The real reason they closed the api is because of Bateflix.com
It is easier to just pull up porn then watch a movie with some nudity and sex it but otherwise your site is great for porn discovery on Netflix, good job.
Retiring the Netflix Public API
71–79 of 79 posts
Re: Retiring the Netflix Public API
#72Seems like you could just watch the network for whatever those apps are doing and reverse engineer whatever remains of the API. You might not be able to build a business on that, but you can build your own apps for yourself, friends and your family that way.
Or easier:
If you're an EU citizen, just baksmali the Android App. As long as you don't copy code from their App decompiling is completely legal as per EU law there is no copyright on source code, but only on the implementation.
And for private use the API access will also be allowed.
Though I am not a lawyer, and this topic is still being discussed even in EU courts, so I wouldn't recommend using it for larger projects.
Re: Retiring the Netflix Public API
#73There is something here that I really don't understand. Why would they want to shut it down? With something like Twitter, I get it. In order to make money off their customers' use of Twitter's free service, they need to be in control of the customers' experience (so they can do things like show ads). So they pulled this intentional bait-and-switch where they screwed over the independent developers who had made Twitte…
Netflix over-complicates EVERYTHING. And not just because they are big business with a lot of crap to take care of. They do so because they want to have great up-time and slick services across as many devices as possible. Not just one browser and one run-time, like, every android device, every mobile device, every internet-connected game console.
And if you know anything about the way Netflix architects their dev process, you know about the Chaos Monkeys.
So I think, they just decided it was too much work to maintain, on top of everything else, with little feedback. And probably someone was abusing it as well, which equates to more work/maintenance.
Their Dos/Don'ts page shows they were pretty strict about usage of this 'open' api:
So I can totally imagine them thinking this was just too much work to maintain. Its a bit sad, yeah, but, there's not really much value it provided anyone in the first place, there's only so many things you can do with lists of movies owned by Netflix.
Re: Retiring the Netflix Public API
#74Does anyone here happen to know how Netflix is charged for content? Specifically, do they pay owners per viewing while they have a title licensed, or do they license get a license for unlimited customer uses? And, even if they do get rights for serving an unlimited number of viewings, do they have to supply the usage data to the content owners, who may use the information in future negotiations.
I ask, because it seems like these details would have pretty significant impact on Netflix's incentives for effective recommender systems and user portals. They would need to balance the satisfaction rates necessary for retention of subscribed customers with variable costs of serving content, especially recently released feature films.
Re: Retiring the Netflix Public API
#75I worked for Netflix in 2009 and 2010, first documenting the consumer API and helping out with things like oAuth, and later working on the original iPhone and Android apps, which ran inside a Web view using nothing but HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and the consumer API. (The morbidly curious should see "Mistakes I Made Building Netflix for the iPhone," at http://www.slideshare.net/kentbrew/mistakes-i-made-building-...)
At the time, Netflix didn't run on an API; the API had been retro-fitted onto Netflix. Even a simple thing like "please tell me the availability of all the discs in this season of this television series" took several calls and a fair amount of head scratching to accomplish. Every new device that came along got a slightly different version of the API, support was terribly difficult, and when we launched for PS3, Wii, iPhone, and Android, it became obvious that our own apps had to take precedence.
I am not surprised to see the Netflix consumer API shut down. This will, of course, result in rampant screen scraping and the creation of an unofficial Netflix API, which, when it breaks, will be all Netflix's fault.
Re: Retiring the Netflix Public API
#76Sadly, this marks the end of an era for me with Netflix. After an initial 'meh' experience with the DVD rental service when they first debuted, one of the things that really got my attention with them was their developer contest to create a better suggestion service. But it seems that working with the developer community now is a thing of the past for them. Sadly, I foresee more companies going that way.
Wbat is funny is that put up that bounty. It took a years to get a hit and then it got a crazy. What is also funny is before they killed that program, they actually implemented any of the techniques from people that won those contests.
Re: Retiring the Netflix Public API
#77Does anyone here happen to know how Netflix is charged for content? Specifically, do they pay owners per viewing while they have a title licensed, or do they license get a license for unlimited customer uses? And, even if they do get rights for serving an unlimited number of viewings, do they have to supply the usage data to the content owners, who may use the information in future negotiations. I ask, because it see…
Content owners are paid for unlimited viewings during a specific window of time. Here's a guide to how some of those windows work: http://www.vodprofessional.com/features/a-guide-to-pay-windo...
It's Byzantine, and must be renegotiated studio by studio and sometimes film by film.
Re: Retiring the Netflix Public API
#78R.I.P. NetflixItNow - a weekend hackathon Greasemonkey/Chrome extension that sent you an email when user-selected movies became available for streaming (not just disc delivery). Though the project was short lived, I am very sad that it is no longer possible to implement similar projects. Netflix API code (very simple): https://github.com/swanson/netflix-it-now/blob/master/check_... Video demo: https://www.youtube.com…
They indicate they plan to continue providing access to CanIStreamIt, and I believe that website provides that service.
Re: Retiring the Netflix Public API
#79Netflix just keeps creeping one tiny step at a time farther and farther away from the awesomeness that they once were. I used to love Netflix. I was a loving, loyal, evangelical customer and fan. Now I just find them somewhat useful. In the future, who knows?
Completely agree with the sentiment.