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Maybe the harm will be realized in the long run, when you want to watch something that is no longer available? For example, the Netflix library changes every n

Maybe the harm will be realized in the long run, when you want to watch something that is no longer available? For example, the Netflix library changes every now and then (at least that I've been able to detect), and there's more than one show that I can no longer watch anymore that I wish I could. That to me is harmful because I don't really know when this happens until I search for it and it's no longer there. So I end up buying DVDs of shows/movies I really would like to re-watch in the future just so I can avoid Netflix's listing changes. I guess the argument is that if there were no DRM I could download those shows I like the most and watch them at anytime, regardless of whether Netflix wants me to or not. Not sure about the reasons for others to consider DRM harmful (or not), but this one to me is really important and would love to have a DRM-free alternative besides pirating (due to inconvenience mainly, and due to general concern for downloading stuff that might not be what it supposedly should be). However this looks like wishful thinking at best, as time goes by and DRM is pushed further.

holon 9y ago
Netflix announces which content will be added/removed months ahead of time. The decision to remove content is driven primarily by the principal right holders - Netflix is largely just "leasing" the shows that it presents (hence the company's shift to producing its own content). To present it as a decision solely made by Netflix grossly underestimates the contractual complexity and involved parties responsible for turning a screenplay into something you can stream in 4K, all of whom have ownership stakes to lesser or greater degrees.
- saganus 9y ago
  I didn't mean to imply that shows got delisted at the sole discretion of Netflix. I understand that it's a complex decision with multiple stakeholders, and would even like to think that Netflix benefits the most from NOT delisting shows (i.e. they are on "my" side). I was merely trying to point out that whoever decides what gets delisted (in this case for the sake of simplicity I said Netflix), has control over what I will be able to watch instead of me.

holon 9y ago

Netflix announces which content will be added/removed months ahead of time. The decision to remove content is driven primarily by the principal right holders - Netflix is largely just "leasing" the shows that it presents (hence the company's shift to producing its own content). To present it as a decision solely made by Netflix grossly underestimates the contractual complexity and involved parties responsible for turning a screenplay into something you can stream in 4K, all of whom have ownership stakes to lesser or greater degrees.

saganus 9y ago
I didn't mean to imply that shows got delisted at the sole discretion of Netflix. I understand that it's a complex decision with multiple stakeholders, and would even like to think that Netflix benefits the most from NOT delisting shows (i.e. they are on "my" side). I was merely trying to point out that whoever decides what gets delisted (in this case for the sake of simplicity I said Netflix), has control over what I will be able to watch instead of me.