6 ms·

So two programmers ran a streaming website bigger than Netflix from their garage?

by mapleoin 7y ago

tsukurimashou 7y ago
and yet they are getting punished for it, what a world we live in, right?
hamhand 7y ago
The numbers don't add up.
Consultant32452 7y ago
Something is fishy about this. Netflix's infrastructure is massive, and their bandwidth usage is a big chunk of the entire internet. How could this possibly go unnoticed for any amount of time?
- sevencolors 7y ago
  I'd imagine the "more subscribers than Netflix" is an inflated number
- the8472 7y ago
  More content than any of the silos seems plausible, since all they have to do is aggregate. More paying subscribers would be a huge.
- alecco 7y ago
  It's just a software in front of existing torrents.
- bestnameever 7y ago
  I think it is in an error in the reporting. The press release from the FBI only mentions content, not subscribers. I actually remember JetFlix and wondering how they had so much content. They were acting like a real company, IIRC.
- busymom0 7y ago
  What if they were using something like webtorrent to reduce their bandwidth costs?
1234ideclare 7y ago
I would be super interested in a detailed breakdown of their stack, I assume something built on p2p was used, otherwise the compute, bandwidth, and storage costs would be insane.
- GhettoMaestro 7y ago
  Bandwidth at any decent metro area colo these days is cheap af. Last I did the math I saved 15x the egress Data charges versus if I just put it directly in AWS.
slykar 7y ago
I guess Netflix needs their developers for all the random UI changes nobody is asking for and some "unrelated recommendations" engine.
- qwerty1234599 7y ago
  Have you used any pirate streaming websites? They're pure garbage, bad UX, bad image quality, choppy video. The only reason anybody uses them is the price or lack of legal options
  - vinni2 7y ago
    > One of the platforms reportedly had more paying subscribers than Netflix, Hulu and other popular licensed streaming platforms. So it was’t a free service?
  - chris_wot 7y ago
    Popcorn Time’s UI is very easy to use, and rarely has problems.
    - tsukurimashou 7y ago
      Popcorn time is cancer for me, I always have issues where I cannot play the video anymore, the loader varies (sometimes it loads fast, sometime slow, not matter the download rate). I think these problems are probably caused by Electron / some bad JS code but still I fint it frustrating, other than that Popcorn time is a fantastic idea. But I just cannot like their UI / UX.
  - realusername 7y ago
    I find their UI pretty good and at least they work consistently, I was sometimes pirating shows I had access for free on Amazon prime due to DRM issues, a good example it's not only about pricing.
    - PikachuEXE 7y ago
alecco 7y ago
They were just running streaming software in front of existing torrent and NZB content. That's why they could scale relatively easy and why they were caught.
tnolet 7y ago
The cynic in me would say they did not spend half their time building resumé-ware. But the numbers are probably totally wrong.
masonic 7y ago
To be fair, it was a really big garage.
zaroth 7y ago
The article has been updated to reflect that they had more content not more subscribers. > “Polo pitched his service to potential clients by pointing out that it offered more content than competing legal services such as Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, and Amazon Prime.” Total revenue was less than a couple million dollars.
- jedimastert 7y ago
  > Total revenue was less than a couple million dollars. I think you mean that the revenue of a 2 guy company was over a million dollars.
  - thomasahle 7y ago
    > > Total revenue was less than a couple million dollars. > I think you mean that the revenue of a 2 guy company was _over a million dollars_. No. It is meant as a comparison with Netflix which has a revenue of 15.79 billion dollars. "They have more content, but make less money," works, but "they have more content, but make _over a million dollars_," doesn't work as well.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

So two programmers ran a streaming website bigger than Netflix from their garage?

tsukurimashou 7y ago

and yet they are getting punished for it, what a world we live in, right?

hamhand 7y ago

The numbers don't add up.

Consultant32452 7y ago

Something is fishy about this. Netflix's infrastructure is massive, and their bandwidth usage is a big chunk of the entire internet. How could this possibly go unnoticed for any amount of time?

sevencolors 7y ago
I'd imagine the "more subscribers than Netflix" is an inflated number
the8472 7y ago
More content than any of the silos seems plausible, since all they have to do is aggregate. More paying subscribers would be a huge.
alecco 7y ago
It's just a software in front of existing torrents.
bestnameever 7y ago
I think it is in an error in the reporting. The press release from the FBI only mentions content, not subscribers. I actually remember JetFlix and wondering how they had so much content. They were acting like a real company, IIRC.
busymom0 7y ago
What if they were using something like webtorrent to reduce their bandwidth costs?

1234ideclare 7y ago

I would be super interested in a detailed breakdown of their stack, I assume something built on p2p was used, otherwise the compute, bandwidth, and storage costs would be insane.

GhettoMaestro 7y ago
Bandwidth at any decent metro area colo these days is cheap af. Last I did the math I saved 15x the egress Data charges versus if I just put it directly in AWS.

slykar 7y ago

I guess Netflix needs their developers for all the random UI changes nobody is asking for and some "unrelated recommendations" engine.

qwerty1234599 7y ago
Have you used any pirate streaming websites? They're pure garbage, bad UX, bad image quality, choppy video. The only reason anybody uses them is the price or lack of legal options
- vinni2 7y ago
  > One of the platforms reportedly had more paying subscribers than Netflix, Hulu and other popular licensed streaming platforms. So it was’t a free service?
- chris_wot 7y ago
  Popcorn Time’s UI is very easy to use, and rarely has problems.
  - tsukurimashou 7y ago
    Popcorn time is cancer for me, I always have issues where I cannot play the video anymore, the loader varies (sometimes it loads fast, sometime slow, not matter the download rate). I think these problems are probably caused by Electron / some bad JS code but still I fint it frustrating, other than that Popcorn time is a fantastic idea. But I just cannot like their UI / UX.
- realusername 7y ago
  I find their UI pretty good and at least they work consistently, I was sometimes pirating shows I had access for free on Amazon prime due to DRM issues, a good example it's not only about pricing.
  - PikachuEXE 7y ago

alecco 7y ago

They were just running streaming software in front of existing torrent and NZB content. That's why they could scale relatively easy and why they were caught.

tnolet 7y ago

The cynic in me would say they did not spend half their time building resumé-ware. But the numbers are probably totally wrong.

masonic 7y ago

To be fair, it was a really big garage.

zaroth 7y ago

The article has been updated to reflect that they had more content not more subscribers. > “Polo pitched his service to potential clients by pointing out that it offered more content than competing legal services such as Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, and Amazon Prime.” Total revenue was less than a couple million dollars.

jedimastert 7y ago
> Total revenue was less than a couple million dollars. I think you mean that the revenue of a 2 guy company was over a million dollars.
- thomasahle 7y ago
  > > Total revenue was less than a couple million dollars. > I think you mean that the revenue of a 2 guy company was _over a million dollars_. No. It is meant as a comparison with Netflix which has a revenue of 15.79 billion dollars. "They have more content, but make less money," works, but "they have more content, but make _over a million dollars_," doesn't work as well.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]