Why do you pirate movies/TV shows?

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If I download music and end up liking it, I buy the record. I'd imagine not many people do that. Another example would be me using Spotify and using it to mine out the good records from the bad so I can end up purchasing it and stacking it in the collection.
That's the whole reason I use Spotify.
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For me, it's not just affordability and ease. It's quality. I'm a quality freak.

First things first, I live in Poland, and in here pretty much the only decent way of seeing a movie (that isn't playing in cinemas at the moment) is buying the blu-ray (which is pricey).

Of course, you would say: "what about the streaming services?". Well here is the simple truth: Not everything is available there and the stuff that is you have to watch via an embedded player in your browser. I will never, ever accept that.

I need to have my own player. A browser-based HTML5 or Flash player will not give you the same quality, reliability and efficiency a proper dedicated player does.

My weapon of choice is Media Player Classic Home Cinema. At first glance it may look simple. Make no mistake, though, it's a properly advanced movie watching combine. You can change pretty much every aspect of your movie watching experience and that's where quality-enhancing addons come in. Most importantly, you can change your video rendering engine (which is an option I've never seen in even the best browser players). I use MadVR. As far as I know, no other engine comes close to the quality you get from it. Also, I can use whatever codecs I want, which is nice because I want to use CoreAVC, which allow me to take advantage of the CUDA cores on my gfx card to boost the performance during movie playback, as well as set a bunch of things up to my liking in the codec config tool.

Sound is also important. There is a difference. For most people it's indistinguishable but I know it's there. I once made a short clip with a very low-frequency sound and it played great via MPC but once I uploaded it to YouTube, the sound turned into farting because of the processing that takes place after a video is uploaded (which is also the reason why I roll my eyes with disappointment whenever I see someone listening to music off YouTube).

Then, there's the matter of efficiency. When you're watching a movie on netflix, the content has to go through not only the player, but the browser as well. Today's browsers are resource hogs. They inhibit the performance of playback, which may not be noticeable if you have a fairly good PC but if you want to watch something on a low-end or old machine, you can forget about fluid playback. (btw. CoreAVC codecs paired with the Mixer Overlay rendering engine allow me to play 1080p content fluently... on my netbook. Try doing that with Netflix's player.)

Now, another argument you might have is that if I'm such a quality freak, why do I accept ripped movies? Well, let's just say I have enough experience to know which uploads are good quality and which are not. Also, there are 1:1 quality blu-ray rips out there, in which the quality is indistinguishable from the source disc even to my eyes (those are tens of gigabytes, though). Also, those releases aren't any different from how Netflix does it. It's not like every time you want to see a film on there a robotic arm pops in a blu-ray disc into the drive and starts streaming. No, those are ripped files too. Only you have to pay for them, and you don't get to keep them, and you don't get to play them how you want.

So, in essence, there just isn't a market for people like me right now. Here's your chance. Do what GoG did for gaming. Create a platform that, upon a small payment, allows you to actually download the file with the movie and keep it and play it however you want. Until something like that comes around... it's the old yo ho and a bottle of rum for me.
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Originally Posted by Yasashii
Well here is the simple truth: Not everything is available there and the stuff that is you have to watch via an embedded player in your browser. I will never, ever accept that.

I need to have my own player. A browser-based HTML5 or Flash player will not give you the same quality, reliability and efficiency a proper dedicated player does.
*raises eyebrows*

Originally Posted by Yarashii
I roll my eyes with disappointment whenever I see someone listening to music off YouTube
>_>

Originally Posted by Yarashii
btw. CoreAVC codecs paired with the Mixer Overlay rendering engine allow me to play 1080p content fluently
Gotta admit, having "quality standards" is probably the weakest argument for digital piracy I've ever heard.

Originally Posted by Yarashii
Also, there are 1:1 quality blu-ray rips out there, in which the quality is indistinguishable from the source disc even to my eyes (those are tens of gigabytes, though). Also, those releases aren't any different from how Netflix does it. It's not like every time you want to see a film on there a robotic arm pops in a blu-ray disc into the drive and starts streaming. No, those are ripped files too.
They're not ripped files, they're raw files.

Originally Posted by Yarashii
So, in essence, there just isn't a market for people like me right now. Here's your chance. Do what GoG did for gaming. Create a platform that, upon a small payment, allows you to actually download the file with the movie and keep it and play it however you want.
There you go, I can get behind that.



matt72582's Avatar
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I wonder if people who can afford the movies and music still download, etc...

I would rather someone download my music for free than not listen to it at all - my primary goal is to share, and hope it gave someone the feeling I got when I listen to Pink Floyd, etc.. And when I make money from it, it's a bonus, but of course I'd love to sell more books, etc..

I also find out comparing things over time that the 3-4 songs I downloaded in 9th grade contributed to paying out thousands of dollars to just one band, mostly live concerts... Even torrents make money off advertisement.

I don't care for the people who already have money; Metallica isn't homeless because of Napster. I'm also guessing an up-and-comer isn't going to be left behind because someone downloaded their stuff for free. If anything, I think it brings more attention. Word of mouth is priceless. I think it's all about probability (and illusion) and that the more people give a certain movie or song a chance, the more fans you'll have.



Originally Posted by matt72582
I wonder if people who can afford the movies and music still download, etc...
That would be a yes.

Originally Posted by matt72582
I would rather someone download my music for free than not listen to it at all - my primary goal is to share, and hope it gave someone the feeling I got when I listen to Pink Floyd, etc.. And when I make money from it, it's a bonus, but of course I'd love to sell more books, etc..
Same here. I make stuff too and I just share it for free. Really, there should be better ways of supporting artists nowadays (I mean as opposed to totally gating people off with paywalls). Stuff like Patreon feels like a big step in the right direction.

Originally Posted by matt72582
I also find out comparing things over time that the 3-4 songs I downloaded in 9th grade contributed to paying out thousands of dollars to just one band, mostly live concerts...
There's a thought.

Originally Posted by matt72582
I don't care for the people who already have money; Metallica isn't homeless because of Napster. I'm also guessing an up-and-comer isn't going to be left behind because someone downloaded their stuff for free. If anything, I think it brings more attention.
This makes me think of that Spotify knock-off that rolled around some time ago (I forget what it's called I think it's shut down now). The idea was that it worked exactly like Spotify, except instead of taking it's catalog of songs from an official source, it directly linked to the audio files in Youtube videos.

This is 100% TOTALLY LEGAL, but everyone crawled up their ass about it.

That's the thing about copyright law, it's a big hot mess of bureaucratic ********. You're not allowed to make digital copies of unlicensed copyrighted material, right? But you DO THAT every single time you watch a video on Youtube because your browser always caches that information on your computer (unless you tell it not to). And no one's condemning Youtube, these same companies heavily exploit Youtube for profit, so what it comes down to where we draw the line in the sand, and no matter what it is, it's always arbitrary.

Where we draw the line at WHAT COUNTS as copyrighted material is arbitrary too.

Companies like Fine Bros. and King wanting to trademark words like "Reaction" and "Candy", and having actual avenues to do so, are evidence of an unstable exploitable system of intellectual property management.



I wonder if people who can afford the movies and music still download, etc...

I would rather someone download my music for free than not listen to it at all - my primary goal is to share, and hope it gave someone the feeling I got when I listen to Pink Floyd, etc.. And when I make money from it, it's a bonus, but of course I'd love to sell more books, etc..

I also find out comparing things over time that the 3-4 songs I downloaded in 9th grade contributed to paying out thousands of dollars to just one band, mostly live concerts... Even torrents make money off advertisement.

I don't care for the people who already have money; Metallica isn't homeless because of Napster. I'm also guessing an up-and-comer isn't going to be left behind because someone downloaded their stuff for free. If anything, I think it brings more attention. Word of mouth is priceless. I think it's all about probability (and illusion) and that the more people give a certain movie or song a chance, the more fans you'll have.
Movies are different than songs, the startup costs are much higher for movies. I recall Adkins complaining about Undisputed not making money despite being very popular.



What's geododging? Is that like using a proxy to hide your location?
Yeah pretty much. For example our local Netflix contains around 6000 fewer titles then the US version but is around the same price. So while it's not technically piracy to use a VPN (to trick netflix into thinking you are in the US) it is against Netflix Terms of Service and if caught will cancel your membership.

To watch Game of Thrones we can only wait until it is on DVD or purchase a $30 a month subscription to Foxtel.

Australian's are apparently some of the worst pirates in the world but to access things legally are either expensive or significantly later then the rest of the world or international providers just kick us off and don't want our money.



Yeah pretty much. For example our local Netflix contains around 6000 fewer titles then the US version but is around the same price. So while it's not technically piracy to use a VPN (to trick netflix into thinking you are in the US) it is against Netflix Terms of Service and if caught will cancel your membership.

To watch Game of Thrones we can only wait until it is on DVD or purchase a $30 a month subscription to Foxtel.
That's some righteous ********. You should never have to do that.

Originally Posted by Naisy
Australian's are apparently some of the worst pirates in the world but to access things legally are either expensive or significantly later then the rest of the world or international providers just kick us off and don't want our money.
Australia's strict censorship laws also gimp what little actually does make it your corner of the world too.



That's some righteous ********. You should never have to do that.


Australia's strict censorship laws also gimp what little actually does make it your corner of the world too.
What censorship laws are you referring? Outside of things that would be considered an X18+ material we are allowed the same as most (which the law enforcement agencies who are responsible to it are pretty much turning a blind eye to most of it I believe)

The problem is licensing. Big companies can afford to tie up exclusive broadcasting rights to popular content and events. Which may have been fine pre-high speed internet but now there is no reason I can see why if I want to watch HBO, I should have access to purchase HBO without going through Foxtel who give me 20 channel's I don't want for a price up to 3x what anyone else is paying.

Luckily with the arrival of SVOD services such a Netflix, Presto and Stan (basically an Australian owned Netflix) competition is putting pressure on distributors to not make exclusive deals for their shows or movies. Some are even investigating doing their own channels in Australia. I currently pay for Netflix & WWE Network which provides me with a lot of nightly entertainment and while I am willing to pay, I am not willing to pay premium pricing because of my postcode which I think is seriously hurting companies in lost opportunities for additional revenue.



What censorship laws are you referring? Outside of things that would be considered an X18+ material we are allowed the same as most (which the law enforcement agencies who are responsible to it are pretty much turning a blind eye to most of it I believe)
I've seen a variety of things localized for Australia only after it's been meddled with (though mainly video games, those get pirated too).

The kind of censorship that plagues Japanese to American localizations is reputably worse in Australia.

Left 4 Dead 2 is a notoriously obnoxious example.

Things have improved though, from what I hear, but regional censorship is another reason for piracy. Most Americans don't know Sailor Moon had lesbian characters because censorship took the gay away.



I've seen a variety of things localized for Australia only after it's been meddled with (though mainly video games, those get pirated too).

The kind of censorship that plagues Japanese to American localizations is reputably worse in Australia.

Left 4 Dead 2 is a notoriously obnoxious example.

Things have improved though, from what I hear, but regional censorship is another reason for piracy. Most Americans don't know Sailor Moon had lesbian characters because censorship took the gay away.
Yes we have progressed in that way though in recent years. We have added a R rating for games and most games aren't modified anymore and if they are not in any way that I think really impacts their enjoyment factor. I would certainly put localization versions on the lowest possible end of reasons why people in general choose to pirate



Yes we have progressed in that way though in recent years. We have added a R rating for games and most games aren't modified anymore and if they are not in any way that I think really impacts their enjoyment factor. I would certainly put localization versions on the lowest possible end of reasons why people in general choose to pirate
The LOWEST possible end? I don't think you know how much hate 4Kids gets.



Oh I get it. I'm just saying that if you look at pirates and ask them for the first reason they pirate I would assume majorities first response would be price or to access the content on time before they would say I want to see Yami Yugi kill some folks in Japanese.



Oh I get it. I'm just saying that if you look at pirates and ask them for the first reason they pirate I would assume majorities first response would be price or to access the content on time before they would say I want to see Yami Yugi kill some folks in Japanese.
Well yeah, it's by no means a typical reason, but I've heard much worse.

DRM is significantly more common, frankly. And I have no doubts the ability to watch any movie with subtitles in your language helps too.



Or if you have a passion for cinema and no money. I watched 260 films last year, many of them new releases. That's around a £2,600 bluray bill. I use Netflix and still buy physical media, but only films I really like.
Sorry, forgot to reply to this.

That's certainly a good reason, but that's how much it would cost to own the films. Just seeing them would be a lot less; practically nothing, if you're willing to wait a bit.



Meaning eventually nearly all of these films are included in streaming packages for very little, or available to rent for very little. Also meaning that a lot of the arguments for piracy include the unstated assumption that they must see the films as soon as possible.



Meaning eventually nearly all of these films are included in streaming packages for very little, or available to rent for very little. Also meaning that a lot of the arguments for piracy include the unstated assumption that they must see the films as soon as possible.
Gotcha.



I've only ever had a couple pirated films in my life and they were given to me by friends.
The last one I had was about 15 years ago.


I'm a stalwart hater of pirated movies. Pirated films are the reason ticket prices are so high, and quality is so low in the movie business (along with corporate greed of course). They're also the reason some of the rare decent movies never get the sequels they deserve.
I hate pirated films with a passion.