Rising subscription prices and streaming service restrictions have led to a surge in downloads of pirated content by movie and TV fans.
There are various video streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video, but these services are all raising prices across the board. In addition, there are problems such as the replacement of distribution content and the sudden unavailability of purchased content, so movie fans are turning to downloading pirated content, The Guardian points out.
Can't pay, won't pay: impoverished streaming services are driving viewers back to piracy | Piracy | The Guardian
Gabriel V. Limbaugh, a journalist for The Guardian, was a heavy user of The Pirate Bay, a Swedish torrent indexing site, in the 2000s. Back then, if he wanted any digital content, like music or movies, he would use the site to get it.
Later, Spotify, another Swedish music streaming service, was launched and gained popularity. In 2011, Berg Sundin, managing director of Universal Music Sweden, said , 'Without The Pirate Bay, Spotify would not have been born,' implying that The Pirate Bay had a strong influence on the creation of Spotify.
In addition, Netflix launched its service in Sweden in late 2012. Almost all popular video content became available on Netflix. Around this time, the three founders of The Pirate Bay were arrested, and for Limbaugh, piracy became a thing of the past.
More than a decade later, Limbaugh said the tide is turning.
There are many paid video streaming services, such as Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video. These services offer a wide variety of movies, TV shows, and other video content, but the lineup of available content changes over time, and it's common to find that content that was available just a few months ago is no longer available.
Even if video content is available on Prime Video, if it is not available for unlimited viewing, you will have to purchase the content individually. If it is a drama with one season of 24 episodes, it is clear that purchasing the content will cost a lot of money.
Furthermore, even if you purchase content with a video streaming service, there is a possibility that the content may become unavailable at any time due to circumstances on the part of the service provider, which is also a problem.
It is pointed out that the specification that it is not strange that even if you purchase a movie on Amazon Prime Video or iTunes, it may become unavailable at any time is fraudulent - GIGAZINE
First of all, there is the problem that video streaming services are raising prices across the board.
Why do streaming service subscription prices continue to rise? - GIGAZINE
Furthermore, video streaming services such asPrime Video , Netflix , and Disney+ have introduced advertisements despite being paid plans, which has caused resentment among users.
Amazon users sue over violation of law by introducing ads into Prime Video - GIGAZINE
In addition, it has several other issues, including geo-blocking .
According to Limbaugh, the average European household has three or more video subscriptions, spending 700 euros (about 120,000 yen) per year.
An anonymous film critic who claims to be a friend of Limbaugh's said, 'I've never stopped downloading pirated content. My partner also uses pirated content when he can't find the DVD of the movie he's looking for.'
A 2024 survey in Sweden found that 25% of respondents had pirated content, a trend driven by young people aged 15 to 24.
According to MUSO, a London-based copyright infringement monitoring company, streaming of pirated content is becoming the leading source of copyright infringement for movies and TV shows. By 2023, streaming of pirated content will account for 96% of copyright infringement. Furthermore, the number of visits to websites distributing pirated content is expected to increase from 130 billion page views in 2020 to 216 billion page views by 2024. Therefore, Limbaugh points out that 'piracy is making a comeback in a new form.'
Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve, which operates Steam, the world's largest PC gaming platform,argued in 2011 that 'piracy is not a price issue, it's a service issue.'
Limbaugh agreed with Newell, saying, 'With today's video streaming services, fragmented titles, rising prices, and browser-specific bitrate limits, it's no wonder some viewers turn to piracy.'
On the social message board Hacker News, some people argued that piracy by watching pirated content offers benefits such as 'near-unlimited access to a huge amount of content, including movies, music, and TV shows, without being bound by opaque corporate licenses; the highest resolution, bitrate, and quality available at the time of original release; no device or OS restrictions; and the ability to watch or download from anywhere on the planet with sufficient bandwidth,' and that they would be willing to pay a lot of money for a service that met these criteria. Others argue that pirated content offers a significantly better viewing experience.
Related Posts:
in Web Service, Posted by logu_ii