4 ms·

Widevine hasn't stopped piracy. No DRM ever does. It only inconveniences the people who want to pay. Trying to watch Netflix on a phone or desktop is needlessly

Widevine hasn't stopped piracy. No DRM ever does. It only inconveniences the people who want to pay. Trying to watch Netflix on a phone or desktop is needlessly complicated. Grabbing a torrent is easy.

akerro 8y ago
It was never about stopping piracy, it was always about controlling your device and how you use it.
- Reelin 8y ago
  I realize this doesn't add much, but... It really bothers me how rarely the average person I interact with seems to comprehend this. It isn't about stopping piracy. It's about controlling how you do things so that content can be part and parceled up for maximum profit while collecting analytics. Or in the case of devices, to tie you to a specific distribution platform while collecting analytics. Referring to it as "stopping piracy" is just an easier way to sell it - it's the equivalent of lawmakers saying "think of the children".
Jonnax 8y ago
Needlessly complicated? Download the app, sign in and it works. Piracy has significantly reduced because it's more convenient than torrents. Don't know what you're talking about.
- kuschku 8y ago
  Download the app, get a "not available: your device is running a custom ROM". Open on Linux in Firefox, get 360p max. Can't deal with bad network conditions such as frackin' Unitymedia where the connection is slow and resets all the time. In the end, I pay for Netflix and Amazon Prime, but pirate the movies that are on Netflix anyway.
  - vfq 8y ago
    Practically nobody runs a custom ROM or Linux in the desktop, and if you do, that's a self-inflicted wound.
    - liaukovv 8y ago
      Gating power users from your content is a good way to get them to find other solutions.
    - Freak_NL 8y ago
      How dare we run an operating system of our own choosing, or expect control over our own hardware. Why can't we just submit to using a sensible proprietary operating system on our most personal devices? DRM hurts honest consumers and doesn't prevent piracy — at all. So why are we being pushed to accept this level of outside control over our computing devices?
      - vfq 8y ago
        He can run whatever OS he wants and have whatever kind of control he wants over his own hardware. Just don't expect to watch Netflix in HD.
    - m45t3r 8y ago
      I am not running a custom ROM in my smartphone, it is a fairly popular device (Xiaomi Mi A2) and I still can't get high quality streams on Netflix because my device only has Widevine L3. Meanwhile I can get high quality streams in an anime streaming service called Crunchyroll in all my devices (including every browser in any OS I want), most because they don't care about DRM. : It is interesting that for default they still require Flash for viewing video browsers (they have a HTML5 video player in beta, though). To think that HTML5 reduced our freedom compared to Flash is ironic, to say at least.
- Farradfahren 8y ago
  Download the app? > App usually designed for some hightech Dev Phone. Not really tested, App has usually horrible UI and regional locks > Sign In is most of the time overcomplicated and actually the biggest turn off. You want entertainment- boy, do i have a bureaucracy package for you. > it works - yes, you expect the users to do work. There at least we agree. Panem and Circensis - in all civilisations usually get subsidized. So all anti-piracy is usually carried half-hearted by government at best. Game of Thrones for nothing keeps the plebs peacefull.
- Tsubasachan 8y ago
  This is DRM that has to be baked into the hardware. It is amusing buying a brand new smartphone that defaults to 480p because it doesn't implement some DRM scheme. On desktop you have to use the windows 10 app- again solely because of DRM.
- CuriousSkeptic 8y ago
  Press play and get “error <random number>”. Google for fix, deduce from talks of drm that headphone amp may be culprit. Plug headphones directly into phone instead. Press play, now it works.
- Freak_NL 8y ago
  On my Linux desktops, laptops, and HTPC, Netflix refuses to give me anything better than 720p by design (DRM not good enough to be trusted with better quality). Netflix is 'good enough' for some light viewing, but any quality film I'll (hypothetically) download from a source that doesn't bother with DRM. With a fibreglass connection at home this takes a couple of minutes.
  - krzyk 8y ago
    Use https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/force-1080p-netflix/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/force-1080p-n... and everything is back to normal :) But still you won't get 4k, for that you need torrents.
amrx431 8y ago
I have subscriptions for : 1. Netflix, 2. Amazon Prime 3. HotStar Even with 3 subscriptions one or the other show that I like is not provided by any one of the above. So torrent it is.

akerro 8y ago

It was never about stopping piracy, it was always about controlling your device and how you use it.

Reelin 8y ago
I realize this doesn't add much, but... It really bothers me how rarely the average person I interact with seems to comprehend this. It isn't about stopping piracy. It's about controlling how you do things so that content can be part and parceled up for maximum profit while collecting analytics. Or in the case of devices, to tie you to a specific distribution platform while collecting analytics. Referring to it as "stopping piracy" is just an easier way to sell it - it's the equivalent of lawmakers saying "think of the children".

Jonnax 8y ago

Needlessly complicated? Download the app, sign in and it works. Piracy has significantly reduced because it's more convenient than torrents. Don't know what you're talking about.

kuschku 8y ago
Download the app, get a "not available: your device is running a custom ROM". Open on Linux in Firefox, get 360p max. Can't deal with bad network conditions such as frackin' Unitymedia where the connection is slow and resets all the time. In the end, I pay for Netflix and Amazon Prime, but pirate the movies that are on Netflix anyway.
- vfq 8y ago
  Practically nobody runs a custom ROM or Linux in the desktop, and if you do, that's a self-inflicted wound.
  - liaukovv 8y ago
    Gating power users from your content is a good way to get them to find other solutions.
  - Freak_NL 8y ago
    How dare we run an operating system of our own choosing, or expect control over our own hardware. Why can't we just submit to using a sensible proprietary operating system on our most personal devices? DRM hurts honest consumers and doesn't prevent piracy — at all. So why are we being pushed to accept this level of outside control over our computing devices?
    - vfq 8y ago
      He can run whatever OS he wants and have whatever kind of control he wants over his own hardware. Just don't expect to watch Netflix in HD.
  - m45t3r 8y ago
    I am not running a custom ROM in my smartphone, it is a fairly popular device (Xiaomi Mi A2) and I still can't get high quality streams on Netflix because my device only has Widevine L3. Meanwhile I can get high quality streams in an anime streaming service called Crunchyroll in all my devices (including every browser in any OS I want), most because they don't care about DRM. : It is interesting that for default they still require Flash for viewing video browsers (they have a HTML5 video player in beta, though). To think that HTML5 reduced our freedom compared to Flash is ironic, to say at least.
Farradfahren 8y ago
Download the app? > App usually designed for some hightech Dev Phone. Not really tested, App has usually horrible UI and regional locks > Sign In is most of the time overcomplicated and actually the biggest turn off. You want entertainment- boy, do i have a bureaucracy package for you. > it works - yes, you expect the users to do work. There at least we agree. Panem and Circensis - in all civilisations usually get subsidized. So all anti-piracy is usually carried half-hearted by government at best. Game of Thrones for nothing keeps the plebs peacefull.
Tsubasachan 8y ago
This is DRM that has to be baked into the hardware. It is amusing buying a brand new smartphone that defaults to 480p because it doesn't implement some DRM scheme. On desktop you have to use the windows 10 app- again solely because of DRM.
CuriousSkeptic 8y ago
Press play and get “error <random number>”. Google for fix, deduce from talks of drm that headphone amp may be culprit. Plug headphones directly into phone instead. Press play, now it works.
Freak_NL 8y ago
On my Linux desktops, laptops, and HTPC, Netflix refuses to give me anything better than 720p by design (DRM not good enough to be trusted with better quality). Netflix is 'good enough' for some light viewing, but any quality film I'll (hypothetically) download from a source that doesn't bother with DRM. With a fibreglass connection at home this takes a couple of minutes.
- krzyk 8y ago
  Use https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/force-1080p-netflix/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/force-1080p-n... and everything is back to normal :) But still you won't get 4k, for that you need torrents.

amrx431 8y ago

I have subscriptions for : 1. Netflix, 2. Amazon Prime 3. HotStar Even with 3 subscriptions one or the other show that I like is not provided by any one of the above. So torrent it is.