4 ms·

> The killer feature of piracy is thar it just works, not that it is free Especially as piracy has its own costs: VPN (French authorities do detect bittorrent)

> The killer feature of piracy is thar it just works, not that it is free Especially as piracy has its own costs: VPN (French authorities do detect bittorrent), storage, some Jellyfin or Kodi host, some time to manage the whole *arr setup. The moment legal access to a whole world's worth of movies becomes cheaper and easier than that, piracy becomes unattractive. That was the way Netflix was perceived in its golden age... No longer.

derac 3y ago
There are websites you can go to and stream any tv show or movie for free in a couple of clicks. It's impossible to get cheaper and easier (ip law) than that.
- kelnos 3y ago
  Don't those have their own problems, though? Like their domain gets blocked, so you have to find it again. They video quality is just kinda ok, and if you want a copy to stream to your TV, it's either not possible, or won't look very good. Years ago my partner used to use some of these sites to watch some foreign-language shows that are just not possible to get in the US at all, and it just always seemed so sketchy and unreliable. How do these sites fund themselves, anyway? Ads, I guess? Tho not sure what ad networks will show ads on sites that are 100% copyright infringement.
  - emptyfile 3y ago
    [dead]
  - Lex-2008 3y ago
    These sites might be advertising things that usual ad networks would prefer to stay away from, like online casinos. Moreover, in some countries, it might be explicitly forbidden to advertise gambling.
kelnos 3y ago
Right, it's not like piracy is literally free. There are still monetary costs, software maintenance work that needs to be done, and risks involved. In that 'golden age' of Netflix, getting a Netflix subscription was a much better choice for loads of people. But now it seems to be swinging back the other way again. It's just so frustrating, because all these content owners actually had a good-enough solution to most piracy, and they ruined it with their own greed.
- emptyfile 3y ago
  [dead]
anonzzzies 3y ago
> French authorities do detect bittorrent Do they know what you are downloading though? I still use it for a lot of stuff that’s legal. How do they go after people (I guess you imply they do)?
- 0xDEADFED5 3y ago
  Probably the same way other people do it: DHT surveillance of suspected copyrighted works which log IPs of seeders... or some variation of that
- lukan 3y ago
  Important to know, authorities usually do not go after downloaders/consumers of piracy. But those who distribute it - but if you participate in bittorrent - you are distributing. And it is really easy to track the IPs, as it is fundamentally part of how bittorrent works that everyone in the network has the IPs of the other participants. So a VPN is advisable.

derac 3y ago

There are websites you can go to and stream any tv show or movie for free in a couple of clicks. It's impossible to get cheaper and easier (ip law) than that.

kelnos 3y ago
Don't those have their own problems, though? Like their domain gets blocked, so you have to find it again. They video quality is just kinda ok, and if you want a copy to stream to your TV, it's either not possible, or won't look very good. Years ago my partner used to use some of these sites to watch some foreign-language shows that are just not possible to get in the US at all, and it just always seemed so sketchy and unreliable. How do these sites fund themselves, anyway? Ads, I guess? Tho not sure what ad networks will show ads on sites that are 100% copyright infringement.
- emptyfile 3y ago
  [dead]
- Lex-2008 3y ago
  These sites might be advertising things that usual ad networks would prefer to stay away from, like online casinos. Moreover, in some countries, it might be explicitly forbidden to advertise gambling.

kelnos 3y ago

Right, it's not like piracy is literally free. There are still monetary costs, software maintenance work that needs to be done, and risks involved. In that 'golden age' of Netflix, getting a Netflix subscription was a much better choice for loads of people. But now it seems to be swinging back the other way again. It's just so frustrating, because all these content owners actually had a good-enough solution to most piracy, and they ruined it with their own greed.

emptyfile 3y ago
[dead]

anonzzzies 3y ago

> French authorities do detect bittorrent Do they know what you are downloading though? I still use it for a lot of stuff that’s legal. How do they go after people (I guess you imply they do)?

0xDEADFED5 3y ago
Probably the same way other people do it: DHT surveillance of suspected copyrighted works which log IPs of seeders... or some variation of that
lukan 3y ago
Important to know, authorities usually do not go after downloaders/consumers of piracy. But those who distribute it - but if you participate in bittorrent - you are distributing. And it is really easy to track the IPs, as it is fundamentally part of how bittorrent works that everyone in the network has the IPs of the other participants. So a VPN is advisable.