3 ms·

Good, I hope they hammer Apple. I moved country and lost around 2/3rd of my TV and Film library, box sets partially complete, films disappeared, TV shows too.

by vr46 2y ago

Good, I hope they hammer Apple. I moved country and lost around 2/3rd of my TV and Film library, box sets partially complete, films disappeared, TV shows too. I was attempting to build a small collection of decent stuff and didn't expect that I would have to move country, much less that my library decided to stay behind. So pissed off.

mingus88 2y ago
I feel for you but this isn’t an Apple problem You didn’t own any content to build a collection with; you held licenses. The content owners are the studios and they decide where to sell their content, in which legal jurisdictions and for how much. As a license holder you don’t have rights to the content in every jurisdiction. As much as I hate to rep with folk like the MPAA if there are different laws in different areas, they can’t have a one size fits all solution. (I sail the seven seas as my one size fits all solution because if buying isn’t owning then…)
- vr46 2y ago
  It very much is an Apple problem because I purchased my stuff from them and not from anyone else. The buck has to stop there. Secondly, I already bought the thing, I don’t care that the thing is no longer sold where I happen to be standing. The rights holders already got their money. If retail suddenly means that one side gets to renegotiate the deal, then yeah, I think we have a problem. Give me the money back. I’m well aware how licensing content works, I just want post-purchase shenanigans to stop. Any space on that boat?
  - fn-mote 2y ago
    > [...] I just want post-purchase shenanigans to stop. I think many people here support that. It's the blaming of Apple that we are finding problematic. You know the laws and want somebody to blame. I don't like it either. I would definitely support changes. I keep my collection 90% DRM free for this reason, though. Well, I suppose my DVD's aren't DRM free, but you can't make my physical player disappear by flipping a switch in Cupertino. [Ed: Ok, I read TFA. The connection between the geo-locked apple ID's and the per-country availability & pricing isn't well explained.]
    - xg15 2y ago
      > It's the blaming of Apple that we are finding problematic. I know. As you guys do in absolutely every thread vaguely critical of Apple, without exception, no matter the topic.
      - nozzlegear 2y ago
        This story could just as easily be about content licensed through Google or Microsoft, no? But Apple has the most popular streaming service outside of the EU, so Apple is the one that people talk about.
    - vr46 2y ago
      So here's the thing - the law isn't the problem - because you have no idea in advance how each individual piece of media, film, song, whatever, will be treated depending upon your own circumstances. And this actually changes from time to time. e.g. Bought all eight films in the collection of a well-known series about a wizarding school. Move country. Film number 4 vanishes into thin-air. Just gone. Have to buy film again in current country. e.g. Bought entire collection of classic British comedy about some senior governmental tomfoolery. Whole collection vanishes on move. Then about three months later reappears. Then a few weeks later disappears. Then reappears again. Then disappears. So the laws aren't causing this, but they do need to resolve this. Licensing media might be harder than the Good Friday Agreement, but I refuse to accept that it's impossible, and consumers should just suck it up. I don't have any kind of contract with anyone but Apple, so they really should take responsibility. I keep buying CDs at €1 or £1 each from the local secondhand-kaufhäuser or charity shop, and the house is littered with thousands of CDs and the only break-up clause I would worry about with regard to those is the one with my other half, not with who I bought them from.
- margana 2y ago
  We simply need the same that we have for music - the ability to legally purchase an offline digital copy that we can use on whatever device we want to. This is a completely solved problem. In essence, movies and TV shows aren't any different from music in that regard. The only issue is that there hasn't been enough regulatory scrutiny regarding this when it comes to videos. We need governments to step in, force the same system that we have for music also for video content, and slap anyone who violates the regulations with billions of dollars of fines.
st3fan 2y ago
It is not Apple. It is the actual owners of the media. The movie and music industry. They decide where a (version of a) movie or even a single song is available. Just like with Apps it is the developers and not Apple. Developers can check the “worldwide” box and be done with it. But for various reasons sometimes you have to exclude a country. I’ve been in a position where legal asked to not publish a specific app in some countries because local laws made that app “difficult” to exist. The EU cannot fix this.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > The EU cannot fix this Of course it can. Ban country-specific licensing arrangements in the EU.
  - st3fan 2y ago
    Within the EU. Yup. Outside not so much.
    - rrr_oh_man 2y ago
      Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
      - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
        The real problem is that national media regulators would have to give up sovereignty for this to work, which they never will.
        yxhuvud 2y ago
        They wouldn't be asked. The EU can legislate in the name of a common market and any law or regulation that doesn't conform can be challenged.
        JumpCrisscross 2y ago
userbinator 2y ago
You never actually owned any of that. This is a perfect example of why downloading and storing locally is the way to go.
marcus_holmes 2y ago
This is part of why I pirate stuff. I spent a few years as a nomad, and the amount of shit you have to deal with when moving country is ridiculous. It's fine if you're just on holiday and have a consistent country of residence, but actually moving country seems like a total edge case for half the services. Spotify playlists that alter strangely from country to country. Any of the streaming services radically alter their available shows from country to country. Books that you thought you bought on Amazon suddenly disappear from your Kindle. And, of course, the language problem. Most of the services assume that if you live in a country then you speak the major language of that country. I mean, I get it, but they know that I've set my preferences to English in their app. My browser tells them what language I prefer. I don't understand why my IP address overrules all of that. Anyway, all of this goes away if you just pirate it all. You can get what you want, in the language you want, the format you want, and store it on your hard drive so you can play it while offline. It all just gets easier and better. It's got nothing to do with the cost - I'd happily pay for the content, as long as they actually let me own it.

by vr46 2y ago

mingus88 2y ago

I feel for you but this isn’t an Apple problem You didn’t own any content to build a collection with; you held licenses. The content owners are the studios and they decide where to sell their content, in which legal jurisdictions and for how much. As a license holder you don’t have rights to the content in every jurisdiction. As much as I hate to rep with folk like the MPAA if there are different laws in different areas, they can’t have a one size fits all solution. (I sail the seven seas as my one size fits all solution because if buying isn’t owning then…)

vr46 2y ago
It very much is an Apple problem because I purchased my stuff from them and not from anyone else. The buck has to stop there. Secondly, I already bought the thing, I don’t care that the thing is no longer sold where I happen to be standing. The rights holders already got their money. If retail suddenly means that one side gets to renegotiate the deal, then yeah, I think we have a problem. Give me the money back. I’m well aware how licensing content works, I just want post-purchase shenanigans to stop. Any space on that boat?
- fn-mote 2y ago
  > [...] I just want post-purchase shenanigans to stop. I think many people here support that. It's the blaming of Apple that we are finding problematic. You know the laws and want somebody to blame. I don't like it either. I would definitely support changes. I keep my collection 90% DRM free for this reason, though. Well, I suppose my DVD's aren't DRM free, but you can't make my physical player disappear by flipping a switch in Cupertino. [Ed: Ok, I read TFA. The connection between the geo-locked apple ID's and the per-country availability & pricing isn't well explained.]
  - xg15 2y ago
    > It's the blaming of Apple that we are finding problematic. I know. As you guys do in absolutely every thread vaguely critical of Apple, without exception, no matter the topic.
    - nozzlegear 2y ago
      This story could just as easily be about content licensed through Google or Microsoft, no? But Apple has the most popular streaming service outside of the EU, so Apple is the one that people talk about.
  - vr46 2y ago
    So here's the thing - the law isn't the problem - because you have no idea in advance how each individual piece of media, film, song, whatever, will be treated depending upon your own circumstances. And this actually changes from time to time. e.g. Bought all eight films in the collection of a well-known series about a wizarding school. Move country. Film number 4 vanishes into thin-air. Just gone. Have to buy film again in current country. e.g. Bought entire collection of classic British comedy about some senior governmental tomfoolery. Whole collection vanishes on move. Then about three months later reappears. Then a few weeks later disappears. Then reappears again. Then disappears. So the laws aren't causing this, but they do need to resolve this. Licensing media might be harder than the Good Friday Agreement, but I refuse to accept that it's impossible, and consumers should just suck it up. I don't have any kind of contract with anyone but Apple, so they really should take responsibility. I keep buying CDs at €1 or £1 each from the local secondhand-kaufhäuser or charity shop, and the house is littered with thousands of CDs and the only break-up clause I would worry about with regard to those is the one with my other half, not with who I bought them from.
margana 2y ago
We simply need the same that we have for music - the ability to legally purchase an offline digital copy that we can use on whatever device we want to. This is a completely solved problem. In essence, movies and TV shows aren't any different from music in that regard. The only issue is that there hasn't been enough regulatory scrutiny regarding this when it comes to videos. We need governments to step in, force the same system that we have for music also for video content, and slap anyone who violates the regulations with billions of dollars of fines.

st3fan 2y ago

It is not Apple. It is the actual owners of the media. The movie and music industry. They decide where a (version of a) movie or even a single song is available. Just like with Apps it is the developers and not Apple. Developers can check the “worldwide” box and be done with it. But for various reasons sometimes you have to exclude a country. I’ve been in a position where legal asked to not publish a specific app in some countries because local laws made that app “difficult” to exist. The EU cannot fix this.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> The EU cannot fix this Of course it can. Ban country-specific licensing arrangements in the EU.
- st3fan 2y ago
  Within the EU. Yup. Outside not so much.
  - rrr_oh_man 2y ago
    Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
    - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
      The real problem is that national media regulators would have to give up sovereignty for this to work, which they never will.
      - yxhuvud 2y ago
        They wouldn't be asked. The EU can legislate in the name of a common market and any law or regulation that doesn't conform can be challenged.
        JumpCrisscross 2y ago

userbinator 2y ago

You never actually owned any of that. This is a perfect example of why downloading and storing locally is the way to go.

marcus_holmes 2y ago

This is part of why I pirate stuff. I spent a few years as a nomad, and the amount of shit you have to deal with when moving country is ridiculous. It's fine if you're just on holiday and have a consistent country of residence, but actually moving country seems like a total edge case for half the services. Spotify playlists that alter strangely from country to country. Any of the streaming services radically alter their available shows from country to country. Books that you thought you bought on Amazon suddenly disappear from your Kindle. And, of course, the language problem. Most of the services assume that if you live in a country then you speak the major language of that country. I mean, I get it, but they know that I've set my preferences to English in their app. My browser tells them what language I prefer. I don't understand why my IP address overrules all of that. Anyway, all of this goes away if you just pirate it all. You can get what you want, in the language you want, the format you want, and store it on your hard drive so you can play it while offline. It all just gets easier and better. It's got nothing to do with the cost - I'd happily pay for the content, as long as they actually let me own it.