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DRM, lock-ins etc. are a problem for sure, but this is a narrow view. It's disingenous to depict torrents ("download a pirated movie") as a problems-free, conv
by pizza234 9y ago
DRM, lock-ins etc. are a problem for sure, but this is a narrow view.
It's disingenous to depict torrents ("download a pirated movie") as a problems-free, conventient, alternative, since there is a certain set of associated problems.
There is malware lingering at each page. The movies are typically in english. Torrents may be very slow at certain times. Subtitles needs to be searched, generally separately, and generally, are available only in english. Subtitles may even be malware (happened a few times to me).
For a part of the audience, using torrents is worth the compromise, but it's not the very convenient and generic option that is generally depicted.
In addition, most of the people I know switched to streaming long ago; those who are willing to pay, use Netflix, the other ones, use streaming websites.
- jonknee 9y ago> There is malware lingering at each page. The movies are typically in english. Torrents may be very slow at certain times. Subtitles needs to be searched, generally separately, and generally, are available only in english. Subtitles may even be malware (happened a few times to me). These problems are [mostly] solved for private trackers. It always amazes me that a group of volunteers can do a better job than huge companies that are dedicated to the same thing. I'd love to be able to pay for stuff with the same ease of use as a good private tracker.
- chx 9y agoThere is not always a company dedicated to this thing. There is a private tracker where the three most popular torrents are the following: Andrei Tarkovsky Stalker, Chris Marker L'héritage de la chouette , Louis Malle Le feu follet AKA The Fire Within. Tens of thousands of movies, series etc you'd have serious trouble obtaining with money. The second Vernay adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo from 1954 is considered perhaps the truest to the book but it is impossible to get hold of, especially in any digital format. It seems there was a VHS edition in 1988 and Amazon.fr occasionally has third party sellers selling them. Or you can torrent it. Vernay himself is dead for 40 years, Marais only 19 years -- but of course the movie is now over 60 years old. I do not lose much sleep over "stealing" it. I am sure everyone on that tracker has similar stories. Edit: I am so wrong! Apparently in 2015 a German publisher made a DVD out of it! I am off to amazon.de to purchase it. I haven't checked the last few years because it seemed rather futile. This time Hackernews served as a rubber duck for debugging, sort of :D
- TeMPOraL 9y ago> It always amazes me that a group of volunteers can do a better job than huge companies that are dedicated to the same thing. That's a general fact of life, applicable beyond piracy scene.
- zerocrates 9y agoThe little guys can do it where the big companies can't because the little guys can break the law and not get caught or sued into oblivion (for the most part). It's a theme that appears a lot in these pages: you can do all sorts of neat things when you ignore the rules.
- jonknee 9y agoThere's nothing stopping a company from distributing non-DRM files with an easy to use interface and fast download speeds...
- coldtea 9y agoDid you miss the part above about the law? Content providers don't allow companies to ship non-DRM movies, so unless that changes...
- oarsinsync 9y agoI think GP was referring to content providers who distribute their own content, e.g. HBO, Disney, etc.
- zerocrates 9y agoOne of the big things people were mentioning here was having all the content under one roof. This is something the torrent space is great at, since they simply ignore ownership. Of course, getting the content for free (or for the cost of one member purchasing or renting it a single time) doesn't hurt selection either. Even the specific stuff mentioned here about subtitles is affected by the law: translations are derivative works.
- tfha 9y agoPrivate trackers leverage the power of exclusivity and status to get volunteers to work hard. I worked probably 1000 hours on about 30 movies to get access to some of the exclusive perks reserved for only the most skilled encoders. To this day I'm proud of my work and glad that thousands of people have downloaded my completed works.
- codeblack08 9y agoThe group of volunteers and the corporation aren't really optimizing for the same goal. The corporation is trying to make money through X and the volunteers are really just doing X because they find it worthwhile in itself.
- hota_mazi 9y agoFYI, most video players today let you download subtitles with one press of a key (and they even let you choose among many options). No separate download, zero risks of malware.
- pizza234 9y ago> zero risks of malware This is factually false. You download subtitles from a website (generally, opensubtitles.org); if somebody has maliciously uploaded a malware to that website, you will end up downloading that. Whether the carrier is effective or not (it's dubious that downloading malware masked as subtitles will be executed) is besides the point.
- hota_mazi 9y agoThe only way you'll get malware is if your video player is already compromised. If it's not compromised, having that video player download a subtitle file from a website they defined is safe.
- TeMPOraL 9y agoAnd yet, torrents and free streaming are still more convenient than buying. That tells something about how bad official sources are. As for the non-English-speaking audience, pirates tend to deliver better translated subtitles much faster than the official sources, and the latter frequently don't even bother - not a target market? Tough luck.
- denzil_correa 9y agoThe critical point which everyone (including OP) missed is that on pirated websites : you'd get ALL movies under one roof. Even with streaming, you now have 10s of subscription services : Netflix, HBO Go, Disney/Hulu, Amazon Prime etc.
- CWuestefeld 9y agoRoku solves part of this problem. While you do still need to maintain separate subscriptions to these services, Roku has a search function that shows you everywhere that a given movie is available (and for how much, if applicable), and lets you directly open that "channel" to that program.
- dkasper 9y agoYeah, same thing in the Apple ecosystem. iOS/AppleTV has the "TV" app which shows you where you can stream or buy something.
- qwerty456127 9y agoYes! This is another one I've forgotten to mention. And there also are many old and exotic movies/songs/books/games that aren't legally available anywhere.
- megaman22 9y agoIf you run Kodi, there is a huge archive of subtitles that it automatically will apply. More often than not, I've started watching a movie, seen subtitles all over the bottom of it, wondered what the hell, and eventually realized the toggle to apply subtitles has gotten re-enabled somehow.
- qwerty456127 9y agoHow does it solve the synchronization problems by the way? It's not always easy to find a subtitles file that will match the particular version of the movie second-by-second.
- Washuu 9y agoThe length of the movie(extended cuts are longer) and other pieces of meta data to select the correct version of the subtitles. For DVD and Bluray sources it is nearly always accurate. Though those are usually included in the MKV container anyway.
- user5994461 9y agoopensubtitle has a search by hash.
- coldtea 9y ago>Subtitles needs to be searched, generally separately, and generally, are available only in english. You'd be surprised.