3 ms·

> It never stopped a thing. Imperfect does not mean ineffective. Every time you make something more difficult it reduces the number of people who will do it.

> It never stopped a thing. Imperfect does not mean ineffective. Every time you make something more difficult it reduces the number of people who will do it. Pardon my 1990s metaphor, but: * If you have no DRM and people can just share the install disk, they will do that and piracy will be universal * If you implement a CD check, yes, people with CD burners can bypass it but those are far fewer. Yes, industrial shops can mass-produce pirated CDs but not everyone is willing to buy those. * If you implement even more stringent restrictions such that duplicating the CDs is significantly harder (to continue the metaphor, do something weird with the sectors that requires CloneCD instead of more generic ISO-ripping software) and now you're down to people with specialized hardware/software * If you go further and implement software DRM checks, they can be bypassed, but now we're down to the portion of the market willing to download sketchy crack programs that totally aren't viruses, the host of the website swears. This is a *much smaller* group than those that would just grab an official install disc from their friends. etc., etc. These measures do not have to be perfect to be effective. There can still be pirated copies available, but if the effort to get to them is sufficiently higher than buying the official copy (and that threshold is different for different people) they have served their purpose. Most techie people I know ripped their DVD collections. Many ripped their Blurays but plenty didn't because it requires specialized software to get around the DRM. Only a handful of them have ripped their UHD discs which require specialized software AND specific hardware AND flashing a specific firmware on that hardware.

recursive 8mo ago
In my case, the in-browser DRM is what is making things more difficult. Whenever something uses the DRM checks, one or both of my monitors turn off. I am not interested in troubleshooting this beyond disabling DRM in my browsers. I don't generally pirate any media, but it might actually be easier than troubleshooting this hardware problem.
foxglacier 8mo ago
With streaming content, the barrier to just copying it is already as high as pirating. You don't just have a file you can email to your friend -- you have to install and use software to capture the video and then handle the big file that results, on your phone, which is awkward. And that just gives you one movie which in isolation is barely worth anyone's attention to begin with. By the time you've figured out all that, you could have just figured out how to torrent, or even easier, find a free Chinese website that streams the pirated content to your browser just like the original service.
- ACCount37 8mo ago
  Pretty much. The path of "figure out how to screen capture the entire DRM-unprotected movie as a video and send that entire file" has about the same level of resistance as "find a link to a pirate streaming site that already has the movie on it and send that link". Maybe more.
  - gruez 8mo ago
    >The path of "figure out how to screen capture the entire DRM-unprotected movie as a video and send that entire file" has about the same level of resistance [...] The biggest flaw with this logic is that screen capturing tools specifically don't work on DRM protected content. Moreover if you're trying to imply making a screen recording is some sort of black magic to normies, you must be living in the 2010s. Nowadays both iOS and Android have built-in screen recorders, and on desktops you can use something like loom, which works off a browser.
    - ACCount37 8mo ago
      The biggest flaw with your logic is the utter lack of it. If I could rip K-Pop Demon Hunters with a screen capture app to obtain a file I could share with a friend, I still wouldn't do it. Because finding a torrent is simpler and faster. I would get a very similar file, but so much faster, because I didn't have to keep the screen running at x1 for the full duration. And finding a shady website that has it available is simpler and faster still.
      - gruez 8mo ago
        >If I could rip K-Pop Demon Hunters with a screen capture app to obtain a file I could share with a friend, I still wouldn't do it. Well no, because the lack of DRM wouldn't just mean you can manually screen record netflix. It also means you (or someone else) can write an app to screen record netfilx for you, or skip that altogether, similar to something like yt-dlp. After all, if somebody wants to rip youtube (DRM free), they don't screenrecord it, they find some random website/tool off google.
logifail 8mo ago
> If you have no DRM and people can just share the install disk, they will do that and piracy will be universal There are plenty of consumers who are happy to pay a reasonable price for an easy-to-access product. The question is, does adding DRM onto your product push more of those consumers towards piracy than it does towards paying...?
YmiYugy 8mo ago
The vast majority of DRM protected content (or at least majority by watch time) available in UHD via torrent in a matter of hours. People like to stay away from torrents, because it carries significant risk in many jurisdictions. But the only reason UHD versions are only available via torrent and often not as streams or downloads is bandwidth cost. I can't see how it has any thing todo with DRM. The only thing it maybe cut's down is sharing within friend groups. But even then it only takes one to figure out how to set up a VPN for torrenting.
- gruez 8mo ago
  >>Most techie people I know ripped their DVD collections. Many ripped their Blurays but plenty didn't because it requires specialized software to get around the DRM. Only a handful of them have ripped their UHD discs which require specialized software AND specific hardware AND flashing a specific firmware on that hardware. >The vast majority of DRM protected content (or at least majority by watch time) available in UHD via torrent in a matter of hours. People like to stay away from torrents, because it carries significant risk in many jurisdictions. Sounds like you're proving his point? If stripping DRM is so trivial that anyone can pop in a bluray and rip it (like ripping CDs in itunes), piracy would arguably far worse. Pirates today have to brave shady torrent sites and the risk of getting C&D letters. Asking your friend to make a copy is far more accessible.
  - messe 8mo ago
    > Pirates today have to brave shady torrent sites and the risk of getting C&D letters. Asking your friend to make a copy is far more accessible. Or torrent through a VPN, which many people have access to already.
  - ACCount37 8mo ago
    No. The bottleneck isn't "getting the files", it's sharing them. If you can ask a friend with basic tech know-how to "rip a CD", you can also ask a friend with basic tech know-how and a VPN to "rip a movie".
    - 8mo ago

recursive 8mo ago

In my case, the in-browser DRM is what is making things more difficult. Whenever something uses the DRM checks, one or both of my monitors turn off. I am not interested in troubleshooting this beyond disabling DRM in my browsers. I don't generally pirate any media, but it might actually be easier than troubleshooting this hardware problem.

foxglacier 8mo ago

With streaming content, the barrier to just copying it is already as high as pirating. You don't just have a file you can email to your friend -- you have to install and use software to capture the video and then handle the big file that results, on your phone, which is awkward. And that just gives you one movie which in isolation is barely worth anyone's attention to begin with. By the time you've figured out all that, you could have just figured out how to torrent, or even easier, find a free Chinese website that streams the pirated content to your browser just like the original service.

ACCount37 8mo ago
Pretty much. The path of "figure out how to screen capture the entire DRM-unprotected movie as a video and send that entire file" has about the same level of resistance as "find a link to a pirate streaming site that already has the movie on it and send that link". Maybe more.
- gruez 8mo ago
  >The path of "figure out how to screen capture the entire DRM-unprotected movie as a video and send that entire file" has about the same level of resistance [...] The biggest flaw with this logic is that screen capturing tools specifically don't work on DRM protected content. Moreover if you're trying to imply making a screen recording is some sort of black magic to normies, you must be living in the 2010s. Nowadays both iOS and Android have built-in screen recorders, and on desktops you can use something like loom, which works off a browser.
  - ACCount37 8mo ago
    The biggest flaw with your logic is the utter lack of it. If I could rip K-Pop Demon Hunters with a screen capture app to obtain a file I could share with a friend, I still wouldn't do it. Because finding a torrent is simpler and faster. I would get a very similar file, but so much faster, because I didn't have to keep the screen running at x1 for the full duration. And finding a shady website that has it available is simpler and faster still.
    - gruez 8mo ago
      >If I could rip K-Pop Demon Hunters with a screen capture app to obtain a file I could share with a friend, I still wouldn't do it. Well no, because the lack of DRM wouldn't just mean you can manually screen record netflix. It also means you (or someone else) can write an app to screen record netfilx for you, or skip that altogether, similar to something like yt-dlp. After all, if somebody wants to rip youtube (DRM free), they don't screenrecord it, they find some random website/tool off google.

logifail 8mo ago

> If you have no DRM and people can just share the install disk, they will do that and piracy will be universal There are plenty of consumers who are happy to pay a reasonable price for an easy-to-access product. The question is, does adding DRM onto your product push more of those consumers towards piracy than it does towards paying...?

YmiYugy 8mo ago

The vast majority of DRM protected content (or at least majority by watch time) available in UHD via torrent in a matter of hours. People like to stay away from torrents, because it carries significant risk in many jurisdictions. But the only reason UHD versions are only available via torrent and often not as streams or downloads is bandwidth cost. I can't see how it has any thing todo with DRM. The only thing it maybe cut's down is sharing within friend groups. But even then it only takes one to figure out how to set up a VPN for torrenting.

gruez 8mo ago
>>Most techie people I know ripped their DVD collections. Many ripped their Blurays but plenty didn't because it requires specialized software to get around the DRM. Only a handful of them have ripped their UHD discs which require specialized software AND specific hardware AND flashing a specific firmware on that hardware. >The vast majority of DRM protected content (or at least majority by watch time) available in UHD via torrent in a matter of hours. People like to stay away from torrents, because it carries significant risk in many jurisdictions. Sounds like you're proving his point? If stripping DRM is so trivial that anyone can pop in a bluray and rip it (like ripping CDs in itunes), piracy would arguably far worse. Pirates today have to brave shady torrent sites and the risk of getting C&D letters. Asking your friend to make a copy is far more accessible.
- messe 8mo ago
  > Pirates today have to brave shady torrent sites and the risk of getting C&D letters. Asking your friend to make a copy is far more accessible. Or torrent through a VPN, which many people have access to already.
- ACCount37 8mo ago
  No. The bottleneck isn't "getting the files", it's sharing them. If you can ask a friend with basic tech know-how to "rip a CD", you can also ask a friend with basic tech know-how and a VPN to "rip a movie".
  - 8mo ago