:thumbdown:
What's everyone using? I feel like I've lost all mine now.
Visa debit and play.com/amazon.co.uk :)
Yeah I cancelled all my accounts awhile ago, purged and went legit. Its a lot nicer actually.
torrents
they're plenty fast these days, 2Mb/sec is normal on something popular
I'm happy enough to pay for something I really want.... the problem is 99% of the films/games etc... coming out now don't really interest me
not going to go buy a film, just to have it on the other screen while I'm doing something else
I've got out of buying things unless I really love them because the studios scam the crap out of you at every opportunity, like the new Die Hard boxset they are releasing next year to coincide with the release of A Good Day To Die Hard. It's going to be exactly the same release as the other versions but with one extra bonus feature disc, so no improved/remastered picture for 1&2 which look a bit ropey on blu, no uncut Die Hard 4.0 (which is only available uncut on DVD). You know they are going to bring out a super ultimate turbo boxset later to include 5 as well. I've lost track of the number of rereleases and boxsets of the Alien films...
Basically, I'm sick of playing their double-dip games as I've been stung too many times now, they can all foxtrot oscar. Unless its a must have I won't buy until something becomes extremely cheap or there is a clearly definitive version available.
There are two sides to this. Firstly, yes, they will scam you for every penny they can get, but then it is your choice to pay. If you don't think that something is worth watching then just don't watch it - if it's tat then it ain't worth stealing anyway.
The second is that unless they get money in the stuff will eventually stop being made.
If that was true then you would think they would change their business model the same way the recording industry has... oh wait, they haven't done a bloody thing smart in 10 years to move into the digital age. The simple fact is that greedy relics run the studios and the music industry with no concept of how to treat film and music lovers, there is too much inconsistency. If they actually listened to what fans want and treated the work with respect then everyone would be happy and more people would buy.
The vast majority of what I download is TV shows, either US or for catchup. I already pay about as much as I can for TV licence and TV package but there are a lot of shows just aren't available if you miss them (or aren't shown at all).
It seems this thread has been mistaken for something that should sit in Speakers Corner.
Well to be more on topic, I'm with Alan in using torrents and thats mostly for TV shows really. Private trackers are the way to go. Just as a sidenote from what I was talking about before that I think goes hand in hand, can you imagine if someone had come up with a legitimate business like Oink, providing easy digital downloads of rare and exclusive music from all types of genre, real stuff for fans to dribble about? It would have been bigger than Napster.
nzbs.org
nzbsrus
nzbindex.nl
my earlier comment was almost entirely aimed at knighty - why download it when you don't really want it?
As to their methods - I agree that they leave a lot to be desired. In many ways this is corporates trying to preserve their business by being extremely conservative. They haven't changed that since at least the time people started printing lyrics and musical notation.
Then, the worst people to religious folk should be the porn industry. Not paying for their content costs them money. That's why I never pay for porn or click on the adverts! Unfortunately you have to watch it to make the difference, it is a sad requirement that we act in this way :ptu:
Anyone that pays for porn is a monkey, the internet is saturated with free porn :lol:
Quote from: Serious on December 12, 2012, 15:30:38 PMmy earlier comment was almost entirely aimed at knighty - why download it when you don't really want it?
don't really want it might be the wrong phrase...
I never watch TV... ever... adverts drive me crazy... I'd rather do without than watch adverts (I'm suborn as hell), so I download TV stuff... so I don't have to watch adverts, and so I can watch it when I want... how much do they really make per person from adverts ? it must be a tiny sum... if they wanted to charge 20p to download the same program, they'd make LOADS more money, and I'd be happy to pay for it for quick easy downloads... if it was 50p I'd download the stuff I really like and not bother with the stuff which is hit and miss
I go to the cinema all the time... probably 40+times a year... plus I like a drink and food... so I end up spending about £20 every time I go... but I'll only go if there's something decent to watch... something which looks promising....
95% of the films I download are crap... but I'll download them anyway on the off chance they're in the 5% which surprise me and are really good... I'll flick through them and either del them straight away or watch for 10min while I'm eating and can't do much else... 95% of the films I download don't make it past me finishing my tea
if I had the option to download as many films as I want, and then pay £5 for every one I liked (and nothing for the crap stuff)... I'd do it
ok... there's no way that would work in real life... so I'd have to pay for every film... so I'd only download stuff which looks good.. but I've already seen anything which looks good at the cinema.... so I wouldn't download anything
for games... there's no way I'm going to pay out £30 for the vast majority of games these days... they're nearly all just the same old crap re-hashed but with less thought put into them - I'd rather go without than feel ripped off
it's like anything... if someone gave you a free sandwich you wouldn't worry if it wasn't great... you can have a few bites and throw the rest away without giving it a second thought
but if you buy a sandwich, you want to enjoy it, you want it to be worth what you paid for it, you only have to buy a few crap sandwiches before you're put off sandwiches for life
when TV series/films/games can be available worldwide, for an instant download, with costs so low (probably less than 1p for each download?)
why don't the tv/film/game industries move with the time and start pumping this stuff out cheap ? I wouldn't bother downloading anything from torrent sites if I could get it legit for a decent price
if you could sit at home, and pre-select films for download before they're available... and then auto download them as soon as they're available for £2 (before the torrent sites get a hold of them) TENS of MILLIONS of people would do that, all around the world... overnight... for hardly any cost
the only people who won't pay are the people who are skint, so wouldn't pay anyway, and kids, who are normally skint too
I don't count downloading as 'stealing' because no one loses anything - I wouldn't have paid for it anyway
Your justifications are laughable. If you want to steal movies and tv shows and music, fair enough. You're the digital version of a shoplifter end of.
"Don't want a crap sandwich"... While your analogy is sh*t, I can understand some of the reasoning but ultimately that is what trailers are for, that is what reviews are for.
I loathe the fact that the industry (video) is slow to catch onto digital delivery of content, but it is in no means as bad as it once was.
Netflix covers me for UK and US (via my proxy) DVD released stuff I want to see.
Blink box offers cheap one time rentals of the latest releases.
Xbox live Zune provides digital content
iTunes provides digital content
Fact is, if like myself you actually now appreciate "well I could pirate it or I could just drop £10 on getting the DVD" when you already spanked £10 on a pint and a kebab the other night... The means to go legal are now finally getting to a point where it is a serious option.
The only folk who stay illegal are folk who actively want something for "nothing" and are willing to accept the risk, or are so comfortable in their ways that they've not explore the options out there for digital delivery of content, be it music, video or software.
Good for you, you have a decent enough connection to warrant Netflix and the know how that the average Joe doesn't to setup a proxy for US content, etc (which tbh probably violates some law/agreement somewhere anyway). I can't even stream iplayer reliably on my PS3, so if I choose to download something that I've just missed on TV in higher quality because it's easier then using iplayer then no one loses out as knighty said. I'm reminded of this (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones) too.
Films and music are a different kettle of fish, but frankly I'm not bothered if the high and mighty want to label me a 'shoplifter' when overall I've probably spent a lot more on film and music over the years than most, I still buy vinyl too when its available. It's not justified, but I don't feel I'm getting something for nothing when they are getting my money elsewhere later. I'll continue to try before I buy in the manner most convenient and make a stand against purchasing what I feel is a rip-off, or crippled with DRM sh*te. If more people did this and actively complained about being fleeced on releases we would soon see the trends change - the gulf between artistry and greed in these industries is getting narrower and not wider as it should, except for those taking initiative against it. I'd be the first in the queue if I could by my favourite music in 24-bit 192khz FLAC downloads, or even just lossless CD quality, but there's only a handful of artists that do this. iTunes lol, GTFO. Or the latest films in Full HD without any of this regional release crap, unskippable anti-piracy messages and DRM.
The truth is that it's far more convenient and easy to download and enjoy in whatever quality you wish to have than to use the paid services right now. Maybe things will improve when we finally get fibre across the nation but I think we're a long way off yet. It's working well for games after all, look how well Steam is doing for a brilliant example of how it should be done, I pretty much only buy games on there now.
Chasing piracy is achieving nothing, NZBMatrix going down is probably for the best for usenet as they were the index getting hammered by DMCA complaints resulting in takedowns, so things will probably improve. Or it will drive more people to torrents or private FTPs, IRC, etc. Either way the labels and studios need to change as the rampant piracy won't.
RE the proxy, not illegal in fact it's Netflix that allows it. If you do it it says something along the lines of "so you're a traveller eh!? No problems, you can still access your Netflix account while here in the states. In fact here is our US library for your perusal as well!" In a message on the screen when you log in.
Re oatmeal, I agree its not an ideal situation and the scene is still better at getting episodes or showings of the latest and greatest out there given quality is not a factor, that has always been the case, be it bootleg VHS or bootleg c90s from the 80s or CDs, DVDs, etc now. That is likely to always be the case.
The studios will always have release dates, that will often differ by months across the world. Why? It could be anything down to copyright issues in country, perhaps they need to undergo rating for content or editing to allow them to be shown in country. These things are not within the control of the studio or the publishers.
The only problem now is that piracy is easy. As you say it's easy as heck, you can pirate something and all of a sudden no rules to abide by, no DRM, no anything. Why don't we just take software keys out of software? Or allow it so that people can use the media however they wish? And effectively make piracy easier still, that will surely lower the numbers of people who pirate media! (Sarcasm is difficult to put across in written form).
You do realise iplayer streams HD content and now allows you to download programmes? You dont appear to be aware from your comment above. As I said before you're comfortable committing piracy as its so easy, you've no real need to look around and assess your options.
As for that FLAC or lossless ogg you downloaded, that'll be a transcode of an mp3 or CD rip somewhere down the line. As you say, publishers and artists just don't provide it. Or at least if they do provide it, its a specialist service that is charged as such and unlikely to be available at your local HMV.
I also can't think of a time I've fallen foul of DRM yet in the last 6 years since i've gone 100% legal.
That is good of Netflix :) I've already said I cannot stream from iplayer as my connection is woeful, but why download their additional software to watch something when i can just grab an MKV online of the same thing? The only other TV shows I download tend to be American premiers anyway. As iplayer is a BBC thing its not really fair to draw comparisons on it as I'm already a license payer and effectively covered, but for everything else it's pretty much the same and is just much easier and less hassle to not bother with the hoop jumping. There's also no time limits on how long I can keep something on my HDD then if I don't get round to watching it straight away. I see it as no different to using a PVR (except I can grab stuff sooner rather than later).
You can get quite clear logs of FLACs and their origin whether it be CD or or a direct off the mix console like NIN (http://gizmodo.com/387065/nine-inch-nails-releases-free-album-in-high-definition-audio) are fond of doing. Most CD rips will come with some sort of accuracy report too. No one transcodes MP3s any more, this isn't the year 2000 :lol: You probably won't fall foul of DRM if you are happy using iTunes, lots of people aren't though, I wouldn't really know what its like these days with music as I only use FLAC, Ogg and MP3 but I'd imagine its still a pain in the arse to take anything outside of iTunes. The reason FLAC and MP3 are so successful is because they are open formats, FLAC especially deserves to be the format of choice for anyone, space is so little of a premium now there is simply no reason to accept anything other than lossless.
Quote from: M3ta7h3ad on December 13, 2012, 08:16:12 AM
Your justifications are laughable.
your analogy is sh*t
you slate my comments/argument, but then you did nothing to rebut the points I made
if legit downloads were easy, and decently priced, I'd do that instead
if all of a sudden I couldn't download stuff, I'd do without
not because I refuse to pay for stuff, but because I refuse to pay for crap
I'm almost the perfect target audience for downloading stuff, I'm young and single and with disposable income, I'd spend £40 a week downloading stuff without thinking anything of it
instead of trying to fight piracy, the producers etc.. should undercut it - offer a better service so no-one bothers with piracy any more
I don't even know where to start with your "downloading = shoplifting" comment... that's just dumb
to reiterate
I download stuff because it's cheap, easy, fast and convenient
legit downloads are slow, overpriced and out of date
there's no competition there
I'm currently on a Virgin 30 or 40mb package, so my internet is pretty quick. During peak times, when people generally want to watch films or surf the internet I struggle to watch a Youtube music video with my kids.
Until the internet is suitably robust enough to ensure I can stream anything I want without worrying about lack of bandwidth Netflix et al are not an option. even iPlayer can give me grief. My problem is, I don't like buying films because I usually watch them once and then never touch them again. NowTV from Sky looked promising but at £15 a month for the one or two movies I watch really isn't worth it and they use Silverlight.
That would lead me to Blinkbox (if my internet was fast enough at the time), at £3.50 a film to rent that sounds perfect, but they use Silverlight. Which isn't supported by Linux, which just happens to be the OS my XBMC media centre PC has. Said PC is in a cupboard upstairs and I dont wish to use Bluray for various reasons.
Basically, I'm stuck. Unless I wish to watch the film on my PC monitor rather than sitting on the sofa with my missus in front of the telly. Surprisingly enough that doesn't sound very appealing. I think its fair to say there are definitely occasions, such as mine, where the current situation for legitimate use means jumping through far too many hoops.
There is new support for silver light as Netflix uses the same, might want to have a google out there maybe it's possible to get xbmc working. Strangely enough I was on blinkbox today, grabbed mi4, cowboys and aliens, haywire and man on a ledge for about £20 watching them on my iPad.
Are you trying to suggest you suffer from contention on a 30mbit cable package, or you're sharing your Internet in the house? As contention isn't an issue with cable as far as i understood it. I have 10mbit and have no probs at all maxing it out at 1.1mbit at anytime of day (at least until cap gets hit), might be worth you giving virgin a shout,
Its purely myself using the connection at the time.
As far as I can tell silverlight DRM support will never be coming to Linux, not entirely sure why as I haven't delved too deeply. Its a real shame because openelec is currently shaping up to be something I can use to cater for everything but films.
Isn't silverlight dead, I though it was no longer developed?
If it is they are still using it for pretty much every kind of streaming service you can think of.
There is a workaround for Ubuntu, which basically amounts to installing wine, which is something that'd be extremely difficult with openelec.