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Pro-tip: You can now digitally rent basically every movie from Youtube or Amazon. Services like https://www.justwatch.com/ https://www.justwatch.com/ make it e

by olah_1 7y ago

Pro-tip: You can now digitally rent basically every movie from Youtube or Amazon. Services like https://www.justwatch.com/ https://www.justwatch.com/ make it easy to not break the law. I used to use Popcorn time all the time, but honestly it kinda feels good to not steal /shrug

sakarisson 7y ago
I don't have an ethical problem with illegally pirating content either, but it does grind my gears when people make that kind argument. Nothing is forcing anyone to illegally download Westworld. Digital content isn't essential for your well-being, so I find always find it very odd when people try to justify stealing it.
- Mediterraneo10 7y ago
  > Digital content isn't essential for your well-being It is essential for one's erudition, which historically has been considered important for an informed citizenry that knows the good and the beautiful. Take the mid-20th century canon of films, works by directors like Ozu, Kurosawa, Godard, Truffaut, Antonioni, etc. These are recognized as classics of film art and part of our general cultural heritage now. However, due to changes in legislation in the years since they were made, they are still under copyright, and so a person would have to spend thousands of dollars to legally obtain a cultural education that, in this day and age, ought to be available to anyone regardless of their means. A person pirating such films is not necessarily doing it for daft entertainment (because often these classics are not particularly fun and entertaining), but simply to learn and be familiar with the canon. And before you say that one can turn to the library instead of torrenting: many countries around the world never had well-stocked libraries to begin with. In fact, in some of these same countries it can be less than straightforward to purchase the content even if one has the money to spend.
andybak 7y ago
> basically every movie I find a good 10-20% of things unavailable across Netflix + all non-subscription services.
fernandotakai 7y ago
depends on where you live. i can't rent any movies on amazon and while youtube offers some movies, they are either subtitled in my native language (which i don't like, i prefer english subtitles) or they are dubbed (which is even worse).
FalconSensei 7y ago
Yet you can't rent TV shows, only buy. And to buy a show episode is the same price as to rent a movie, which is 2x longer. Make it possible to rent tv show episodes, and then I would be able to rent them BTW, I also tried to buy Harlots in Canada, in physical format. It wasn't available in Blu-Ray
criddell 7y ago
There are a surprising number of movies that aren't available on any streaming platforms. https://johnaugust.com/2018/missing-movies https://johnaugust.com/2018/missing-movies
mindslight 7y ago
It feels good to give financial support to regressive companies trying to put the Internet back in the bottle, destroy net neutrality, push us into proprietary platforms, divide online communities based on geographic location, surveil our behavior, etc? You and I have much different takes on what feels good.
- olah_1 7y ago
  > You and I have much different takes on what feels good. I think virtue is good for us and thus "feels good", because that has been my experience. I think following laws that aren't inherently unjust is virtuous. The only question is if these laws are unjust or not. (In this case I guess we're just talking about the laws of paying for goods.) > regressive companies trying to put the Internet back in the bottle, destroy net neutrality, push us into proprietary platforms, divide online communities based on geographic location, surveil our behavior, etc This is too vague to be compelling. At the end of the day, you are paying for content that was created by human beings. Is there a middle man? Yes. Would it be better without the middle man? Also yes. Is there an alternative? Only if we are okay with not paying the creators that put in the work to make the content. I am no longer okay with that. For me, at the end of the day, your argument is at best pointing out a less than ideal economic system and at worst it is justifying viscous behavior that, taken to its limit, can be used to justify virtually any kind of illegal behavior. Less than ideal != unjust.
  - mindslight 7y ago
    We can agree to disagree about following unjust laws. But we are not talking about "the laws of paying for goods", rather the much newer and specific laws restricting the copying of information. These laws are hardly immutable - rather they're continually being changed to extend their length and reach! My problem isn't based on the overall economic system itself (which has been roughly in place for thousands of years), but rather with the colonization and locking down of cyberspace by that economic system. Just a few decades ago, we had a blank slate wherein we could invent new structures and norms. Now business keeps hammering on cyberspace to make it conform to the shape of the world it already conquered. As someone who enjoyed the frontier, and dreamed of what could be built, I cannot accept that. The "creators" that are being paid less are the large dinosaur businesses that insist on ironclad copyright and control - indies have been rolling with the punches and adapting. From what I've seen, the main trend decompensating actual creatives in the movie industry is offshoring. The laws have been bought such that businesses can directly screw over human beings without a qualm, but yet us humans are supposed to feel bad about reducing the businesses' income, in hope the businesses might harm the humans slightly less? I don't buy it.
rafaelvasco 7y ago
Will check it out. Thanks!

by olah_1 7y ago

sakarisson 7y ago

I don't have an ethical problem with illegally pirating content either, but it does grind my gears when people make that kind argument. Nothing is forcing anyone to illegally download Westworld. Digital content isn't essential for your well-being, so I find always find it very odd when people try to justify stealing it.

Mediterraneo10 7y ago
> Digital content isn't essential for your well-being It is essential for one's erudition, which historically has been considered important for an informed citizenry that knows the good and the beautiful. Take the mid-20th century canon of films, works by directors like Ozu, Kurosawa, Godard, Truffaut, Antonioni, etc. These are recognized as classics of film art and part of our general cultural heritage now. However, due to changes in legislation in the years since they were made, they are still under copyright, and so a person would have to spend thousands of dollars to legally obtain a cultural education that, in this day and age, ought to be available to anyone regardless of their means. A person pirating such films is not necessarily doing it for daft entertainment (because often these classics are not particularly fun and entertaining), but simply to learn and be familiar with the canon. And before you say that one can turn to the library instead of torrenting: many countries around the world never had well-stocked libraries to begin with. In fact, in some of these same countries it can be less than straightforward to purchase the content even if one has the money to spend.

andybak 7y ago

> basically every movie I find a good 10-20% of things unavailable across Netflix + all non-subscription services.

fernandotakai 7y ago

depends on where you live. i can't rent any movies on amazon and while youtube offers some movies, they are either subtitled in my native language (which i don't like, i prefer english subtitles) or they are dubbed (which is even worse).

FalconSensei 7y ago

Yet you can't rent TV shows, only buy. And to buy a show episode is the same price as to rent a movie, which is 2x longer. Make it possible to rent tv show episodes, and then I would be able to rent them BTW, I also tried to buy Harlots in Canada, in physical format. It wasn't available in Blu-Ray

criddell 7y ago

There are a surprising number of movies that aren't available on any streaming platforms. https://johnaugust.com/2018/missing-movies https://johnaugust.com/2018/missing-movies

mindslight 7y ago

It feels good to give financial support to regressive companies trying to put the Internet back in the bottle, destroy net neutrality, push us into proprietary platforms, divide online communities based on geographic location, surveil our behavior, etc? You and I have much different takes on what feels good.

olah_1 7y ago
> You and I have much different takes on what feels good. I think virtue is good for us and thus "feels good", because that has been my experience. I think following laws that aren't inherently unjust is virtuous. The only question is if these laws are unjust or not. (In this case I guess we're just talking about the laws of paying for goods.) > regressive companies trying to put the Internet back in the bottle, destroy net neutrality, push us into proprietary platforms, divide online communities based on geographic location, surveil our behavior, etc This is too vague to be compelling. At the end of the day, you are paying for content that was created by human beings. Is there a middle man? Yes. Would it be better without the middle man? Also yes. Is there an alternative? Only if we are okay with not paying the creators that put in the work to make the content. I am no longer okay with that. For me, at the end of the day, your argument is at best pointing out a less than ideal economic system and at worst it is justifying viscous behavior that, taken to its limit, can be used to justify virtually any kind of illegal behavior. Less than ideal != unjust.
- mindslight 7y ago
  We can agree to disagree about following unjust laws. But we are not talking about "the laws of paying for goods", rather the much newer and specific laws restricting the copying of information. These laws are hardly immutable - rather they're continually being changed to extend their length and reach! My problem isn't based on the overall economic system itself (which has been roughly in place for thousands of years), but rather with the colonization and locking down of cyberspace by that economic system. Just a few decades ago, we had a blank slate wherein we could invent new structures and norms. Now business keeps hammering on cyberspace to make it conform to the shape of the world it already conquered. As someone who enjoyed the frontier, and dreamed of what could be built, I cannot accept that. The "creators" that are being paid less are the large dinosaur businesses that insist on ironclad copyright and control - indies have been rolling with the punches and adapting. From what I've seen, the main trend decompensating actual creatives in the movie industry is offshoring. The laws have been bought such that businesses can directly screw over human beings without a qualm, but yet us humans are supposed to feel bad about reducing the businesses' income, in hope the businesses might harm the humans slightly less? I don't buy it.

rafaelvasco 7y ago

Will check it out. Thanks!