Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown

[DownPW]

They decided to make a little more money under the guise of security

[phenomlab]

@DownPW you know what’s interesting? Here in the UK, streaming services periodically log you out so you then have to log back in and they use that as a way of tracking who is using their services.

As if they don’t make enough profit already.

[crazycells]

@phenomlab First, there was live tv and cable, then Netflix decided that you do not need to pay a lot of fees for cable tv channels to get all these unwanted movies, useless programs, and unnecessary shows, and you should cut costs by buying Netflix, with a fraction of what you were spending before for cable tv and you can stream videos on demand anytime you want and watch only what you want.

Netflix started to offer movies from all major studios… Then, major studios realized how juicy this sector was getting, they stopped selling their movies to Netflix and they all created their own streaming platforms disney, HBO, hulu, amazon, paramount, discovery, peacock… and now cable tv is almost dead but thanks to movie studios’ greed, we went back to square one, with many platforms to buy and pay for it. we are actually paying more than what we used to pay for cable tv, and watch only what we want by having many unwanted movies, useless programs, and unnecessary shows

[crazycells]

lol

[phenomlab]

@crazycells absolutely love this response. It’s so accurate, and perfectly sums up the exact scenario we have found ourselves in today.

Back in the 90’s, I was installing cable TV for Cable and Wireless (see here) and even back then, it was being touted as the best thing to ever be created, with access to channels such as RTL, Movies, and much more. We were even offering a “dish down” service where the customer would get a discount on their installation if they allowed us to remove their Sky dish (which at the time was the size of a trash can lid, and weighed a ton).

Back then, pay per view was still huge, and streaming services didn’t even exist. It just seems ironic that cable TV was created to enhance the viewer experience, and then was subsequently replaced with streaming TV services - with Netflix being the pioneer and then others following suit - in fact, some are doing it better.

And yet, as you rightly say, all they have given us is the ability to binge watch shows rather than have to wait a week before the next episode as used to be the case, and despite having access to thousands of titles, there’s never anything to watch 🤬

[phenomlab]

Something of an update - an “ad free” subscription is now available, so that means any standard users (including myself) are likely to be bombed with annoying ads!

https://news.sky.com/story/netflix-raises-uk-price-plans-as-subscribers-grow-at-fastest-rate-since-2020-lockdown-12987335

[phenomlab]

An interesting take on this. I don’t typically agree with Martin Lewis, but it’s hard to ignore the points he makes here - particularly around the “eye watering” top price.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2023/10/netflix-price-rise/

[crazycells]

@phenomlab with many of these platforms economically collapsing and increasing prices… pirating will rise again…

thank god we have put.io

[phenomlab]

@crazycells Thanks for the link. That’s certainly an interesting concept!

[crazycells]

@phenomlab yeah, I think people would find this very useful as a download manager. It uses servers in Netherlands to download, and then you get it from there. As you and I are very decent people, we would never download copyrighted materials or pirate this kind of materials at all… And on top of this, of course we are against that. We love laws, and would pay if we want to watch movies.

But, if someone would want it to downlonad a free, uncopyrighted movie and then delete it after watching, they could do that easily with this put.io I know this app, because Turkish programmers are behind this, but I know it is popular around the world. If someone wants 20% discount code over their yearly rate, they should just reach them before buying and ask for a discount nicely, I have a feeling that they will provide a code.

[phenomlab]

@crazycells said in Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown:

We love laws, and would pay if we want to watch movies.

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head here - particularly around the point re: privacy. I expect that other people are willing to abide by the laws also, but it’s very easy to see how rising prices will simply fuel the pirate industry even further. Nobody likes to be “ripped off” or “held to ransom”, and there are always going to be those who would rather not pay at all and put up with a poor video image taken in the cinema with someone’s head bobbing up and down, or overhearing someone complain they asked for an ice cream but got a donut…

The rising costs of viewing material is what is in essence the fuel for the piracy market - not just viewing either - it used to be the case (before digital downloads of music tracks) that people were pirating CD’s because of the cost. With the onset of online music stores, that’s probably a thing of the past - I can’t recall overhearing anyone saying they spend all of their free time searching for mp3’s etc recently, unless I’m out of touch, but the film industry is encouraging piracy with the spiralling costs of attending the cinema etc - not to mention being robbed in broad daylight if you want refreshments.

[phenomlab]

Netflix are raising prices again. Disgusting. This firm made over $2bn in profit last year, and they have the cheek to raise prices.

There’s nothing worth watching anyway!

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq5exj06vg6o

[JAC]

@phenomlab I don’t use their service, I refuse to pay for it and boy am I glad.

I struggle between that and Prime Video to find anything meaningful to watch despite there being a huge library.

Pure cheek and greed strikes again.

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown:

Netflix are raising prices again. Disgusting. This firm made over $2bn in profit last year, and they have the cheek to raise prices.

Let that sink in!

[phenomlab]

@JAC Amazon Prime have squeezed in ads which i have a fundamental issue with given that I’m already paying for a prime subscription. If just another way to squeeze even more revenue in my view.

[JAC]

@phenomlab Couldn’t agree more. It’s the fact we’re already paying for a product and they’re doping it up with ads.

The issue is wanting customers to pay more to remove the ads and I simply won’t do it.

[phenomlab]

@JAC neither will I. I wouldn’t mind so much if Amazon Prime was still value for money, but it isn’t anymore. Hasn’t been for a long time.

[Madchatthew]

I was just thinking about this last night. All of these streaming services are competing to get whatever movies on their services, that you just can’t have one streaming service anymore. It sucks because unless you subscribe to all of them, which by the way would cost over $100/month, you just have to settle with what is on the one you subscribe to. You might as well go back to having cable TV because it usually isn’t much more expensive that than, or even cheaper.

You could go the route of some of the other TV streaming like Hulu or YouTube TV but you are still paying anywhere from $70 to $90 dollars. Again, cable isn’t that much more expensive. A lot of cable companies have it now where you can still watch your TV channels online from your phone or computer as well.

I honestly wish we could get rid of all these streaming services and go back to having to go to Blockbuster or your local Video rental store to get a movie. Combing down each isle to find a movie that you want to watch. Bring it home to the family, make your frozen pizza or popcorn and sit down together and watch the movie. Now with streaming everything is also so readily accessible, it is kinda crazy.

[phenomlab]

@Madchatthew You raise some really great points here. In the UK at least, you need a TV license (to watch BBC nonetheless), plus normally you’d have either SKY or Virgin Media (Satellite or Cable) because landline TV sucks, and then the usual myriads of streaming services that cost anywhere between £5 to £15 per month depending on what you want.

As you say, this easily mounts up, and without realising it, you’re spending well in excess of what you’d consider ethical or within your own budget. The problem is that it’s so easy to subscribe to something just for one show, then forget all about it and land up paying for something you’ll never use again.

You could go the route of some of the other TV streaming like Hulu or YouTube TV but you are still paying anywhere from $70 to $90 dollars.

I do have YouTube premium. It’s quite expensive, but works well for my needs as I hate ads - the primary reason as to why there are none here on Sudonix actually I seem to watch more YouTube videos than anything else lately.

@Madchatthew said in Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown:

I honestly wish we could get rid of all these streaming services and go back to having to go to Blockbuster or your local Video rental store to get a movie. Combing down each isle to find a movie that you want to watch. Bring it home to the family, make your frozen pizza or popcorn and sit down together and watch the movie.

I too remember these days! We’ve made huge advances from the technology standpoint, but at the same, removed the person interaction we’d typically have when you brought back a VHS cassette (ok, I’m showing my age here) and everyone sat in front of the TV eating Pizza or popcorn (or in other cases, ice cream)

[Madchatthew]

@phenomlab said in Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown:

I do have YouTube premium. It’s quite expensive, but works well for my needs as I hate ads - the primary reason as to why there are none here on Sudonix actually I seem to watch more YouTube videos than anything else lately.

I have been pondering about trying youtube premium lately just so I woulnd’t have to watch the ads on there. Whenever I have thought about making a website for a community, I also had the thought that I am not going to have any ads on it, because, well for one, I hate ads and there are so many sites that are so bogged down with ads these days that you the site is basically rendered inoperable. I was going to make a beard site before beards became so popular, I had thought of a couple of others too, and I wasn’t going to have any ads on it. I always thought people would appreciate that. Just knowing that you can go to a website where you aren’t inundated with ads and get to what you want to get to immediately.

@phenomlab said in Netflix hints at password sharing crackdown:

I too remember these days! We’ve made huge advances from the technology standpoint, but at the same, removed the person interaction we’d typically have when you brought back a VHS cassette (ok, I’m showing my age here) and everyone sat in front of the TV eating Pizza or popcorn (or in other cases, ice cream)

Mmmm yes or ice cream! Sometimes we would make Orange Julius’. Those were very yummy too! You always can’t forget the “Be kind and rewind” slogan on VHS rentals LOL. Otherwise it might cost you an extra 75 cents haha.