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Everyone Is Stealing TV

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Re: Everyone Is Stealing TV

#41
post #4

I too got tired of paying so much for TV so I canceled and just stopped watching it. I find the attitude that one is entitled to entertainment media fascinating. People like to say that it’s not stealing because there is no physical product the producer is being deprived of, which is factually true, but even so why are you entitled to it at no cost? NFL games aren’t water or food.

I watch cable TV only in hotels and it is infuriating. Almost every channel has 5 min long ad breaks. It’s almost impossible to watch anything since you’re constantly switching channels. I don’t remember it being this bad when I was a kid.

Re: Everyone Is Stealing TV

#42
post #34
post #4

I too got tired of paying so much for TV so I canceled and just stopped watching it. I find the attitude that one is entitled to entertainment media fascinating. People like to say that it’s not stealing because there is no physical product the producer is being deprived of, which is factually true, but even so why are you entitled to it at no cost? NFL games aren’t water or food.

I don't think people feel entitled to free entertainment, they're just tired of being so badly ripped off. It used to be that you'd pay one company a little extra, and get all the extra channels you actually wanted. Now you pay multiple companies _a lot_ extra, and still might miss out on what you want. Many people still remember the original deal.

Yes, I remember when Netflix was going to "save" us all from the cable company.

When there is only one streaming service, being subscribed to that streaming service means you get everything. Now there are 15 different ones to choose from, each licensed to show a different set of content.

Watching NHL hockey in Canada is a strange situation right now, but I'm not sure how it compares to the original cable situation.

Re: Everyone Is Stealing TV

#43
post #4

I too got tired of paying so much for TV so I canceled and just stopped watching it. I find the attitude that one is entitled to entertainment media fascinating. People like to say that it’s not stealing because there is no physical product the producer is being deprived of, which is factually true, but even so why are you entitled to it at no cost? NFL games aren’t water or food.

That's because we do feel entitled to it. This century is the first in human history where people in power have decided that once something is created it's IP that belongs to the creator for well over a hundred years and maybe even forever.

Frankly, IP should last 7 years, 14 at the most.

Why are we paying for Alf year after year, decade after decade?

Why are we required to pay for stuff while also being advertised to and having our data sold?

Now when you do buy something, you're buying a revokable license you can't even buy it and own it.

We'll if buying isn't ownership, then pirating it isn't stealing it. Plain and simple.

Re: Everyone Is Stealing TV

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In some areas, you can 'pirate' live TV directly from the sky! You need this thing called an 'antenna' which captures invisible radio waves and decodes them into a picture with audio. You can't pause or rewind, and you have to be in front of the TV at specific times, so it is not precis the same, but you can access TV this way.

It's not piracy if the people who have the rights to the content are distributing it like that.

ATSC 3 will fix that loophole.

Re: Everyone Is Stealing TV

#46
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> went around and made exclusive deals and forced us back into the same monthly amounts I've said this for years but most people probably don't watch more than 2 streamers / month every month. Pay for one month at a time and be pleasantly surprised at how many months you don't pay for 1 or more that you're paying for now.

Made me think, is there an opportunity to build a management layer for this? Handle subscribing and cancelling automatically when you want to watch certain things? Would probably be blocked pretty fast but amusing to think about.

[dead]

Re: Everyone Is Stealing TV

#48
post #4

I too got tired of paying so much for TV so I canceled and just stopped watching it. I find the attitude that one is entitled to entertainment media fascinating. People like to say that it’s not stealing because there is no physical product the producer is being deprived of, which is factually true, but even so why are you entitled to it at no cost? NFL games aren’t water or food.

Information wants to be free. All gatekeepers of information are ontologically evil. Aaron Swartz was a saint and he'd smile on current GenAI systems.

Re: Everyone Is Stealing TV

#49
post #31

Even now living in the states, I cannot comprehend how someone can end up paying hundreds of dollars a month for tv streaming. Can someone enlighten me?

Live TV streaming such as Youtube TV is just cable TV packaged as an internet streaming service which costs something like $80 USD per month. In addition you have a $10-20+ Netflix subscription, Disney+/Hulu, Paramount, HBO etc. All that on top of your $50-$100+/month internet service. I know people spending over 250/month on multiple streaming services.
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