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Piracy The Internet Entertainment

Online Piracy Is More Popular Than Ever, Research Suggests (torrentfreak.com) 73

Posted by msmash from the never-ending-quest dept.
An anonymous user writes: A broad and detailed report from piracy tracking outfit MUSO shows that visits to pirate sites went up last year. The company recorded more than 300 billion visits in 2017, which suggests that "piracy is more popular than ever." TV remained the most popular category and most pirates prefer streaming over torrents or direct downloading.
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Online Piracy Is More Popular Than Ever, Research Suggests More

Online Piracy Is More Popular Than Ever, Research Suggests

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  • Sounds legit (Score:5, Funny)

    by Snotnose ( 212196 ) on Thursday March 22, 2018 @03:04PM (#56307221)
    So, an outfit that makes it's money fighting "piracy" releases a report that "piracy" is on the upswing. Who woulda thunk it?
  • Haven't really posted at /. for awhile. What happened to including a submitter's username on their submission? I kinda enjoyed seeing the different usernames on the front page, now all I see are the username of editors and senior editors. When did this change? And why?

  • Piracy and purchasing coexist peacefully (Score:3)

    by TheMiddleRoad ( 1153113 ) on Thursday March 22, 2018 @03:09PM (#56307267)

    I know lots of people who pirate. They also pay for lots of media. They go to concerts and fan events. The popular artists and companies tend to get money one way or another.

  • Pulling content = Piracy (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The content on legal services is shrinking all the time, so we are forced to pirate to get what we paid for. Plus the BBC dosen't get to complain about piracy because we pay our licence fees.

  • Well, duh (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Voyager529 ( 1363959 ) <voyager529@ya[ ].com ['hoo' in gap]> on Thursday March 22, 2018 @03:14PM (#56307317)

    The reason the streaming options are popular is because it's entirely possible for nontechnical people to call up their technical friend (and by "technical" I mean "can follow a Youtube tutorial"), hand them a Fire Stick, and add streaming plugins. These people aren't doing anything terribly different than what they do with Netflix or Hulu, just a different icon.

    Moreover, the experience involves "having all the things in one place". No going to Netflix for this show (except that one episode where there's a license discrepancy over a song's usage so it's unavailable), then Hulu for that one, Crackle for the next, then CBS All Access for yet another one, HBO Go for still another...it doesn't matter what show someone wants to see, all the episodes are available, on demand.

    Netflix mostly-had this situation under control, then everyone wanted their pound of flesh, which turned Netflix into half original content, and half "the refrigerator the night before grocery shopping". Even if the content producers wanted to charge a premium for their section of content, but still allow Netflix to handle the streaming, I think that model would make everyone happy..but alas, it does not.

    Finally, I've always kinda wondered what's in it for the sites who serve the streaming files. At least torrent sites can say "community" and "advertising/donation revenue", but the sites that serve the streams can claim none of the above, have to pay the bandwidth and server bills, and have a bullseye painted on them from the *AA...so, all of the liability, none of the perks. I don't get it :/.

    P.S. in case anyone was wondering, I don't own one of these devices, nor have I ever modded such a device for anyone.

    • Re:Well, duh (Score:5, Interesting)

      by AlanBDee ( 2261976 ) on Thursday March 22, 2018 @03:33PM (#56307447)

      Moreover, the experience involves "having all the things in one place". No going to Netflix for this show (except that one episode where there's a license discrepancy over a song's usage so it's unavailable), then Hulu for that one, Crackle for the next, then CBS All Access for yet another one, HBO Go for still another...it doesn't matter what show someone wants to see, all the episodes are available, on demand.

      I've found this website very useful as a single place to go to see what the different services have: https://www.justwatch.com/us [justwatch.com]

      Finally, I've always kinda wondered what's in it for the sites who serve the streaming files. At least torrent sites can say "community" and "advertising/donation revenue", but the sites that serve the streams can claim none of the above, have to pay the bandwidth and server bills, and have a bullseye painted on them from the *AA...so, all of the liability, none of the perks. I don't get it :/.

      Where's the money to pay for all the infrastructure required to stream? My guess is that it comes from ad revenue that's provided from state sponsored ads that contain zero-day exploits that most reputable ad services wouldn't show. It makes sense to me that these state sponsors or criminal organizations would be willing to pay higher premiums to serve these ads.

    • Roku search works for us, it at least easily lets you find where something is. Of course most of the streaming options outside of the three Majors (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon) are unbearably laden with forced ads.

  • I remember my last "piracy fix", it was a cd called BOI (best of Internet). After that, I just went opensource for everything.

    What piracy? We have Netflix and a dozen other services without ads served for less than 10 bucks a month? I don't get it. And for software, we have TONS of open source equivalents. In fact - I made a good living of Blender 3D (which where an open source alternative to 3D studio Max and Maya) and made a good living of it doing 3D work for some of the bigger companies for years (I jus

    • What piracy? We have Netflix and a dozen other services without ads served for less than 10 bucks a month? I don't get it.

      The problem is the dozens part. With each of them $5-10 a month.
      Not one has almost all the content.
      I might do a streaming service, if I can get 90% of the content and not 10.

      • > Not one has almost all the content.

        ^^^ THIS.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by jwhyche ( 6192 )

          An the fact that on any service there is no guarantee that the content will be there tomorrow. There are a number of series that I have streamed off Netflix in the past only to find them gone when I wanted to go back and watch them later.

          There there are things like Disney pulling all its contents off Netflix to try to milk another subscription off of us. There are a lot of, pirates, that I know that collect tv shows for just this reason. They want to have that beloved sitcom or movie they grew up wat

    • Sure Netflix only costs $10 a month, but it is mostly bargain bin stuff. The kind of stuff you would find in a $3 DVD sale.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by jwhyche ( 6192 )

        Some of it is. But some since netflix started producing its on content this is becoming less of a issue. For the first time in years I actually sat down and watched each episode of a show. Normally, I will start to watch something, pause it, and come back to it later. Some times days later.

        Oh, that show was Altered Carbon. If you like Blade Runner, I highly recommend this series. An the book is pretty fucking good too.

    • Depends on where you live. If it's outside of the US or the UK, the selection on Netflix is decidedly poorer than what you're accustomed to. Some series never make their way here or they do so months later. Buying e-books, I still regularly get the message "this content is not available in your country" even though they are happy to send me a physical copy. Blurays are often significantly more expensive here. It's this sort of crap that drives me to pirate stuff. Except music. Because I can already g

    • Re:Oh RLY? (Score:5, Informative)

      by UnknownSoldier ( 67820 ) on Thursday March 22, 2018 @04:28PM (#56307915)

      > We have Netflix and a dozen other services without ads served for less than 10 bucks a month? I don't get it

      Streaming (quality) doesn't compare to BluRay (quality).

      > And for software, we have TONS of open source equivalents.

      I always look for and use an OSS version first and then fall back to a commercial version only if the OSS versions doesn't do what I need but let's be realistic. There just aren't valid OSS replacements for everything (yet.)

      * Gimp is still crap compared to Photoshop. And yes, I use both -- both professionally and personally.

      * I don't see any alternative to Keyscape's [spectrasonics.net] 77 GB VST piano library that sells for $399.

      That said, overall, yes Open Source Software is getting there. I certainly find Inkscape a helluva lot easier to use Adobe Illustrator.

      And thankfully there are lists that make it much easier to find an OSS replacement.

      http://www.damicon.com/resourc... [damicon.com]
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

    • > We have Netflix and a dozen other services without ads served for less than 10 bucks a month? I don't get it.

      1. Can I watch the latest STD (Star Trek Disaster) on Netflix? No, because I have to sign up for some bullshit CBS All Access. BUT if I'm _outside_ the US then I _can_ watch it.

      Stop with the fucking geo-blocking already due to shitty licencing greed.

      2. On Netflix can I watch: Seinfeld ? South Park? The Sopranos? Game of Thrones?

      No, again, due to shitty licencing greed.

      Customers DON'T want a mil

  • \t's only logical (Score:3)

    by bobstreo ( 1320787 ) on Thursday March 22, 2018 @03:17PM (#56307343)

    Content producers make it so hard (and expensive) for consumers to purchase their wares,

    The existence of multiple separate disjointed competing services makes it harder and more expensive to watch things that are freely broadcast in most places.

    If you have paid for content, there is no long term plan allowing access when that content provider inevitably fails.

    They're still trying to get rid of actual physical media so everything is "in the cloud" When is the last time you "bought a CD/DVD/Blu-Ray?

    Netflix has probably done more good than harm in reducing "unauthorized viewing" than any anti-piracy group.. But even their content disappears over time.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by arth1 ( 260657 )

      Netflix has probably done more good than harm in reducing "unauthorized viewing" than any anti-piracy group.. But even their content disappears over time.

      More so than ever. Netflix has less than half the number of shows and movies of what it did a few years ago.
      If you can't find it on Netflix, can't find it on Hulu, can't find it on Amazon Prime, and it's not in the stores, the way to piracy is not long.

      Especially BBC content is very tempting to pirate for us in the US, because BBC America either doesn't provide the content at all, or it's seriously abridged and censored, and BBC UK refuses to sell to US customers and directs them to BBC America.
      In those ca

      • > If you can't find it on Netflix, can't find it on Hulu,
        > can't find it on Amazon Prime, and it's not in the
        > stores, the way to piracy is not long.

        For that matter, who wants to hunt through Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO Go/Now, CBS AllAccess, that new Disney service, Vudu, Crunchyroll, Dramafever, and so on and so on and so on; every time they want to watch something? For a lot of people, they're either a Netflix person or a Hulu person, and if it's not on their first choice of service, the next st

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Rakarra ( 112805 )

      Now, every single for-pay streaming site generates their own content, and that's a conflict of interest for the consumer side, as those streaming sites will not lease out (certainly not for a reasonable amount) their original content to other streaming sites. So if I want to watch Game of Thrones, I need to subscribe to HBO. If I want to watch Black Mirror, I need to subscribe to Netflix. If I want to watch The Tick, I need to subscribe to Amazon Prime. If I want to watch Castle Rock, I get to subscribe to

    • When is the last time you "bought a CD/DVD/Blu-Ray?

      January 2018, The complete series' of
      Mr. Bean [amazon.com] and Due South [amazon.com] for for $14.95 and $19.99 respectively.

  • If I download a TV show and pay for cable or satellite AND a DVR, then what exactly am I doing wrong?

    What am I "pirating" except to use more of the bandwidth I paid for so I don't have to manually skip commercials? Or to get a version of a TV show that ISNT cut off at the beginning or end by 5 minutes due to schedule skew? Or a version of a TV show without a quarter-screen radar image because somewhere near me is rain?

    Where is the moral wrong?

  • Wow (Score:3, Funny)

    by xlsior ( 524145 ) on Thursday March 22, 2018 @04:06PM (#56307717) Homepage
    At the same time there are more people that ever on the internet as well - I mean, what are the odds?

  • You have Cable TV struggling to bring the average cable bill to $200/month.

    But you have cord cutters and people downsizing their TV package as they realize they don't need 200 channels plus 17 variants of ESPN, plus their high-def digital versions.

    So networks are all rolling out their own streaming services.
    "ONLY" $10-20/month. With one or two shows apiece per network that are actually worthwhile.

    So, if you're an avid TV watcher, your bill for Internet + streaming just so HAPPENS to be around $200/month.

    Is

  • Let us BUY the damn shows / movies (Score:3)

    by UnknownSoldier ( 67820 ) on Thursday March 22, 2018 @04:17PM (#56307813)

    Gee, when people can't buy their favorite 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's TV shows ... what do you think is going to happen? A certain percentage of people will always resort to piracy.

    Piracy just shows that there is a _demand._ Let me buy the entire series, say Mash, for $20 instead of price-gouging me $120 / season like ST:TNG used to do.

    What I don't understand is how the "long tail" is completely ignored in film / television but the games industry has embraced with sites such as Good Old Games (gog.com) and Steam.

  • ..assuming this article isn't clickbait of some sort, or like someone else commented, it's bought-and-paid-for by a so-called 'anti pirating company'.
    Around 10 years ago I dumped cable and started using an antenna, contenting myself with what I could get for free, because the economy sucked, wasn't making much, and it finally got to the point where I decided paying for hundreds of shitty channels, compressed within a millimeter of their lives, when I only actually watched a small fraction of them, made no

  • Piracy? (Score:3)

    by hackel ( 10452 ) on Thursday March 22, 2018 @04:42PM (#56308023) Journal

    So now they're trying to label streaming as "piracy?" You've got to be kidding me! These people will stop at nothing to maintain their 1950s business model and tarnish public perception with misinformation.

  • People, keep safe from piracy : don't travel by boat.

  • If you wish to stream movies, you have to get an account at Netflix for $10/month (or whatever). Then, a new interesting show comes out on HBO, that's also $10/month. Then Amazon Prime has even more interesting content at $10/month. And then you want ESPN because gotta have that football coverage... For $10 a month. Et cetera.

    So if I were to get all of this legally I would need to easily burn $50-$70 a month, which amounts to $300-$400 a year. I would be willing to pay say $2 per episode of a certain series

  • Since they started moving everything off of netflix again and requiring who-knows how many active subscriptions at $10-15 a piece, each to its own uniquely flavored netflix clone, then how is this any fucking surprise to anyone?
  • Is Kodi considered piracy? I was thinking about getting Amazon Fire Stick and getting Kodi, but didn't want to get in trouble for watching pirated content. Or is this a whole different ballgame.. Just curious for any input.

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