5 ms·

>no legal way at all to watch the vast majority of movies here. You could buy them.

by giarc 11y ago

terryf 11y ago
You'd think so, but unfortunately I can't, again, for some, I can, yes, but the selection is vastly reduced. Essentially, if you search for movie dvds on amazon and ship them to an US address with a US credit card, then the selection is at least 10x, if not 100x larger than when I try to buy them. Nevermind of course the time it takes to order things online and then have them ship the dvd, which I don't really want anyway, but fair enough, that's just convenience. So, the problem is not that I'm not wiling to pay for it, the problem is that nobody will take my money, because the movie studio hasn't signed a redistributor for that movie in my region.
jimbobimbo 11y ago
You could buy a localized version, which is not that same thing. Try watching a Schwarzenegger movie with a bad voice cast. :(
- jon-wood 11y ago
  As opposed to the man himself's amazing range.
  - pille 11y ago
    It doesn't matter how much of a hack any actor is, it's an order of magnitude more hacky when the soundtrack is dubbed into another language.
  - SeanDav 11y ago
    He does have a certain unique style that is all Arnie. "I'll be back" just does not carry the same impact when done in a non-Arnie voice.
  - jimbobimbo 11y ago
    He has a very unique manner of speech. Pretty much any significant actor does. Localized dubs lose all that.
  - marcoperaza 11y ago
    He might not hit many notes, but he hits them damn well. "Get down!" "Get down again!"
  - cm2187 11y ago
    Schwarzenegger without the thick Austrian accent isn't Schwarzenegger.
nommm-nommm 11y ago
Most of the time you can't. You can't buy something that's explicitly and on purpose not available for purchase in your country. That is the whole point. Even if you were to find someone willing to import American DVDs to Estonia, the movie studios have region code lockout codes on DVD players to prevent that!
- thaumasiotes 11y ago
  > Even if you were to find someone willing to import American DVDs to Estonia, the movie studios have region code lockout codes on DVD players to prevent that! So use a computer to play your DVDs. Region lockout works on the honor system.
  - DanBC 11y ago
    This sub thread is about legal ways to watch movies. People seem to be missing the fact that importing DVDs is not necessarily legal; and turning your DVD player to region free is arguably not legal (under the various "interfering with rights protections mechanisms" laws. To you and me "buying the DVD from some other region" is legit, while "pirate the movie" is less legit, but to the rights-holders there's not much difference. See, for example, this submission which is talking about rights holders asking Netflix to stop people buying content from a different country.
    - mirimir 11y ago
      Well then, if there are no legal ways to watch a movie, "pirating" is the only option, right? What possibilities remain? Should people take vacations to watch movies?
      - maccard 11y ago
        The "right" option is the same is at always has been - don't watch the movie. (Not saying I agree or disagree, just that it is an option)
mikekchar 11y ago
It wasn't all that long ago that it was impossible to legally get Japanese content in the US. They just wouldn't take your money. It wasn't until scanlators and fansubbers created a large market that the Japanese producers took foreign markets seriously. Even then, I have been told by reputable sources that companies like Viz used to pay about $1000 per volume with no royalties for North American English language rights to manga. Japanese producers just didn't believe it was worth any amount of money in foreign countries. Of course that has changed dramatically now. I'm hoping as we move to a global market with digital distribution, these dinosaur companies will realize that there is no risk to handling world wide distribution themselves. But it means killing the distributors (who were the businesses that helped you get that content when nobody else was listening...).

>no legal way at all to watch the vast majority of movies here. You could buy them.

by giarc 11y ago

>no legal way at all to watch the vast majority of movies here. You could buy them.

You'd think so, but unfortunately I can't, again, for some, I can, yes, but the selection is vastly reduced. Essentially, if you search for movie dvds on amazon and ship them to an US address with a US credit card, then the selection is at least 10x, if not 100x larger than when I try to buy them. Nevermind of course the time it takes to order things online and then have them ship the dvd, which I don't really want anyway, but fair enough, that's just convenience. So, the problem is not that I'm not wiling to pay for it, the problem is that nobody will take my money, because the movie studio hasn't signed a redistributor for that movie in my region.

jimbobimbo 11y ago

You could buy a localized version, which is not that same thing. Try watching a Schwarzenegger movie with a bad voice cast. :(

jon-wood 11y ago
As opposed to the man himself's amazing range.
- pille 11y ago
  It doesn't matter how much of a hack any actor is, it's an order of magnitude more hacky when the soundtrack is dubbed into another language.
- SeanDav 11y ago
  He does have a certain unique style that is all Arnie. "I'll be back" just does not carry the same impact when done in a non-Arnie voice.
- jimbobimbo 11y ago
  He has a very unique manner of speech. Pretty much any significant actor does. Localized dubs lose all that.
- marcoperaza 11y ago
  He might not hit many notes, but he hits them damn well. "Get down!" "Get down again!"
- cm2187 11y ago
  Schwarzenegger without the thick Austrian accent isn't Schwarzenegger.

nommm-nommm 11y ago

Most of the time you can't. You can't buy something that's explicitly and on purpose not available for purchase in your country. That is the whole point. Even if you were to find someone willing to import American DVDs to Estonia, the movie studios have region code lockout codes on DVD players to prevent that!

thaumasiotes 11y ago
> Even if you were to find someone willing to import American DVDs to Estonia, the movie studios have region code lockout codes on DVD players to prevent that! So use a computer to play your DVDs. Region lockout works on the honor system.
- DanBC 11y ago
  This sub thread is about legal ways to watch movies. People seem to be missing the fact that importing DVDs is not necessarily legal; and turning your DVD player to region free is arguably not legal (under the various "interfering with rights protections mechanisms" laws. To you and me "buying the DVD from some other region" is legit, while "pirate the movie" is less legit, but to the rights-holders there's not much difference. See, for example, this submission which is talking about rights holders asking Netflix to stop people buying content from a different country.
  - mirimir 11y ago
    Well then, if there are no legal ways to watch a movie, "pirating" is the only option, right? What possibilities remain? Should people take vacations to watch movies?
    - maccard 11y ago
      The "right" option is the same is at always has been - don't watch the movie. (Not saying I agree or disagree, just that it is an option)

mikekchar 11y ago

It wasn't all that long ago that it was impossible to legally get Japanese content in the US. They just wouldn't take your money. It wasn't until scanlators and fansubbers created a large market that the Japanese producers took foreign markets seriously. Even then, I have been told by reputable sources that companies like Viz used to pay about $1000 per volume with no royalties for North American English language rights to manga. Japanese producers just didn't believe it was worth any amount of money in foreign countries. Of course that has changed dramatically now. I'm hoping as we move to a global market with digital distribution, these dinosaur companies will realize that there is no risk to handling world wide distribution themselves. But it means killing the distributors (who were the businesses that helped you get that content when nobody else was listening...).