7 ms·

Best thing about piracy is that not only is there no ads, it's that you don't have to even think which streaming service has the particular show/movie you want.

Best thing about piracy is that not only is there no ads, it's that you don't have to even think which streaming service has the particular show/movie you want. You also get to watch it on any device of your choice, in any player of your choice, completely offline. And you get to take screenshots. And it's free. I simply see no reason to ever pay for movies and tv shows — you pay money AND get a worse experience.

SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
It's one of those weird things where if everyone chose the superior experience it would cease to exist.
- CommieBobDole 4y ago
  That hasn't always been the case, though - for many years, I put away my parrot and eyepatch and rented or bought content because it offered the best experience, even though it cost a little money. Only recently has piracy again become the least unpleasant way to consume content, and it's not because piracy has become any easier.
- scarecrowbob 4y ago
  Only for certain modes of that experience: there is already far more content than I will ever be able to consume in 50 lifetimes. My distaste for a lot of contemporary cultural products aside (I'm okay if they never make another episode of Cheers or MASH, but I can see how that would happen if the creators weren't being paid for that), it feels likely to me that if commercial media ceased production I still wouldn't run out of stuff to watch even if I lived longer than I expect.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- parkingrift 4y ago
  I am perfectly fine with that outcome as it would mean a reset on how IP is delivered and owned. When there are convenient options which respect users, piracy goes down. It’s as simple as that.
slfnflctd 4y ago
It's fiddly, though. You need to pay for a VPN (and try to pick one you can trust, which if you're even a bit paranoid is none of them) or your ISP will shut off your service (happened to me), if you require subtitles there's additional hassle & they're not even always available, quality is sometimes an issue and fake or mislabeled torrents exist. I got tired of screwing around with it and decided 50 cents or less a day per service was worth not having to. As a side bonus, I get exposed to a lot of things I otherwise wouldn't know existed.
- andrewstuart2 4y ago
  Usenet is worth the price. Sure, you can still VPN if you're super paranoid, and sure, things get DMCA'd (slowly and inconsistently), but with the fairly easy OSS automation out there (radarr, et al, and sabnzbd in my case) everything runs very smoothly (and way faster; I can saturate my gigabit connection for nearly anything regardless of popularity).
- tshaddox 4y ago
  The funny thing about subtitles is that there are many, many cases where you can find bootlegged subtitles for content that don’t even exist on the paid streaming service that provides that content. The streaming services seem to be getting better about this, especially for new content, but there is still a vast library of content on e.g. HBO in the U.S. that doesn’t even have Spanish subtitles.
  - rhacker 4y ago
    We're probably a couple years away from some AI service that actually translates with character's voices. Heck probably even adjust the mouth visual too.
    - WhyDoIThink 4y ago
      I'll support A.I. that translates those characters' voices with different mouth visuals per language. That would be convenient for people who get distracted by subtitles and characters' mouths not matching words to different languages.
guenthert 4y ago
Well, there are plenty of benefits for all kinds of criminal activity, they just share one common drawback.
- anonymou2 4y ago
  I liked Pirates of the Caribean I, II and III !
- selfhoster11 4y ago
  Having to remember to use a VPN? Hardly a drawback.
  - hunter2_ 4y ago
    Well, there are really two drawbacks. Personal risk (which, as you say, can be well-mitigated) and the externality of other people being less well-off. Yes they could choose to make things that aren't copyable instead of things that are, but most jurisdictions have structures telling them that free copying of the thing they're making won't be tolerated.
    - selfhoster11 4y ago
      I was talking from a purely mechanical perspective.
    - InCityDreams 4y ago
      Myself and several friends have several vpns and as we can mostly use up to 5 devices we share the logins, as required.
- Teever 4y ago
  Pirating is not a criminal activity in my country. It likely isn't a criminal activity in your country either.
  - selfhoster11 4y ago
Johnny555 4y ago
But quality varies, subtitles are an issue, and sometimes the movie isn't complete and sometimes it doesn't match the title at all. I still prefer reasonable paid alternatives
bergenty 4y ago
Yes it’s a better experience but so is getting money by robbing someone over working 40 hour weeks. I’m not saying the two are the same because piracy is effectively victimless (at least in the short term).
- grishka 4y ago
  You're not robbing someone because you're not depriving them of anything.
  - bergenty 4y ago
    You can make a case for the idea that if art is not paid for then you’re eventually stealing from content creators.
scarface74 4y ago
Yes now all I have to do is trudge the internet for content, make sure my Plex server is running, wait for content to be available, hope it’s popular enough that it is being seeded. Then have to worry about the quality. Or I can just pay a few bucks and watch what I want on any of my devices.

SketchySeaBeast 4y ago

It's one of those weird things where if everyone chose the superior experience it would cease to exist.

CommieBobDole 4y ago
That hasn't always been the case, though - for many years, I put away my parrot and eyepatch and rented or bought content because it offered the best experience, even though it cost a little money. Only recently has piracy again become the least unpleasant way to consume content, and it's not because piracy has become any easier.
scarecrowbob 4y ago
Only for certain modes of that experience: there is already far more content than I will ever be able to consume in 50 lifetimes. My distaste for a lot of contemporary cultural products aside (I'm okay if they never make another episode of Cheers or MASH, but I can see how that would happen if the creators weren't being paid for that), it feels likely to me that if commercial media ceased production I still wouldn't run out of stuff to watch even if I lived longer than I expect.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
parkingrift 4y ago
I am perfectly fine with that outcome as it would mean a reset on how IP is delivered and owned. When there are convenient options which respect users, piracy goes down. It’s as simple as that.

slfnflctd 4y ago

It's fiddly, though. You need to pay for a VPN (and try to pick one you can trust, which if you're even a bit paranoid is none of them) or your ISP will shut off your service (happened to me), if you require subtitles there's additional hassle & they're not even always available, quality is sometimes an issue and fake or mislabeled torrents exist. I got tired of screwing around with it and decided 50 cents or less a day per service was worth not having to. As a side bonus, I get exposed to a lot of things I otherwise wouldn't know existed.

andrewstuart2 4y ago
Usenet is worth the price. Sure, you can still VPN if you're super paranoid, and sure, things get DMCA'd (slowly and inconsistently), but with the fairly easy OSS automation out there (radarr, et al, and sabnzbd in my case) everything runs very smoothly (and way faster; I can saturate my gigabit connection for nearly anything regardless of popularity).
tshaddox 4y ago
The funny thing about subtitles is that there are many, many cases where you can find bootlegged subtitles for content that don’t even exist on the paid streaming service that provides that content. The streaming services seem to be getting better about this, especially for new content, but there is still a vast library of content on e.g. HBO in the U.S. that doesn’t even have Spanish subtitles.
- rhacker 4y ago
  We're probably a couple years away from some AI service that actually translates with character's voices. Heck probably even adjust the mouth visual too.
  - WhyDoIThink 4y ago
    I'll support A.I. that translates those characters' voices with different mouth visuals per language. That would be convenient for people who get distracted by subtitles and characters' mouths not matching words to different languages.

guenthert 4y ago

Well, there are plenty of benefits for all kinds of criminal activity, they just share one common drawback.

anonymou2 4y ago
I liked Pirates of the Caribean I, II and III !
selfhoster11 4y ago
Having to remember to use a VPN? Hardly a drawback.
- hunter2_ 4y ago
  Well, there are really two drawbacks. Personal risk (which, as you say, can be well-mitigated) and the externality of other people being less well-off. Yes they could choose to make things that aren't copyable instead of things that are, but most jurisdictions have structures telling them that free copying of the thing they're making won't be tolerated.
  - selfhoster11 4y ago
    I was talking from a purely mechanical perspective.
  - InCityDreams 4y ago
    Myself and several friends have several vpns and as we can mostly use up to 5 devices we share the logins, as required.
Teever 4y ago
Pirating is not a criminal activity in my country. It likely isn't a criminal activity in your country either.
- selfhoster11 4y ago

Johnny555 4y ago

But quality varies, subtitles are an issue, and sometimes the movie isn't complete and sometimes it doesn't match the title at all. I still prefer reasonable paid alternatives

bergenty 4y ago

Yes it’s a better experience but so is getting money by robbing someone over working 40 hour weeks. I’m not saying the two are the same because piracy is effectively victimless (at least in the short term).

grishka 4y ago
You're not robbing someone because you're not depriving them of anything.
- bergenty 4y ago
  You can make a case for the idea that if art is not paid for then you’re eventually stealing from content creators.

scarface74 4y ago

Yes now all I have to do is trudge the internet for content, make sure my Plex server is running, wait for content to be available, hope it’s popular enough that it is being seeded. Then have to worry about the quality. Or I can just pay a few bucks and watch what I want on any of my devices.