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This is the first year I have cancelled all my subs. Used to be a TPB regular around the time it took off. Years later I tried to go legit and have had subs wit

by mojo74 4mo ago

This is the first year I have cancelled all my subs. Used to be a TPB regular around the time it took off. Years later I tried to go legit and have had subs with all the major streamers (netflix, disney, amazon etc) But the way you get squeezed year on year for what was standard before e.g. 4K or no ads to be gradually offered worse terms and degraded output quality just bites after a while. I can't justify spending €20-30 per month on what isn't the best quality available for the content on offer.

justaman123 4mo ago
Yeah all the streaming services have gotten so bad and they are adding ads and they are lowering quality and they are getting too expensive. Arghgg I say
ravenstine 4mo ago
Plus I've found "legit" to be a moving goal post. One day a show is on one platform, the next it's on another, or it becomes unavailable except for [insert random foreign country here]. Even HD is a ripoff sometimes when half the episode comes in all compressed looking. They'll blame my bandwidth except I have no problem streaming an episode without adaptive compression over Bittorrent. People can say what they want about piracy, but it continues to be what I consider a necessity against culturally important media being further tainted by rent seekers looking to make another buck in any way they can.
- gk-- 4mo ago
  i feel like this is an important piece. even if you want to do the "right thing", is it really supporting these platforms that horse-trade content in huge multi-billion dollar deals just so they can increase their userbase with the intent to jam more ads down their throat? have any of these platforms _improved_ the experience for the average creator? they're poison, it almost makes it feel more righteous to steal.
  - rkomorn 4mo ago
    You can stop doing the right thing without doing the wrong thing.
- lobf 4mo ago
  Yeah, I was a pirate as a kid. I said “give me a place where I can pay to have legal access to everything and I will.” Then Netflix came along and introduced streaming. I was happy. It began to fragment a bit, I could live with that. Now it’s 10 different platforms with rotating content, I need a 3rd party website to know where and when to watch a particular thing, it’s a mess. Not only that, unlike with cable they make it difficult to record the content they’re serving me so I can watch later myself. I am now a pirate again.
  - jonnylynch1974 4mo ago
    I've went through the exact same cycle. Also, a year ago I thought I'd gift my elderly dad a Netflix subscription for a year. Just because it was easy for him to use on the TV. When I seen the price and checked the TV shows and movies on it I realised how much stuff was NOT on it! Anyway - I bought a NAS instead and start running a plex server. Everyone's a winner!
WarOnPrivacy 4mo ago
> Used to be a TPB regular around the time it took off. Years later I tried to go legit I still pay for subs but never utilize them because piracy is a superior experience.
threethirtytwo 4mo ago
I mean in the end this is still theft. Someone spent time and effort working on this. And you took a shit on that effort because it was inconvenient not to. Like the creators of said content you stole would not approve of what you did. I totally get it. I'm a thief as well. But I guess the difference is, I don't need to rationalize everything into some sort of twisted sense justice. I steal because I don't care what the creator thinks.
- 2muchcoffeeman 4mo ago
  I truly feel old when we are rehashing the same thing that happened when TPB, Limewire etc were taking off. Down to the arguments being made why this is “theft”. I also can’t believe that the arguments by the general pop have shifted to support multi billion dollar companies and their narrative.
  - marysol5 4mo ago
    Just because people do buy the product the legitimate way, and provide the creators with revenue, doesn't negate that /you/ are committing a theft. A loss of a sale, is still a loss of a sale. It's vastly different to /not/ selling something.
    - account42 4mo ago
      There is nothing to negate because there was never a theft in the first place. Consult the laws of your country before making wild assertions and ask a lawyer if you cannot understand them yourself.
      - threethirtytwo 4mo ago
        It’s like saying the death penalty isn’t murder because the law says it’s not. I guess in your mind hitler isn’t a mass murderer because what he was doing was technically legal under his regime. To each their own if that’s how you want to logically frame your moral logic. Personally imo, if I create something and that something is MY work of art and what I put my own blood sweat and tears into, and I want it to be inconvenient to watch because that’s my prerogative, that doesn’t give you the fucking right to watch it. I don’t want someone like you watching it.

by mojo74 4mo ago

justaman123 4mo ago

Yeah all the streaming services have gotten so bad and they are adding ads and they are lowering quality and they are getting too expensive. Arghgg I say

ravenstine 4mo ago

Plus I've found "legit" to be a moving goal post. One day a show is on one platform, the next it's on another, or it becomes unavailable except for [insert random foreign country here]. Even HD is a ripoff sometimes when half the episode comes in all compressed looking. They'll blame my bandwidth except I have no problem streaming an episode without adaptive compression over Bittorrent. People can say what they want about piracy, but it continues to be what I consider a necessity against culturally important media being further tainted by rent seekers looking to make another buck in any way they can.

gk-- 4mo ago
i feel like this is an important piece. even if you want to do the "right thing", is it really supporting these platforms that horse-trade content in huge multi-billion dollar deals just so they can increase their userbase with the intent to jam more ads down their throat? have any of these platforms _improved_ the experience for the average creator? they're poison, it almost makes it feel more righteous to steal.
- rkomorn 4mo ago
  You can stop doing the right thing without doing the wrong thing.
lobf 4mo ago
Yeah, I was a pirate as a kid. I said “give me a place where I can pay to have legal access to everything and I will.” Then Netflix came along and introduced streaming. I was happy. It began to fragment a bit, I could live with that. Now it’s 10 different platforms with rotating content, I need a 3rd party website to know where and when to watch a particular thing, it’s a mess. Not only that, unlike with cable they make it difficult to record the content they’re serving me so I can watch later myself. I am now a pirate again.
- jonnylynch1974 4mo ago
  I've went through the exact same cycle. Also, a year ago I thought I'd gift my elderly dad a Netflix subscription for a year. Just because it was easy for him to use on the TV. When I seen the price and checked the TV shows and movies on it I realised how much stuff was NOT on it! Anyway - I bought a NAS instead and start running a plex server. Everyone's a winner!

WarOnPrivacy 4mo ago

> Used to be a TPB regular around the time it took off. Years later I tried to go legit I still pay for subs but never utilize them because piracy is a superior experience.

threethirtytwo 4mo ago

I mean in the end this is still theft. Someone spent time and effort working on this. And you took a shit on that effort because it was inconvenient not to. Like the creators of said content you stole would not approve of what you did. I totally get it. I'm a thief as well. But I guess the difference is, I don't need to rationalize everything into some sort of twisted sense justice. I steal because I don't care what the creator thinks.

2muchcoffeeman 4mo ago
I truly feel old when we are rehashing the same thing that happened when TPB, Limewire etc were taking off. Down to the arguments being made why this is “theft”. I also can’t believe that the arguments by the general pop have shifted to support multi billion dollar companies and their narrative.
- marysol5 4mo ago
  Just because people do buy the product the legitimate way, and provide the creators with revenue, doesn't negate that /you/ are committing a theft. A loss of a sale, is still a loss of a sale. It's vastly different to /not/ selling something.
  - account42 4mo ago
    There is nothing to negate because there was never a theft in the first place. Consult the laws of your country before making wild assertions and ask a lawyer if you cannot understand them yourself.
    - threethirtytwo 4mo ago
      It’s like saying the death penalty isn’t murder because the law says it’s not. I guess in your mind hitler isn’t a mass murderer because what he was doing was technically legal under his regime. To each their own if that’s how you want to logically frame your moral logic. Personally imo, if I create something and that something is MY work of art and what I put my own blood sweat and tears into, and I want it to be inconvenient to watch because that’s my prerogative, that doesn’t give you the fucking right to watch it. I don’t want someone like you watching it.