4 ms·

Situation is even worse in Europa. We have no Hulu or anything comparable. If the movie industry doesn't learn that Europe is only ~10ms away from the States wh

Situation is even worse in Europa. We have no Hulu or anything comparable. If the movie industry doesn't learn that Europe is only ~10ms away from the States when you're in the net it will have even more trouble in that market. I'm chatting with friends in America, I'm occasionally working for companies in the US (from my home in Germany) and I'm certainly visiting imdb.com and similar websites to inform myself about movies. So why do I have to wait half a year until a (often badly synchronized) version of a series arrives here on legal channels? Most like even first on pay-TV (not that I even would have a TV anymore these days...I want to watch movies when I have time and not when some station thinks I should take the time). All while streaming-services are found in less than 5 minutes (who is still using risky torrent services anyway?) Give me a no-hassle-fair-price download service and I'll be fine paying for good movies. But right now I have not yet found a legal way of watching movies on my computer except waiting for the DVD's - and even those I don't really watch in a legal way as I'm using DeCSS to watch them on Linux.

thirdsun 15y ago
Given that I'm from germany too I have to agree. If you want to watch movies and TV shows in their original language illegal sources are almost the only way to do that. I'd gladly pay for netflix or something similar, but i'm not allowed to. And don't get me started on music streaming - when people talk about those lucky europeans with their Spotify accounts, we germans are still left out - thanks to the GEMA i guess.
- paulnelligan 15y ago
  I recently moved to Germany from Ireland, and I must say I find it extremely limited in terms of what you can and can watch - half of youtube is blocked!!
  - kahawe 15y ago
    Seriously, frakk the frakking useless GEMA and frakk that youtube "sorry, not available in your country" screen. I am trying to see something on the internet for crying out loud!
    - coffeeaddicted 15y ago
      If youtube would at least show that in the preview already. Or make it an option - filter automatically all videos from preview which you are not allowed to watch anyway.
- metachris 15y ago
  At least in German you have lovefilms.com, which was acquired by Netflix some time ago. It's not available in Austria where I currently live.
  - thirdsun 15y ago
    Lovefilm was acquired by Amazon - and its selection is very poor. I don't expect to find really obscure stuff there but it's extremely lacking when it comes to feature and independent films.
beza1e1 15y ago
Our german netflix clone is called Maxdome [0], but unfortunately Mono Moonlight lacks the DRM parts of Silverlight. So Linux users are locked out. It should work with Windows and Mac, though. [0] http://www.maxdome.de/ http://www.maxdome.de/
- Derbasti 15y ago
  It sucks hard, though. Last time I checked, video quality was way worse than DVDs and prices were too high for rental. And of course everything is dubbed.
kahawe 15y ago
Fellow European here - I was going to say the same thing: I have practically no options of watching any current shows, a lot of FANTASTIC shows don't even make it over here and most of the German translations are abysmal in terms of being wrong and having horrible voices/voice acting, to say the least. I don't feel bad for using tvtorrents - as far as I am concerned, I am just watching a TV show that has already been paid for by its target audience and stations in the States anyway and I got a copy; what's the big deal? And movies: why are there still significantly different "launch dates" for the same movie all over the world? This is 2011. And while we are at it with movies, my favorite pet peeve are the frakking movie theaters here... you pay outrageous prices just to get a seat, then you pay extra for 3d goggles, then they sit you through 20 minutes of commercials, then they switch on all of the frakking lights AGAIN and ask "Does anyone want to buy some ice cream???"... and of course there are always some assholes who want to buy a $1 popsicle with a $100 bill but first they take their sweet time deciding on what to get... then finally the light goes out... and there are more commercials. The whole experience is just begging to install a nice home theater and since one cannot (legally) watch current movies while they are in theaters.. pirating surely becomes an option. Movie theaters and current movie distribution are a concept from the stone age when people could not afford to view them at home; they are a fossil in terms of modern technology and possibilities. Most people who go to see a movie could just as easily watch it at home without much less enjoyment or sound or visual quality.
- chopsueyar 15y ago
  Can you please elaborate on the ice cream vending prior to the show of the movie? An actual human solicits ice cream orders between the previews and the start of the movie?
  - kahawe 15y ago
    They sell popcorn, candy, drinks and ice cream at quite a few regular counters in the lounge there. And, yes, in the theaters once you sit down, they turn off the lights, show you commercials, then they turn on ALL THE LIGHTS again and (usually) two humans with a basket nonchalantly waltz in with "Will noch jemand'n Eis" in German, "Anyone want some ice cream"? Then of course there are always a couple of inconsiderate a-holes who want some ice cream but did not manage to buy it before... in a big theater room they are spread out nicely so sales-humans walk around with their ice cream and sell their stuff; typically the people buying either have no idea what they want so they go through the whole "what do you have" talk and/or they don't have small bills and pay with 50 or 100 bills and go through the "oh sorry I don't have change for that" talk. And we are talking around US $20 per person per viewing for "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" for example; just for seeing the movie in half-asses 3D. I swear to FSM: Should you ever read about a bloody massacre in a movie theater in Germany it was probably me. :9
Derbasti 15y ago
Then again, this is the internet we are talking about. There is not much stopping you from using technology to gain freedom. Pandora blocks your IP address you say? Go look for a proxy in the US. Hulu recognizes proxies you say? Use a VPN instead. That opens the door to every free offer in the US. iTunes won't let you download from the US store you say? Go to Ebay and grab an American iTunes gift card. Spotify requires a bank account in UK/Scandinavia you say? There are always virtual credit cards like Entropay (I call them credit card proxies). Well, Spotify won't take those. But Paypal does, and Spotify accepts Paypal. You see, this is the internet. There are no countries or borders on the internet. The tools are all there. You just gotta use them.
- zeemonkee 15y ago
  Not the point. None of these solutions are easy or obvious to the casual consumer. Companies (and governments) should make legal distribution easy for consumers worldwide if they want to reduce illegal downloading.
- kahawe 15y ago
  You are completely missing the point. This IS the internet, as an honest paying customer you should not have to jump through those hoops in the first place.
- retroafroman 15y ago
  And none of those, as noted by others, matter, because it's simply still easier to illegally download to acquire content.

thirdsun 15y ago

Given that I'm from germany too I have to agree. If you want to watch movies and TV shows in their original language illegal sources are almost the only way to do that. I'd gladly pay for netflix or something similar, but i'm not allowed to. And don't get me started on music streaming - when people talk about those lucky europeans with their Spotify accounts, we germans are still left out - thanks to the GEMA i guess.

paulnelligan 15y ago
I recently moved to Germany from Ireland, and I must say I find it extremely limited in terms of what you can and can watch - half of youtube is blocked!!
- kahawe 15y ago
  Seriously, frakk the frakking useless GEMA and frakk that youtube "sorry, not available in your country" screen. I am trying to see something on the internet for crying out loud!
  - coffeeaddicted 15y ago
    If youtube would at least show that in the preview already. Or make it an option - filter automatically all videos from preview which you are not allowed to watch anyway.
metachris 15y ago
At least in German you have lovefilms.com, which was acquired by Netflix some time ago. It's not available in Austria where I currently live.
- thirdsun 15y ago
  Lovefilm was acquired by Amazon - and its selection is very poor. I don't expect to find really obscure stuff there but it's extremely lacking when it comes to feature and independent films.

beza1e1 15y ago

Our german netflix clone is called Maxdome [0], but unfortunately Mono Moonlight lacks the DRM parts of Silverlight. So Linux users are locked out. It should work with Windows and Mac, though. [0] http://www.maxdome.de/ http://www.maxdome.de/

Derbasti 15y ago
It sucks hard, though. Last time I checked, video quality was way worse than DVDs and prices were too high for rental. And of course everything is dubbed.

kahawe 15y ago

Fellow European here - I was going to say the same thing: I have practically no options of watching any current shows, a lot of FANTASTIC shows don't even make it over here and most of the German translations are abysmal in terms of being wrong and having horrible voices/voice acting, to say the least. I don't feel bad for using tvtorrents - as far as I am concerned, I am just watching a TV show that has already been paid for by its target audience and stations in the States anyway and I got a copy; what's the big deal? And movies: why are there still significantly different "launch dates" for the same movie all over the world? This is 2011. And while we are at it with movies, my favorite pet peeve are the frakking movie theaters here... you pay outrageous prices just to get a seat, then you pay extra for 3d goggles, then they sit you through 20 minutes of commercials, then they switch on all of the frakking lights AGAIN and ask "Does anyone want to buy some ice cream???"... and of course there are always some assholes who want to buy a $1 popsicle with a $100 bill but first they take their sweet time deciding on what to get... then finally the light goes out... and there are more commercials. The whole experience is just begging to install a nice home theater and since one cannot (legally) watch current movies while they are in theaters.. pirating surely becomes an option. Movie theaters and current movie distribution are a concept from the stone age when people could not afford to view them at home; they are a fossil in terms of modern technology and possibilities. Most people who go to see a movie could just as easily watch it at home without much less enjoyment or sound or visual quality.

chopsueyar 15y ago
Can you please elaborate on the ice cream vending prior to the show of the movie? An actual human solicits ice cream orders between the previews and the start of the movie?
- kahawe 15y ago
  They sell popcorn, candy, drinks and ice cream at quite a few regular counters in the lounge there. And, yes, in the theaters once you sit down, they turn off the lights, show you commercials, then they turn on ALL THE LIGHTS again and (usually) two humans with a basket nonchalantly waltz in with "Will noch jemand'n Eis" in German, "Anyone want some ice cream"? Then of course there are always a couple of inconsiderate a-holes who want some ice cream but did not manage to buy it before... in a big theater room they are spread out nicely so sales-humans walk around with their ice cream and sell their stuff; typically the people buying either have no idea what they want so they go through the whole "what do you have" talk and/or they don't have small bills and pay with 50 or 100 bills and go through the "oh sorry I don't have change for that" talk. And we are talking around US $20 per person per viewing for "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" for example; just for seeing the movie in half-asses 3D. I swear to FSM: Should you ever read about a bloody massacre in a movie theater in Germany it was probably me. :9

Derbasti 15y ago

Then again, this is the internet we are talking about. There is not much stopping you from using technology to gain freedom. Pandora blocks your IP address you say? Go look for a proxy in the US. Hulu recognizes proxies you say? Use a VPN instead. That opens the door to every free offer in the US. iTunes won't let you download from the US store you say? Go to Ebay and grab an American iTunes gift card. Spotify requires a bank account in UK/Scandinavia you say? There are always virtual credit cards like Entropay (I call them credit card proxies). Well, Spotify won't take those. But Paypal does, and Spotify accepts Paypal. You see, this is the internet. There are no countries or borders on the internet. The tools are all there. You just gotta use them.

zeemonkee 15y ago
Not the point. None of these solutions are easy or obvious to the casual consumer. Companies (and governments) should make legal distribution easy for consumers worldwide if they want to reduce illegal downloading.
kahawe 15y ago
You are completely missing the point. This IS the internet, as an honest paying customer you should not have to jump through those hoops in the first place.
retroafroman 15y ago
And none of those, as noted by others, matter, because it's simply still easier to illegally download to acquire content.