Piracy in the UK: the failed war on illegal content(huckmag.com)
huckmag.com
Piracy in the UK: the failed war on illegal content
https://www.huckmag.com/article/piracy-in-the-uk-the-failed-war-on-illegal-content
34 comments
>No one wants to steal any content, they view content elsewhere due to ludicrous rights management systems on digital video content.
Actually I think they do. The median salary is quite low in the UK so there are a lot of people for whom piracy is an economic act rather than being about DRM.
Actually I think they do. The median salary is quite low in the UK so there are a lot of people for whom piracy is an economic act rather than being about DRM.
I am from the UK and you are right to some extent, but I don't know many that pirate music (outside of bootleg recordings and unreleased mix CDs such as the gray album by danegrmouse because Spotify and Apple Music are affordable and have an extensive range of content so anyone that wants to listen to music often can afford a subscription. If movie or TV was collated in the same way, no one would be pirating either. Whether it's due to median wage or just an ethical stance, subscribing to satellite TV, netflix, Amazon prime, paramount plus, Disney plus, plus the range of TV channels for sport, is simply unrealistic financially and hard to support even if you can afford it. The fact companies go so hard after those that create easy ways to pirate TV broadcasts (such as the Premier League going after Fire Stick creators which is a debatable if it's a crime for many reasons.) shows they know this monopolising way is good for them financially but not remotely good for the consumer.
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Nonsense. A Spotify Premium or 1080p Netflix subscription costs one hour of work at UK minimum wage. If you're willing to settle for ads you can get Spotify for free, or Netflix for the cost of a single pint of beer. That's incredibly cheap entertainment, if you're not too picky.
I pay for a Spotify Premium subscription. It has 99% of the music I want to listen to, and it works on all my devices - including Linux. I only use it a dozen hours a month or so, but it's too convenient not to get it.
I tried a Netflix subscription early on for a few months - before the streaming service explosion. It had a horrible UX, didn't work on half my devices, and only had a small fraction of the content I wanted to watch. In other words, it was literally impossible to legally get a Spotify-like streaming experience.
The solution? I spent hundreds on a movie/tv download server instead. A single torrent tracker provides everything I could possibly want, with an extremely easy user experience, and the content is guaranteed to work on all my devices. It would be cheaper for me to subscribe to a streaming service, but a decent one does not exist.
In the years since then the streaming landscape has only gotten worse, with content now distributed among a dozen different streaming services. Why would anyone willingly subject themselves to that?
I pay for a Spotify Premium subscription. It has 99% of the music I want to listen to, and it works on all my devices - including Linux. I only use it a dozen hours a month or so, but it's too convenient not to get it.
I tried a Netflix subscription early on for a few months - before the streaming service explosion. It had a horrible UX, didn't work on half my devices, and only had a small fraction of the content I wanted to watch. In other words, it was literally impossible to legally get a Spotify-like streaming experience.
The solution? I spent hundreds on a movie/tv download server instead. A single torrent tracker provides everything I could possibly want, with an extremely easy user experience, and the content is guaranteed to work on all my devices. It would be cheaper for me to subscribe to a streaming service, but a decent one does not exist.
In the years since then the streaming landscape has only gotten worse, with content now distributed among a dozen different streaming services. Why would anyone willingly subject themselves to that?
>Nonsense. A Spotify Premium or 1080p Netflix subscription costs one hour of work at UK minimum wage.
And yet the only growing sector in UK retail at the moment is discount shops.
And yet the only growing sector in UK retail at the moment is discount shops.
Then you’re limited to Netflix’s country specific availability which is subject to change constantly.
With piracy, you download it, you keep it. Job done.
With piracy, you download it, you keep it. Job done.
The subject to change bit is what’s getting me.
After paying probably over £1400 for Netflix in 11 years, you’re rewarded with the films you want leaving, having half of a box set starting half way through. That said, in purchasing media, you’d only get 1 film a month, maybe 2, for the cost of a Netflix sub…
I’ve only seen one album get removed from Spotify since I started using it, so the landscape there is a bit more universal. You want music, it’s on Apple, Spotify, etc.
You want a movie… well. Might be on Netflix, or moved to Disney+. Oh yay, it’s on Prime Video, but on no, it’s for bloody rent.
This is why piracy will continue. If we had a Spotify of Movies, which is what Netflix was, people would pay.
I’ve seen a lot of folks on other forums say that a lot of their classic favourites aren’t on any service (people wanting to watch over the holidays), so resorted to the DVD.
After paying probably over £1400 for Netflix in 11 years, you’re rewarded with the films you want leaving, having half of a box set starting half way through. That said, in purchasing media, you’d only get 1 film a month, maybe 2, for the cost of a Netflix sub…
I’ve only seen one album get removed from Spotify since I started using it, so the landscape there is a bit more universal. You want music, it’s on Apple, Spotify, etc.
You want a movie… well. Might be on Netflix, or moved to Disney+. Oh yay, it’s on Prime Video, but on no, it’s for bloody rent.
This is why piracy will continue. If we had a Spotify of Movies, which is what Netflix was, people would pay.
I’ve seen a lot of folks on other forums say that a lot of their classic favourites aren’t on any service (people wanting to watch over the holidays), so resorted to the DVD.
TV being bough/rented by different license holders per region whilst music being owned by license holders worldwide is a key issue.
>Nonsense. A Spotify Premium or 1080p Netflix subscription costs one hour of work at UK minimum wage. If you're willing to settle for ads you can get Spotify for free, or Netflix for the cost of a single pint of beer. That's incredibly cheap entertainment, if you're not too picky.
The problem is the proliferation of different streaming services. Your friend recommends Slow Horses, which is on Apple TV+. Another recommends The Day of the Jackal, which is on Now TV. You want to watch Premier League football, so you need both Sky Sports and TNT Sports to see all the matches. Before you know it, you're spending £80 a month on subscriptions and you're still missing out on things that are on Disney+ or some American streaming service you've never heard of.
If your mates have all got hookey Fire Sticks and get to watch whatever they want with no ads and no subscription fee, you're going to feel like a complete mug for doing things legally.
The problem is the proliferation of different streaming services. Your friend recommends Slow Horses, which is on Apple TV+. Another recommends The Day of the Jackal, which is on Now TV. You want to watch Premier League football, so you need both Sky Sports and TNT Sports to see all the matches. Before you know it, you're spending £80 a month on subscriptions and you're still missing out on things that are on Disney+ or some American streaming service you've never heard of.
If your mates have all got hookey Fire Sticks and get to watch whatever they want with no ads and no subscription fee, you're going to feel like a complete mug for doing things legally.
Don't forget the 3PM Saturday blackout in the UK where you can't watch any football matches on TV, even if you pay for Sky Sports/TNT/Amazon Prime...
... unless you have an IPTV subscription where you can stream all the games from a foreign TV channel with English commentary.
The idea with the blackout being that it encourages you go to physical games but Premiership games good luck getting tickets for those (even if you do they're extortionate) or go to local games which you might not be as interested in.
... unless you have an IPTV subscription where you can stream all the games from a foreign TV channel with English commentary.
The idea with the blackout being that it encourages you go to physical games but Premiership games good luck getting tickets for those (even if you do they're extortionate) or go to local games which you might not be as interested in.
The cost of internet connectivity is a much larger barrier than any one of the streaming services.
If you can't download anything substantial without blowing your mobile data cap, you're not going to do much piracy; you're going to buy £5 DVDs.
If you can't download anything substantial without blowing your mobile data cap, you're not going to do much piracy; you're going to buy £5 DVDs.
If you're on a low income, you can get fixed broadband or unlimited mobile data for around £15 a month.
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/saving-money/s...
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/saving-money/s...
When will the movie industry learn from the success of services like Spotify or DRM free music services like Bandcamp? I want media I can own, or consume from a single subscription. I would happily pay a few quid for a movie if I could download a high quality DRM free file. Piracy is not only free but provides a better product, a file you can do whatever you want with and watch anywhere.
Personally I don’t pirate, I prefer getting second hand physical media (funnily enough the movie studios miss out on any money there as well).
Personally I don’t pirate, I prefer getting second hand physical media (funnily enough the movie studios miss out on any money there as well).
Neither of those services are successful.
They don't make any money. They are, essentially, only useful learning experiences in what not to do.
They don't make any money. They are, essentially, only useful learning experiences in what not to do.
Looks like Spotify will report a profit for the first time in 2024
this might be nice for the shareholders, and quite surprising compared to most platforms, but not everyone is content.
from the artist's perspective, it is quite bad money wise (https://www.rocksoffmag.com/the-impact-of-music-streaming-on...).
from a consumer's perspective however, music streaming enjoys the relative lack of "exclusive" content that other media suffers from. so i personally have no issues with its current state.
from the artist's perspective, it is quite bad money wise (https://www.rocksoffmag.com/the-impact-of-music-streaming-on...).
from a consumer's perspective however, music streaming enjoys the relative lack of "exclusive" content that other media suffers from. so i personally have no issues with its current state.
People are getting poorer while rich are getting richer, any government that would try to fight on piracy is just asking to get ousted.
That's why countries like Russia for instance are so lackluster on piracy, they sure have ways to monitor their citizens but they know very well that you don't mess with entertainment.
Romans knew that thousands of years ago, you would have to be the biggest bell end to not understand that.
> five people were jailed for more than 30 years for selling subscriptions to illegal streaming networks.
Rapist get between 10 and 20 in my country, murder is around 20 and only assassination is getting to 30. In what civilized countries is selling illegal streaming subscription worth 30 years of jail ?
After searching internet, Seems like they were 5 and each got around 6 years, so it's 30 years total. Makes more sense, don't know if the wording was bad or my brain tired.
That's why countries like Russia for instance are so lackluster on piracy, they sure have ways to monitor their citizens but they know very well that you don't mess with entertainment.
Romans knew that thousands of years ago, you would have to be the biggest bell end to not understand that.
> five people were jailed for more than 30 years for selling subscriptions to illegal streaming networks.
Rapist get between 10 and 20 in my country, murder is around 20 and only assassination is getting to 30. In what civilized countries is selling illegal streaming subscription worth 30 years of jail ?
After searching internet, Seems like they were 5 and each got around 6 years, so it's 30 years total. Makes more sense, don't know if the wording was bad or my brain tired.
My vote goes to that sentence being terrible. It's like saying I was at the beach with my family for 12 hours. But we were there for 3 hours and there are 4 of us...
when digital "property" can be returned for a refund, sold or transfered at will, works on any
operating system, is insurable, then , it will be in a position where it will be respected enough to
get public suport for inclusion as real property.
idea: digital property could be uniquely insurable, as a loss could be re-issued withe same serial #
idea: digital property could be uniquely insurable, as a loss could be re-issued withe same serial #
Or we could just accept the inherent properties of the medium and not try to shoehorn it into the model of exclusive scarcity for physical goods, whether for reductio ad absurdum or not. (Heck, the scarcity model is even starting to break down for sundry consumer goods in the light of "free returns" and whatnot, at least in the US)
It's hard to take the original article seriously when it's going on and on about "stealing". It does have an astute point about out of touch ham-fisted anti-piracy campaigns actually increasing public support for piracy. In that light, this article would have itself been better as a video clip.
It's hard to take the original article seriously when it's going on and on about "stealing". It does have an astute point about out of touch ham-fisted anti-piracy campaigns actually increasing public support for piracy. In that light, this article would have itself been better as a video clip.
I have a simple rule: I don't pay money for drm. I buy a lot of games on gog.com, itch.io, and get classical music through Hyperion records. Every creative professional I know gets about ten pence a year to live on after half a lifetime of (post-grad) education and is a very dedicated and intelligent professional who is either supported by the church of England, teaching on the side to pay the bills, another charitable organisation, or is independently wealthy. Record labels really don't provide much for either end of the pipeline and I think that most people in society recognise that.
The first day I moved to Germany I immediately got fined €300 for streaming 10 seconds of a film using Popcorn Time.
I just couldn't believe it. I'd had decades of piracy through Virgin Media, no VPN in the UK and it just didn't occur to me that I couldn't do that elsewhere.
I just couldn't believe it. I'd had decades of piracy through Virgin Media, no VPN in the UK and it just didn't occur to me that I couldn't do that elsewhere.
I truly believe that it's the user experience that makes the difference between lots of piracy, and very little. Take video games as an example, they're hardly cheap, however other than retro games that are difficult to play otherwise, almost everyone just buys the game on steam/gog/epic/whatever, because the experience for most people is:
1. Open Steam 2. Search for game 3. Buy game 4. Play game
Whereas if I want to watch a movie, I honestly don't even know where to start looking for it, there's no simple way to just pay for it on the movie app, keep it forever, download it, and watch it when you want. You have to do this ritual of finding what streaming service it's actually on, hope you have a subscription to it, if not subscribe to it, probably find it's not even available in your region, and if the stars align you might be able to watch your film for the next 30 days.
Or you can go on one of the many pirate sites, search for the movie, click the play/download button, and you're sorted.
I do pirate movies quite frequently, but moreso because it's the only realistic way to type a name into a search bar and just play the damn thing.
1. Open Steam 2. Search for game 3. Buy game 4. Play game
Whereas if I want to watch a movie, I honestly don't even know where to start looking for it, there's no simple way to just pay for it on the movie app, keep it forever, download it, and watch it when you want. You have to do this ritual of finding what streaming service it's actually on, hope you have a subscription to it, if not subscribe to it, probably find it's not even available in your region, and if the stars align you might be able to watch your film for the next 30 days.
Or you can go on one of the many pirate sites, search for the movie, click the play/download button, and you're sorted.
I do pirate movies quite frequently, but moreso because it's the only realistic way to type a name into a search bar and just play the damn thing.
Today UK has one of the largest piracy markets in the western world. Love it!
Just my grumpy ass pointing out that if what you care about is artists, Spotify might as well be piracy.
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I never saw those piracy messages in my country but I still remember 'the It crowd''s version of it:
https://youtu.be/ALZZx1xmAzg?feature=shared
I don't know. TPB seems less active than ever. I know that's not UK specific, but does not bode well nonetheless.
Most piracy has moved to online streaming instead of distributing files for later offline viewing. Here's a site I found with 30 seconds of googling: https://westream.to/home - surprisingly polished and with much better UX than any legal service, because it doesn't require account creation or logging in. It just works. I clicked on Dune 2, waited for a moment, and it started playing. Picture quality is fairly muddy, but good enough for the average consumer. Under the hood, such sites might still use web-based torrent protocol to move the bytes around, but it's not visible to the end-user in any meaningful way.
This is a shame, because streaming is no replacement for good old files in your own storage.
Use 1337x or Torrentgalaxy not TPB.
Until that happens, expect piracy, it won't ever be stopped.