I know that streaming shows are not illegal, and users can be prosecuted, mainly in the U.S. However, in other countries, where I live for example, you're not supposed to do it but can still get away with it. This makes me wonder, does anyone else do it here? The purpose of this forum is to find ways to spend less money and this can be easily done to avoid having to pay any amount at all. TEll me what you think about it and is there any downside to this method in your opinion? P.S: I am not condoning piracy and am simply saying, if you can do it, would you want to or not and why?
If something pops up on YouTube, then, yeah, I might consider watching it until it gets taken down. I try to stay away from other sites that make a full business off of stealing other people's shows, however. I'll make rare exceptions for super old and not very popular movies that I can't find anywhere else, but I don't like most streaming sites because they bombard you with all sorts of questionable ads and pop-ups. No thanks. Most of the time I stick with Netflix. It's good quality, reliable, and inexpensive.
I watch full movies and documentaries on youtube all the time. I don't mind because it's not my job to police which ones are legit and which ones aren't, and thankfully there are also many public domain content out there anyway. I don't feel bad when it's the big studio movies because to be completely honest I have more problems than worrying about whether the executives who own these movies can afford their 50th car if I don't buy the dvd or a movie subscription instead. I feel more guilty for independent movies which could use the revenue, and for those I tend to contribute in other ways like donating or sharing the movie with others, although I do this for all good movies I find.
I do it like all the time. I'm not going to pretend that I don't download torrents or watch shows from streaming websites because that's been a part of my lifestyle for years now. I'm not proud about it either but that's just the way life here works. Most people can't afford to watch movies from theaters because of extremely high prices, and many opt to just watch from their homes. Netflix isn't easily accessible here either so the only option that we have if we want to watch cheap movies, is to download from torrent websites or just stream them.
It all comes down to ethics. Would you watch a show knowing the content has been stolen? For people who can't get the content any other way then I think watching the shows on any site where they can find it isn't wrong because they can't find it elsewhere. However for someone who can get a Netflix or Hulu subscription, they have no excuse for watching pirated content.
As its not illegal to either stream or download anything you want to where I live - providing its only for personal use and not done for monetary gain and we now live in the age of Smart TVs and Media Players which enable you to watch almost anything you want - either downloaded or streamed directly via the internet. I do this all time - in fact as we don't have a TV signal where I live and the only other alternative is to buy DVDs - I take full advantage of it - particularly as it means I get to watch all my favorite programs - as well as any movies I want to see - all in the comfort of my own home - totally for free.
I only really ever use reputable websites for streaming, such as Youtube and vodlocker and various other websites that do the same thing as what those websites do. It is a problem when you run into copyright issues, and a file gets taken down. But it is not so bad because there are other websites that will most likely provide the streamed version of the video or the file to download.
There are so many legitimate movies that are available for a minimal cost that I don't think watching illegal streaming content is really necessary. I think that it is one of the things that people will use and they don't really need to. It is one of the things that many people do, and they probably don't need to.
I would have to disagree. Why pay anything at all when it is so easily and readily available for free online? I mean, it may be classified as illegal content, but no one really views it that way, and the police or the authorities don't treat piracy this way either. Almost everyone that I know pirates music, movies, and software - amongst other things. Yet nobody does anything about it.
I know several people who have gotten cease-and-desist letters because they spent too much time pirating stuff online and got caught. Don't assume 'nobody' cares about online piracy, 'cause it'll come back and bite you in the butt some day.
Where do you live? I am definitely aware of the fact that the government are watching every little thing that we all do. Rest assured about that. But they don't seem to do anything about piracy most of the time. Also, it depends on HOW you pirate. If you are torrenting all the time, and bypassing the blocked websites, then you are going to get caught, as your IP is sometimes taken from your visits to these sites. But if you are using firefox extension downloadhelper to download files from streaming sites like vodlocker, nothing will happen in a million years.
I also would agree - that no one should ever be too complacent about what they are downloading from the internet. Particularly as - even though its perfectly legal to do so where I live - I do know of quite a number of people - who because not only was the volume they were downloading considered to be in excess of that for personal use - but also as some of the sites they were frequenting were regarded as pirate sites - that are currently being kept an eye on and sometimes even blocked from downloading - after receiving a “ cease and desist warning “ - as well as a couple who have actually been prosecuted.
I watch whatever I can find online. No shame. It is not illegal to watch even though it may be illegal to download. I don't download, I only play. Just like it is not illegal to buy bootlegs but it is illegal to sell bootlegs. Bootlegs have been around forever even before me, and they are going to be around after me, so I feel like I am not really doing too much wrong. It is what it is.
Yes, I agree that one should never be complacent. They are always trying to advance restrictions as it pertains to piracy, so those that pirate need to be one step ahead and smart about how they obtain restricted content. If you are smart though, there is no way that you are going to get caught or get a cease and desist letter.
I'm scared of websites like that mainly because they have so many junk advertisement and pop ups, I always fear getting spywares and viruses on my computer. I mainly watch stuff on tv and Netflix, or I will go to the movies or stream through my cable on my smart tv.
There are many streaming sites, but many do get taken down quite quickly. If I can watch it in YouTube then I will or Coke and Popcorn. It's hard to see what is legal and what isn't these days, but these sites do have too many ads so they can run the site, and they are more of an issue and can be annoying.
Yes, that is mostly the concern for a lot of people. But getting caught and sent a cease and desist letter for pirating isn't as big for most of the people that I have conversed with about this issue. The thing that I do, and have always done to combat the ads and potential spyware and or malware, is have Adblock. That blocks all of the ads, so I don't have to worry. When I use a new laptop and go on these streaming sites and have pop-ups, I always remember what a pain pop up ads can be.
Sometimes I can't help it but find something on YouTube because I can't find it anywhere else. Like the really old classics. Some titles just aren't in print anymore so the only way to find it is to watch it on someone's recorded version of it on YouTube.
I will sometimes turn to Youtube for movies or video files that I cannot find elsewhere too. It used to be a lot easier to find movies and TV shows on Youtube, until recently, because they have cracked down massively on copyrights and such. It can be quite frustrating. You have to change something about the video in order to upload it and have it stay up.
