Two Las Vegas Men Plead Guilty in U.S. Criminal Streaming Piracy Case • Hacker News Board

Re: Two Las Vegas Men Plead Guilty in U.S. Criminal Streaming Piracy Case

#91

Post by criddell » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 5:09 PM UTC

mywittyname wrote: post #67

PeterStuer wrote: post #36

Services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video would be a lot more successful if only their catalogs in regions outside of the US would be comparable to their home turf. If US clients would have the tiny tiny catalogs they offer e.g. in most of Europe, you would also be scratching your head how this could ever justify the subscription cost.

Could you imagine how great these services would be if copyrighted works fell into the public domain after 28 years instead of the nearly 100 years they are now?

I think being not available through legal means should be a defense (something like fair-use) for any copyright infringement claim.

Re: Two Las Vegas Men Plead Guilty in U.S. Criminal Streaming Piracy Case

#92

Post by sekh60 » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 5:10 PM UTC

behringer wrote: post #77

jessaustin wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but in that case most current films would never have been made... or at least I got that distinct impression from MPAA.

Which films exactly took 28 years to turn a profit?

Given Hollywood accounting and the topic of piracy I would be surprised if any films made a profit since the dawn of the MPAA.

Re: Two Las Vegas Men Plead Guilty in U.S. Criminal Streaming Piracy Case

#93

Post by colejohnson66 » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 5:11 PM UTC

vkou wrote: post #26

firefoxd wrote: post #4

This might be a naive question but, why is the FBI the office in charge of enforcing copyright? Especially when it comes to entertainment. Why do we get an FBI warning on a cartoon's dvd?

Who else is going to do it? Your local municipal cops?

The person you’re “stealing” from?

Re: Two Las Vegas Men Plead Guilty in U.S. Criminal Streaming Piracy Case

#94

Post by rstupek » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 5:14 PM UTC

Pigo wrote: post #56

haunter wrote: post #13

It's cable TV all over again. The current streaming scene is not any better at all.

My mind is blown that these sites were actually getting paid subscribers. I thought the beauty of piracy is the whole "not paying for it" thing. I refuse to pay for more than one subscription service, I'm not going to end up paying more than I did for cable tv. Hulu still wins for me because it has the live/local tv, and I'm not giving Disney anymore money.

Doesn't Disney own Hulu now?

Re: Two Las Vegas Men Plead Guilty in U.S. Criminal Streaming Piracy Case

#95

Post by eikenberry » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 5:15 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #75

jessaustin wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but in that case most current films would never have been made... or at least I got that distinct impression from MPAA.

It is in their benefit to claim that, regardless of the truth of the statement. Why would one trust a biased party such as MPAA?

I believe they were being sarcastic. No one would take the MPAA's word on something like this, they have an obvious bias.

Re: Two Las Vegas Men Plead Guilty in U.S. Criminal Streaming Piracy Case

#96

Post by JustSomeNobody » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 5:20 PM UTC

slykar wrote: post #9

mapleoin wrote: post #2

So two programmers ran a streaming website bigger than Netflix from their garage?

I guess Netflix needs their developers for all the random UI changes nobody is asking for and some "unrelated recommendations" engine.

Does Netflix still have the “keep test”? If so, this might be why all the constant changes. If you’re not providing as much value as the next dev, you lose that well paying gig.

Re: Two Las Vegas Men Plead Guilty in U.S. Criminal Streaming Piracy Case

#97

Post by tenebrisalietum » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 5:34 PM UTC

criddell wrote: post #91

mywittyname wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you imagine how great these services would be if copyrighted works fell into the public domain after 28 years instead of the nearly 100 years they are now?

I think being not available through legal means should be a defense (something like fair-use) for any copyright infringement claim.

Unfortunately this either makes law or the notion of private property meaningless.

Re: Two Las Vegas Men Plead Guilty in U.S. Criminal Streaming Piracy Case

#98

Post by grammarxcore » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 5:36 PM UTC

PeterStuer wrote: post #36

Services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video would be a lot more successful if only their catalogs in regions outside of the US would be comparable to their home turf. If US clients would have the tiny tiny catalogs they offer e.g. in most of Europe, you would also be scratching your head how this could ever justify the subscription cost.

Frankly the cost in the US isn't necessarily worth it anymore. I've been a Netflix user since 2008/2009. Back when no one took VoD seriously, the catalogue was huge. You could actually get lost trying to find something because there was so much good content. Now, with every company attempting to cash in on their own platform, choices on a single platform are very, very limited. I've also noticed that many titles are shared between Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon so the illusion of choice is really just that.

I think original titles and foreign distribution (ie getting content from not your nation) are quickly becoming the only differences. That's what cable was when I moved away.

I have, quite honestly, consumed everything I'm incredibly interested in on the majors. None of them turn out originals fast enough to keep my interest and new/returning content comes in a trickle so I've recently turned to just buying old shows I like and watching those. It's just like the nineties/aughties all over but without the hope of what was then cable cutting.

Re: Two Las Vegas Men Plead Guilty in U.S. Criminal Streaming Piracy Case

#99

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 5:38 PM UTC

zaroth wrote: post #54

mapleoin wrote: post #2

So two programmers ran a streaming website bigger than Netflix from their garage?

The article has been updated to reflect that they had more content not more subscribers. > “Polo pitched his service to potential clients by pointing out that it offered more content than competing legal services such as Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, and Amazon Prime.” Total revenue was less than a couple million dollars.

[deleted]

Re: Two Las Vegas Men Plead Guilty in U.S. Criminal Streaming Piracy Case

#100

Post by vkou » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 5:41 PM UTC

colejohnson66 wrote: post #93

vkou wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who else is going to do it? Your local municipal cops?

The person you’re “stealing” from?

You want to give them the power to subpoena, the power to issue search warrants, and while we're at it, the power of pit and gallows?

Or are you trying to make copyright of consumer media unenforcible?

This isn't Billy downloading a movie. (Which is not a criminal offense.) This is two chaps running what is essentially a counterfitting ring. This is a problem for police to solve, not a civil issue.