5 ms·

Poland - 800 Videos. USA - 6000. And yet it's more expensive here. And that's without adjusting for typical income. I was excited when they launched, but it loo

by mnx 11y ago

Poland - 800 Videos. USA - 6000. And yet it's more expensive here. And that's without adjusting for typical income. I was excited when they launched, but it looks like I'm not going beyond the trial. And yet services like Spotify manage to both adjust prices, and offer comparable levels of service. I hope Netflix gets better.

nekopa 11y ago
Same here (Czech Republic). I have been on a kick to change my pirating ways, and go legit for most things, but this shows why it's hard at times. About 1/8th of the content for more money... Shame there are no open source alternatives for movies. (Most of my switching from piracy has been to open source software - Libre office, gimp, Inkscape, krita, audacity, Scribus, darktable etc. As I don't really play any games anymore it's been quite nice being on Linux full time instead of just through VMs)
- trunnell 11y ago
  Netflix engineer here. To the commenters above who are disappointed with their country's catalog and plan to cancel their trial: sorry to see you go, but we did the best we could for launch. We make sure canceling is easy, just go to the account page on the website. As you can imagine, buying the rights for titles in a new region is expensive, so we start off with a giant loss on the balance sheet. But as we get more members we'll be able to buy more content in each country. Here's a list of a few dozen big-name titles that are coming later this year [1]. So we hope you come back soon. About the patchwork availability - that's not what we want, it's just what was for sale. In the recent past the only buyers of TV shows were just buying for their own country - like country-wide TV networks. For each show, that left a random set of regions where the license was still available. We're trying to get global licenses for everything, so it'll gradually become consistent country-by-country. [1] https://pr.netflix.com/WebClient/loginPageSalesNetWorksAction.do?contentGroupId=10571&contentGroup=Premiere%20Dates https://pr.netflix.com/WebClient/loginPageSalesNetWorksActio... (sorry for the PR link but it's the most complete list of 2016 releases I could find)
  - dorfsmay 11y ago
    You should look at options for charging per movie/show. Then hopefully the copyright owner wouldn't care where the paying customer is living. I realise that a large portion of the public wouldn't pay for it, but I suspect there's a substantial market for it: A lot of people are still going to cinemas these, which I personally fail to understand, but it makes me think that a lot of people will pay per movie from the comfort of their home if charged at a reasonable price.
    - dorfsmay 11y ago
      What did I say that is worthy of downvotes?
    - samspenc 11y ago
      I don't understand why you were downvoted. I actually think this is a valid point. But: isn't that what Google Play and Apple's iTunes are doing already - pay per show / movie? How would Netflix differentiate itself by offering such a service?
      - dorfsmay 11y ago
        I suspect iTunes require an Apple device. As far as google Play (and Amazon) goes, I had assumed that they have a fairly restricted catalogue with only newer shows/movies, but will take a look.
      - icebraining 11y ago
        Not to mention that many TV providers already have their own movie rentals.
        dorfsmay 11y ago
        But you have to first pay for there basic service, and then their catalog is very restricted. The attraction of Netflix + VPN are the very significant catalog, and the price. I'm ready to pay a bit more, but basic cable fee + rental fee is not reasonable. Also, I do not want to sponsorise the garbage on basic cable.
- e12e 11y ago
  > Shame there are no open source alternatives for movies. I'm not quite sure I understand what "an open source alternatives for movies" would be, but as for open distribution, there's at least: http://vodo.net/ http://vodo.net/ Unsurprisingly, their catalog is not as impressive as Netflix US. But there are at least a couple of titles that are worth (IMNHO) checking out: http://vodo.net/joshbernhard/pioneerone/ http://vodo.net/joshbernhard/pioneerone/ http://vodo.net/vodo/stf/ http://vodo.net/vodo/stf/ (Steal This Film) Then there are of course a few other projects, like: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1282316546/c-299792-km-s https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1282316546/c-299792-km-...
samspenc 11y ago
Just a quick note from a U.S. subscriber (well, sometimes-subscriber, I subscribe a few months a year.) Netflix is usually good at expanding their content across the countries they service. I would not be surprised if they increased their content availability over the months and years across all the countries. Not being a Netflix apologist here, but I think you're eventually going to get to see more content.
- Freak_NL 11y ago
  I'm probably dropping my Netflix subscription when the VPN-route fails (seems to work for me now oddly enough). It is silly to expect customers outside of the US to pay a slightly higher subscription fee for a significantly smaller catalogue. The Netherlands hasn't got it as as bad as Poland, but still our catalogue is only half that of the US. I am willing to pay, and I understand that regional licensing is a complex topic, but I am often interested in the older films and series. It is great that Netflix is rolling out their own shows world-wide, but without the VPN-route it feels like I am subsidising a catalogue I cannot access myself.
- hackuser 11y ago
  > Netflix is usually good at expanding their content across the countries they service. I would not be surprised if they increased their content availability over the months and years across all the countries. Why pay now for a service that won't be sufficient for months or years? Netflix can try to sell to those customers again at that point, though some reputation and trust will have been lost.
rasz_pl 11y ago
Netflix has no chance in Poland, we have cda.pl. Want to watch The Martian? http://www.cda.pl/video/5378262f http://www.cda.pl/video/5378262f mad max? http://www.cda.pl/video/49320174 http://www.cda.pl/video/49320174 as an added bonus almost everything is nicely localized with subtitles and/or voice-over. cda.pl was already in court and won :)
- J_Darnley 11y ago
  Ha. I should investigate this a little more and see whether they lockout the rest of the EU. [EDIT] I just turn on JS and I can watch? Sounds more like youtube and hollywood movies before they get booted off by Big Copyright.
  - Strom 11y ago
    It's just another piracy site. It streams stuff downloaded from torrents, with zero respect towards the copyright holders.
    - chris_wot 11y ago
      Whilst I don't condone it, that's precisely what is going to keep occurring until markets are totally unlocked. Piracy and torrent trackers will continue to be effective until this sort of thing is freed up. Rights holders might not be happy about it, but then again people like myself, who don't pirate, aren't very happy about having to pay for multiple services just to watch content that we would be able to view if we lived in another country. Frankly, it pisses off a lot of people that nationality has anything to do with what we watch or have the opportunity to purchase. Why should being a U.S. citizen be more advantageous for viewing streaming content than being an Australian? This sort of thing pisses off people. It's often funny listening to those from the U.S. who say "So what? It's the law, just deal with it", when if they found they had the same treatment would probably complain just as loudly.
    - rasz_pl 11y ago
      not 'just another' http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/PL http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/PL #14 overall, higher than any other movie/video related website other than YT. http://www.wirtualnemedia.pl/artykul/najpopularniejsze-serwisy-tematyczne-w-styczniu-2015-roku http://www.wirtualnemedia.pl/artykul/najpopularniejsze-serwi... #4-5 entertainment
dudul 11y ago
Except that it has nothing to do with Netflix, more likely due to copyright/licensing regulation in your country.
- chris_wot 11y ago
  And nobody is blaming Netflix for the situation. But sadly for Netflix, their customers bypass the geoblocks, or they cancel their subscription with no judgement of Netflix and then pirate their content. Which has nothing to do with Netflix either :-) This means that Netflix had really better up their game in getting global licensing deals for their content.
tychuz 11y ago
Same here in Lithuania. I signed up for free tutorial and browsed their content - and it was basically empty. Confused browsed similar site - lo and behold - all tv series I wanted to watch were in US and not here in Lithuania. Netflix may have launched for the rest of the world, but the rest of the world still uses torrent trackers to watch TV series...

by mnx 11y ago

nekopa 11y ago

Same here (Czech Republic). I have been on a kick to change my pirating ways, and go legit for most things, but this shows why it's hard at times. About 1/8th of the content for more money... Shame there are no open source alternatives for movies. (Most of my switching from piracy has been to open source software - Libre office, gimp, Inkscape, krita, audacity, Scribus, darktable etc. As I don't really play any games anymore it's been quite nice being on Linux full time instead of just through VMs)

trunnell 11y ago
Netflix engineer here. To the commenters above who are disappointed with their country's catalog and plan to cancel their trial: sorry to see you go, but we did the best we could for launch. We make sure canceling is easy, just go to the account page on the website. As you can imagine, buying the rights for titles in a new region is expensive, so we start off with a giant loss on the balance sheet. But as we get more members we'll be able to buy more content in each country. Here's a list of a few dozen big-name titles that are coming later this year [1]. So we hope you come back soon. About the patchwork availability - that's not what we want, it's just what was for sale. In the recent past the only buyers of TV shows were just buying for their own country - like country-wide TV networks. For each show, that left a random set of regions where the license was still available. We're trying to get global licenses for everything, so it'll gradually become consistent country-by-country. [1] https://pr.netflix.com/WebClient/loginPageSalesNetWorksAction.do?contentGroupId=10571&contentGroup=Premiere%20Dates https://pr.netflix.com/WebClient/loginPageSalesNetWorksActio... (sorry for the PR link but it's the most complete list of 2016 releases I could find)
- dorfsmay 11y ago
  You should look at options for charging per movie/show. Then hopefully the copyright owner wouldn't care where the paying customer is living. I realise that a large portion of the public wouldn't pay for it, but I suspect there's a substantial market for it: A lot of people are still going to cinemas these, which I personally fail to understand, but it makes me think that a lot of people will pay per movie from the comfort of their home if charged at a reasonable price.
  - dorfsmay 11y ago
    What did I say that is worthy of downvotes?
  - samspenc 11y ago
    I don't understand why you were downvoted. I actually think this is a valid point. But: isn't that what Google Play and Apple's iTunes are doing already - pay per show / movie? How would Netflix differentiate itself by offering such a service?
    - dorfsmay 11y ago
      I suspect iTunes require an Apple device. As far as google Play (and Amazon) goes, I had assumed that they have a fairly restricted catalogue with only newer shows/movies, but will take a look.
    - icebraining 11y ago
      Not to mention that many TV providers already have their own movie rentals.
      - dorfsmay 11y ago
        But you have to first pay for there basic service, and then their catalog is very restricted. The attraction of Netflix + VPN are the very significant catalog, and the price. I'm ready to pay a bit more, but basic cable fee + rental fee is not reasonable. Also, I do not want to sponsorise the garbage on basic cable.
e12e 11y ago
> Shame there are no open source alternatives for movies. I'm not quite sure I understand what "an open source alternatives for movies" would be, but as for open distribution, there's at least: http://vodo.net/ http://vodo.net/ Unsurprisingly, their catalog is not as impressive as Netflix US. But there are at least a couple of titles that are worth (IMNHO) checking out: http://vodo.net/joshbernhard/pioneerone/ http://vodo.net/joshbernhard/pioneerone/ http://vodo.net/vodo/stf/ http://vodo.net/vodo/stf/ (Steal This Film) Then there are of course a few other projects, like: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1282316546/c-299792-km-s https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1282316546/c-299792-km-...

samspenc 11y ago

Just a quick note from a U.S. subscriber (well, sometimes-subscriber, I subscribe a few months a year.) Netflix is usually good at expanding their content across the countries they service. I would not be surprised if they increased their content availability over the months and years across all the countries. Not being a Netflix apologist here, but I think you're eventually going to get to see more content.

Freak_NL 11y ago
I'm probably dropping my Netflix subscription when the VPN-route fails (seems to work for me now oddly enough). It is silly to expect customers outside of the US to pay a slightly higher subscription fee for a significantly smaller catalogue. The Netherlands hasn't got it as as bad as Poland, but still our catalogue is only half that of the US. I am willing to pay, and I understand that regional licensing is a complex topic, but I am often interested in the older films and series. It is great that Netflix is rolling out their own shows world-wide, but without the VPN-route it feels like I am subsidising a catalogue I cannot access myself.
hackuser 11y ago
> Netflix is usually good at expanding their content across the countries they service. I would not be surprised if they increased their content availability over the months and years across all the countries. Why pay now for a service that won't be sufficient for months or years? Netflix can try to sell to those customers again at that point, though some reputation and trust will have been lost.

rasz_pl 11y ago

Netflix has no chance in Poland, we have cda.pl. Want to watch The Martian? http://www.cda.pl/video/5378262f http://www.cda.pl/video/5378262f mad max? http://www.cda.pl/video/49320174 http://www.cda.pl/video/49320174 as an added bonus almost everything is nicely localized with subtitles and/or voice-over. cda.pl was already in court and won :)

J_Darnley 11y ago
Ha. I should investigate this a little more and see whether they lockout the rest of the EU. [EDIT] I just turn on JS and I can watch? Sounds more like youtube and hollywood movies before they get booted off by Big Copyright.
- Strom 11y ago
  It's just another piracy site. It streams stuff downloaded from torrents, with zero respect towards the copyright holders.
  - chris_wot 11y ago
    Whilst I don't condone it, that's precisely what is going to keep occurring until markets are totally unlocked. Piracy and torrent trackers will continue to be effective until this sort of thing is freed up. Rights holders might not be happy about it, but then again people like myself, who don't pirate, aren't very happy about having to pay for multiple services just to watch content that we would be able to view if we lived in another country. Frankly, it pisses off a lot of people that nationality has anything to do with what we watch or have the opportunity to purchase. Why should being a U.S. citizen be more advantageous for viewing streaming content than being an Australian? This sort of thing pisses off people. It's often funny listening to those from the U.S. who say "So what? It's the law, just deal with it", when if they found they had the same treatment would probably complain just as loudly.
  - rasz_pl 11y ago
    not 'just another' http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/PL http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/PL #14 overall, higher than any other movie/video related website other than YT. http://www.wirtualnemedia.pl/artykul/najpopularniejsze-serwisy-tematyczne-w-styczniu-2015-roku http://www.wirtualnemedia.pl/artykul/najpopularniejsze-serwi... #4-5 entertainment

dudul 11y ago

Except that it has nothing to do with Netflix, more likely due to copyright/licensing regulation in your country.

chris_wot 11y ago
And nobody is blaming Netflix for the situation. But sadly for Netflix, their customers bypass the geoblocks, or they cancel their subscription with no judgement of Netflix and then pirate their content. Which has nothing to do with Netflix either :-) This means that Netflix had really better up their game in getting global licensing deals for their content.

tychuz 11y ago

Same here in Lithuania. I signed up for free tutorial and browsed their content - and it was basically empty. Confused browsed similar site - lo and behold - all tv series I wanted to watch were in US and not here in Lithuania. Netflix may have launched for the rest of the world, but the rest of the world still uses torrent trackers to watch TV series...