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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

#451

Post by kerkeslager »

lozaning wrote: post #382
kerkeslager wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You have no idea how utterly janky Plex and torrenting is. Compare these experiences: 1. Search Netflix. Discover it's not there. 2. Search Amazon. Discover they have it, but it's not available for free as part of your subscription. 3. Search Hulu. Leave Hulu, because it's not there. 4. Finally go back to Amazon and rent the movie, not sure why you're paying for Prime if you still have to pay on top of that for hal…

Your step 1 should really be, spend enough time on the internet to gain enough clout to get invited to a private tracker, and then maintain your seed ratio so you dont get kicked off. Otherwise if you're downloading stuff off the pirate bay it's either going to get you nailed pretty quickly for IP infringement, or you'll end up with fake files and a virus thats labeled as a codec you need to install. Running a VPN or…

> Otherwise if you're downloading stuff off the pirate bay it's either going to get you nailed pretty quickly for IP infringement

I don't know much about private trackers because I don't actually torrent illegally (I pretty much only use torrents to seed Linux distros). But I'm skeptical "getting nailed" is actually much of a concern. I had a roommate not long ago who torrented illegally quite frequently. The only reason we know it was happening is we'd receive love letters from the ISP every few weeks, and while I suspect I know who was doing it, I'm not 100% sure. As far as I know there were never any consequences beyond that.

> you'll end up with fake files and a virus thats labeled as a codec you need to install

I am pretty skeptical that this is as common as you think it is. Certainly the kind of naive person who is installing codecs that unexpectedly were packaged with their files is not going to have an easy time on any part of the internet. And if you're using a site like EZTV the chances of this approach negligible.

> Running a VPN or seedbox or any of the other numerous things to get around this (usenet is my own weapon of choice) results in what may be for you and I an easy or even fun activity, but not for my sisters kid or whatever.

I use NordVPN (again, not for illegally torrenting--I originally got it for testing internationalization, but nowadays mostly use it because it's a middle ground between the privacy of Tor and the speed of un-proxied internet). The toolbar icon makes it pretty easy. I suspect the main barrier here would be even knowing that VPNs exist and wanting to pay for it, not actually using a VPN service once you have it.

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

#452

Post by Benji_San »

StavrosK wrote: post #265
lostgame wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> torrenting is pretty effortless compared to figuring out which streaming service what you want to watch is on, figuring out how to get that, evaluating other content it has trying to justify the price, figuring out how to use it, and figuring out how to get it to your TV Damn. You just nailed this. In fact, hearing it this way makes me confused as to why anyone would ever use a streaming service to start. I live i…

Can you not just do that now with Google Movies or whatnot?

"Voice and subtitles not available in your language" For literally the first recommended film on Google play movies. Scroll through it a little bit and it seems like original languages are not available, closed captions are never available and the only subs available is not my preferred language (google also warns me for this).

This is ridiculously often the usual experience outside the US, if the content is legally available at all... Or I can just torrent the same content with my desired subs/dubs or buy a game on steam an play it in my desired language...

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

#453

Post by fragsworth »

tombert wrote: post #279
AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #159

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…

I've said this for years. Piracy, in many cases, offers a superior product to streaming. If I go to ThePirateBay, I'm virtually guaranteed to find whatever movie I'm looking for, in 1080p (or even 4k nowadays) quality, without any DRM, which can then be easily streamed from Plex or Emby on any of my devices with no regards to regions, often with more options for subtitles and audio tracks (if you're watching anime).…

> It has nearly any song I'm looking for

Why has Spotify/Apple Music been able to accomplish this while TV/movie services can't?

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

#454

Post by zzzcpan »

CivilianZero wrote: post #449

I really have to ask: Is everyone in the comments apart of an organized troll? Because I feel like I’ve lost my mind reading most of these comments. It seems like everyone here thinks torrenting is as easy and simple as using streaming services actually is, and that streaming is as complicated as torrenting actually is. I used to torrent stuff all the time. Constantly. I have several HDs laying around filled with tor…

> It seems like everyone here thinks torrenting is as easy and simple as using streaming services actually is, and that streaming is as complicated as torrenting actually is.

Would be weird if people here didn't find torrenting easy and simple. And depending where you get your torrents from, it could be significantly easier than streaming.

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

#455

Post by tombert »

fragsworth wrote: post #453
tombert wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've said this for years. Piracy, in many cases, offers a superior product to streaming. If I go to ThePirateBay, I'm virtually guaranteed to find whatever movie I'm looking for, in 1080p (or even 4k nowadays) quality, without any DRM, which can then be easily streamed from Plex or Emby on any of my devices with no regards to regions, often with more options for subtitles and audio tracks (if you're watching anime).…

> It has nearly any song I'm looking for Why has Spotify/Apple Music been able to accomplish this while TV/movie services can't?

This is speculation on my end, but I'm assuming it has to do with TV and Movies being more expensive to produce and therefore more expensive to license?

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

#456

Post by pmiller2 »

jpetrucc wrote: post #163

Is this the final state of attempting to maximize profits? It feels like it's converging back towards the cable model [0]. Especially now with ad-supported streaming plans on Hulu [1] and increasingly more and more service exclusives [2] (same site as OP). Streaming services are slowly but surely becoming cable "Channels"/"Packages" now, and of course that's going to increase piracy - we've seen it happen before. If…

Considering the average streaming service cost is a $12-15 subscription, once you start subscribing to 2-4+ of those, the cost becomes comparable to basic cable. Welcome to a la carte cable.

More precisely, I would say it's the balkanization of streaming services that's the real problem. If I could sign up for one service that offered everything I wanted to watch, on demand, for $50, I'd consider that. Now, Disney stuff is on the Disney service, some shows are on Netflix, others on Hulu, and a few on Amazon. On top of that, you have to consider that all the major TV streaming services also produce their own content, which is exclusive to their services and not licensed elsewhere. Even keeping track of what's on what service is a chore.

My personal compromise has been to use Prime Video and Netflix, because I already subscribe to Amazon Prime, anyway, and Netflix is a good incremental add. But, I don't want 5 subscription services and to have to keep track of what's on what service. It's bad enough with 2.

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

#457

Post by fragsworth »

tombert wrote: post #455
fragsworth wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It has nearly any song I'm looking for Why has Spotify/Apple Music been able to accomplish this while TV/movie services can't?

This is speculation on my end, but I'm assuming it has to do with TV and Movies being more expensive to produce and therefore more expensive to license?

Speculation here too, maybe it has something to do with very little willingness to put up with missing songs from users, while it's somewhat acceptable to go to another site to watch a new show?

I haven't wrapped my head around how this could influence the creators and services enough to work together, though.

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

#458

Post by pmiller2 »

Qwertystop wrote: post #267

> “Consumers want choice — but only up to a point,” said Kevin Westcott, Deloitte vice chairman and U.S. telecom and media and entertainment leader, who oversees the study. “We may be entering a time of ‘subscription fatigue.'” Missing the point hard here. To the degree that "consumers want choice", I would expect the choice they want is the choice of media, not the choice of subscription services. People don't subsc…

Bingo.

I don't want to keep track of what's on what platform, or pay $12-15/month for 5 different services. I would much rather pay ~$50/month for one service that had everything I wanted to watch on it, alongside some kind of good mechanism for content discovery (both recommendations, and search).

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

#459

Post by switch007 »

fragmede wrote: post #447
switch007 wrote: post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh Come on, it’s the second result on google for “Plex reddit”.

Sure, but unless you use Reddit on a regular basis, why would you even consider adding "reddit" to the search query? To be fair, just searching for "plex" does return Reddit results, though not on the first page (for me anyway, Google personalizes search results). It's no longer the Wild West of Internet, and it turns out information doesn't want to be free, it wants to live in invite-only areas who's members are vet…

Let me turn it around: who are you trying to hide it from?

Anyone with a tiny bit of Internet knowledge is going to know how big a site Reddit is (#6 on Alexa for the US).

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

#460

Post by drdeadringer »

criddell wrote: post #381
gbear605 wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another good option is your local library system. They almost certainly have the dvd, and for free too.

Doesn't Netflix still do DVDs by mail? That might be a good option as well.

Yes they do. I am a Netflix DVD-by-mail customer.
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