief »

RockRobotRock wrote: post #40
yellow_lead wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even a hardcore pirate like me tried to do the right thing when it comes to music - I got Spotify. But when I moved to Taiwan, I tried to switch my payment location to get regional pricing and they refuse to accept my Taiwan debit card. Now I pirate music or use Vanced (YouTube).

Between iTunes and Bandcamp, it's very easy to buy DRM free music (most of the time). In the streaming era, its basically impossible to buy TV shows and movies without DRM.

> Between iTunes and Bandcamp

…and, if I may add, shops like https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/shop , which fill the gap of providing HQ downloads of popular music that cannot be found on Bandcamp. I have to admit I haven't used them in years (ever since I got a Spotify account) but they used to be my go-to place for purchasing FLACs.

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