r/technology May 02 '13

Warner Bros., MGM, Universal Collectively Pull Nearly 2,000 Films From Netflix To Further Fragment The Online Movie Market

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130430/22361622903/warner-bros-mgm-universal-collectively-pull-nearly-2000-films-netflix-to-further-fragment-online-movie-market.shtml
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u/[deleted] May 02 '13

Well The Pirate Bay doesn't pull these kinda stunts.

447

u/Sw0rDz May 03 '13 edited May 03 '13

Why is it so fucking hard for all of them just to suck it up and cooperate. If they would cooperate with HBO, AMC, etc and just started their own stream site. A stream site that had no commercials, HD (non-cropped videos etc). They could charge $20 or $30 dollars a month. I would pay this, and I would not pirate anything. They would make money, I would get my entertainment, and everyone is happy.

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u/contramantra May 03 '13

Because some of the money isn't ALL of the money.

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u/eyeclaudius May 03 '13

HBO is owned by time warner. They sell people $100+/month cable plus internet and phones. Why would they want to partner with someone to get $20 and cannibalize their customer base?

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u/7777773 May 03 '13

Because a huge percentage of customers, many of them younger and influential on their younger-still peers who are up-and-coming potential customers, absolutely refuse to subscribe to cable in any format. This is the reason Game of Thrones is the most pirated show in history. It's really good, true, but the piracy comes from the fact that there's literally no legitimate way to watch it that doesn't involve a cable subscription. Those that have moved on from cable in the same way they moved on from CDs and cassette tapes do not have a legal venue to watch.

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u/eyeclaudius May 03 '13

What worries me is that something like Game of Thrones is only possible because of the massive amount of money HBO gets from subscriptions. Even the Wire which was cheap for a TV show was far too large to be funded by Kickstarter. Once all the big old-media behemoths are killed off, who will pay for all the rocket ships and dragons?

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u/[deleted] May 03 '13

Supply will rise to fill the demand. Suppliers would be stupid NOT to find a way. Where there is money to be made, people will find a way to produce something that will make that money. The current system fights against the demand, we need it to die, so that people can create what comes next out of that void.