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TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

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Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#51
post #48

I really don't understand why people are surprised. If you don't have access to the file itself, you don't own it. "Buying" a movie on a platform or paying for a subscription service are both just paying for a revokable license to access a movie. You do not own it and access can be revoked at any time according to whatever platform's ToS. If you want to own an actual copy of a TV show or movie, buy the physical disc.…

Well, a subscription service is literally a subscription access, of course. If you buy an iTunes movie and keep the downloaded file (there is a single file), it works so long as you retain an iTunes account (it is DRM protected, that DRM is account-specific, NOT media-specific)

except i have some protected songs that i cant play because the provider went out of business

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#52
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last paragraph wasn't necessary to me; while I'm glad we have "if you can't pay I understand" -- but I also think that "if you can pay you always should" isn't nuanced enough? I imagine few of us want "cable all over again," but that's what it looks like we're headed toward? Offhand, I'd e.g. like to pay for individual shows. Let me pay $5 for Severance and I literally need nothing else from Apple TV.

You can already do that with Vudu/iTunes/Amazon (maybe not the $5 part but sales fire off frequently enough for tv shows if you keep your eye out on Slickdeals / CheapCharts etc)

Careful with Amazon.

I bought a ton of MP3 records off their platform over the years, and recently it all went to hell. I'll take responsibility for not downloading it all right away, but I still think their recent behavior was sketchy.

My mistake was listening to the music that I owned using Amazon's music player. I'd download it locally to whatever device I was using, but my collection was large enough that I rarely kept it all on my mobile devices. When they changed their subscription model for amazon music I no longer was able to stream my music that I had bought. I couldn't even download it on mobile. Zero explanation of what happened.

Instead I had to login on my desktop, and download tracks one by one. It was painfully slow and totally unintuitive.

Keep in mind this all happened without explanation as it relates to music you owned, but still resided on their servers. It was pretty clear that they wanted you to sign up for the new streaming service and we're making it hard to get to your music otherwise.

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#53
post #48

I really don't understand why people are surprised. If you don't have access to the file itself, you don't own it. "Buying" a movie on a platform or paying for a subscription service are both just paying for a revokable license to access a movie. You do not own it and access can be revoked at any time according to whatever platform's ToS. If you want to own an actual copy of a TV show or movie, buy the physical disc.…

Well, a subscription service is literally a subscription access, of course. If you buy an iTunes movie and keep the downloaded file (there is a single file), it works so long as you retain an iTunes account (it is DRM protected, that DRM is account-specific, NOT media-specific)

Apple has removed movies from accounts many times before (https://www.extremetech.com/internet/276982-apple-is-deletin...). As with HBO Max, it's entirely up to the producer's discretion

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#54
post #38

> For decades before the invention of the VCR, any TV show that aired on any given Tuesday night might never be available again,While I was doing research for The Encyclopedia of New York, I spoke with a curator at the Paley Center in New York about how to find out what aired on NBC in its earliest years as a TV broadcasting company and learned there was no way to watch any of it. There were no tapes. The only record…

I'd expect that there's a fair amount of local-release content that might not have surviving recordings. Individual episodes of things like local newscasts, public affairs shows, those weird weekend "lifestyle" shows where all the guests are local advertisers basically paying for a 10-minute ad spot. There might be a representative episode floating around, but does anyone necessarily have the December 16, 2007 episod…

You're probably right about that. But HBO shows? Those are surely all archived by the file sharers the article pretends don't exist.

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#55

I really don't understand why people are surprised. If you don't have access to the file itself, you don't own it. "Buying" a movie on a platform or paying for a subscription service are both just paying for a revokable license to access a movie. You do not own it and access can be revoked at any time according to whatever platform's ToS. If you want to own an actual copy of a TV show or movie, buy the physical disc.…

It’s hard to take things away from people and charge the same amount of money and not have a consumer friendly reason for doing it. Even casual access to programming content.

Customers don’t care about corporate mergers.

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#56
post #49

I am a pretty loyal HBO max customer, despite the troubles with the service. The content is just too good. I thought this would be about B-tier content. But Westworld? Arguably HBOs biggest hit since game of thrones? What are the MBAs looking at? It was bad enough that Westworld was not in 4K. Now that the White Lotus is over, maybe i should cancel

I was gonna watch west world the other day but found out it’s cancelled? :(

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#57
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you don't have access to the file itself, you don't own it. This isn't the full story either though. You can be in possession of a file that has a DRM encryption applied. If the service revokes you keys, that encrypted file in your possession is worthless. So, do you really own that file?

The "file" OP refers to is the encryption key. And, I will reiterate, if you don't have "the file" you don't have shit.

Also better make sure your device doesn't receive a software update that wipes out access in the future based on some arbitrary licensing decision.

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#58
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like I said, if the company isn't selling the movie/show anymore, well, what choice do you have?

Some people buy (rent?) videos and books, then download a DRM free copy from bittorrent.

Buying a legit copy doesn't make it legal to download a pirated/illegal copy, any more than buying a band's CD makes it legal to sneak into their concert without a ticket.

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#59

I really don't understand why people are surprised. If you don't have access to the file itself, you don't own it. "Buying" a movie on a platform or paying for a subscription service are both just paying for a revokable license to access a movie. You do not own it and access can be revoked at any time according to whatever platform's ToS. If you want to own an actual copy of a TV show or movie, buy the physical disc.…

> If you want to own an actual copy of a TV show or movie, buy the physical disc.

For the vast majority of new TV shows, that option simply doesn’t exist anymore. It’s been that way for a couple of years now. You can only hope to find a torrent in good enough quality.

Re: TV disappears, but HBO Max removing shows feels different

#60

DVD Netflix service (yes this service is still around, albeit the library a fleeting image of what it once was) has the first 3 seasons of Westworld on Bluray [1]. Hopefully they’ll have S4 soon as well. [1] https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Westworld/80066897

On that pan, are you able to filter your search by Blu-ray vs DVD?
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