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Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

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Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#201
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why in my circle we set up the town pump plex server. Originally it was for streaming older movies (pre 1970) which you can't stream from any major service but the new era of fragmentation has drastically expanded it. We bought a retired datacenter rack and everyone contributes a few bucks a month to cover running costs. Then we have scripts scraping the top x movies/shows from torrent sites once a week and a…

> We bought a retired datacenter rack and everyone contributes a few bucks a month to cover running costs. Everyone does a bit of pirating here and there, and I think the media companies realize it's a cost of doing business. But something tells me they wouldn't look too fondly on an organised, multi-user pirated content distribution platform... Here in Canada there are some big chains (Best Buy, Staples) being sued…

You mean like popcorntime used to be ?

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We bought a retired datacenter rack and everyone contributes a few bucks a month to cover running costs. Everyone does a bit of pirating here and there, and I think the media companies realize it's a cost of doing business. But something tells me they wouldn't look too fondly on an organised, multi-user pirated content distribution platform... Here in Canada there are some big chains (Best Buy, Staples) being sued…

I somehow doubt that streaming platforms will finally be the ones to end piracy once and for all via lawsuits.

There's a difference between pirating something, and distributing pirated content, both ethically and legally.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#203
post #6

"May" drive them back? This has already happened in my circles.. People who had cut the cord but all but walked away from casual piracy and signed up for Netflix and HBO (and probably Prime Video because they had Amazon Prime already) are openly talking about the fact they're definitely not signing up for more streaming services, and are seeking out torrenting again for the stuff that's being pulled from Netflix (esp…

I think there is a model for rotating streaming provider. You can easily watch a year's worth of a provider's [good] content in 3 months. Just change provider every 3 months to a different one, then binge it all. Maybe a service that automatically deactivates your account at the best point in the billing-cycle? If you could do it without too much overlap you could actually do it on a monthly basis: Jan - Netflix Feb…

I end up doing this organically with HBO. When Westworld/Silicon Valley/Game of Thrones comes out I'll subscribe. But after that, there's usually only 1 new movie on there that I'm interested in so I cancel it.

Considering the actual compression quality of HBO is much worse than Netflix or Amazon and the app sucks to use, it seems like they don't have the resources at HBO to actually do streaming well.

Overall, it doesn't really seem like an efficient way to buy content for either them or me. It's like if a studio made their own DVD player.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#205
post #40

I watch movies once a week with a few friends. We have Netflix, Prime and 3 other smaller providers I can't recall the name of. We still have to look for 50% of the movies we want to watch "somewhere else". It's even worse because most providers geo lock their content. So the movie might be available on Netflix US but isn't on Netflix Spain, or it's available on prime but only in _foreign language_. When the movie is…

> or it's available on prime but only in _foreign language_

or it's only available in a dub.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#206
post #57
post #6

"May" drive them back? This has already happened in my circles.. People who had cut the cord but all but walked away from casual piracy and signed up for Netflix and HBO (and probably Prime Video because they had Amazon Prime already) are openly talking about the fact they're definitely not signing up for more streaming services, and are seeking out torrenting again for the stuff that's being pulled from Netflix (esp…

I agree. There is definitely a market for a streaming bundling service where you pay for a bundle and get subscribed to multiple services for some monthly fee which would be at a great discount to subscribing separately to each service.

I don't think Netflix and Disney will be too happy to hear that one customer is watching 100000 videos per day.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#207
which means what?

nothing, people who pirate stuff will always have an excuse to do so. don't kid yourself into believing they are paying for content out of the goodness of their heart. they are paying only because they don't have a consistent free means to get the same content.

so the next big fight will probably be someone trying to sell a service combining/bundling feeds and running into copy right issues and such. it might lead to an association of services but that depends on how fragmented the industry becomes.

if anything with many players it should drive sub costs down especially for players who have little to offer themselves. if not there will be a lot of industry suffering until they sort it out. consumers will likely stick with one or two providers at most

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#208

No shit. Valve worked out the key to combating piracy in the early 2000s. To quote Gaben himself: "We think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem. If a pirate offers a product anywhere in the world, 24 x 7, purchasable from the convenience of your personal computer, and the legal provider says the product is region-locked, will come to y…

Valve is right. I haven't pirated a single game since I started using Steam, and I have spent dollars on games I will never ever have time to play. There is no way I will subscribe to 10 different movie streaming services. I want it all in one client. If they want to charge me 50 dollars for the latest movies, so be it. I just want the convenience of one single source available 24x7 wherever I am. Until then, /r/usen…

Most everything is available on the streaming services now people are just going back to piracy again because they don't want to pay the aggregate cost of all the streaming services combined. Again it all just comes down to folks wanting unlimited everything from everywhere for $12.99/month.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#209
post #6

"May" drive them back? This has already happened in my circles.. People who had cut the cord but all but walked away from casual piracy and signed up for Netflix and HBO (and probably Prime Video because they had Amazon Prime already) are openly talking about the fact they're definitely not signing up for more streaming services, and are seeking out torrenting again for the stuff that's being pulled from Netflix (esp…

In my family it basically led to everyone subscribing to the services that interests them the most and sharing accounts. I subscribe to Youtube TV, Netflix and sometimes Shudder. I use HBO and Hulu from my family members.

Re: Too Many Video Streaming Choices May Drive Users Back To Piracy

#210
post #6

"May" drive them back? This has already happened in my circles.. People who had cut the cord but all but walked away from casual piracy and signed up for Netflix and HBO (and probably Prime Video because they had Amazon Prime already) are openly talking about the fact they're definitely not signing up for more streaming services, and are seeking out torrenting again for the stuff that's being pulled from Netflix (esp…

I agree with you here, to a degree. It seems the model of “one place” for all movies would be (and has been) a huge boon for viewers. But eventually I think that “one source” would become monopolistic, and we would see consumer abuse and degraded service. If you doubt it, Who would of thought anyone would abuse their monopoly on search? Or social? Or online retail? I guess I don’t know the best long term solution....
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