Netflix Killing Piracy and BitTorrent?

[Takata]

"is having an unexpected consequence"

 

-snip-

I really couldn't find a different way to say "no shit". Offer something better > gain userbase. No rocket surgery needed.

 

Tell that to CEO's and shareholders with no knowledge of the world

 

it seems like it was a distribution problem all along not the pirate corrupted by satan or some other stupid shit

In order to conclude that Netflix would reduce piracy, you would have to assume that consumers are not rational, intelligent decision-makers. That they would pay for something that they had gotten used to getting for free. That they would pay for content not out of neccesity, but out of... goodwill? ...Out of a feeling that they owed money to the content creators for watching their shows?

If you assume that consumers _are_ rational, intelligent, and only concerned for themselves, then you would have to conclude that they would always choose to pirate content instead of buying it, because it's cheaper, and they've already grown accustomed to it. Figuratively speaking, no "carrot" can compete with torrents that are both free and convenient. This leaves one other strategy to get consumers off piracy: make the "stick" as big, heavy and painful as possible.

 

end sarcasm;

 

To be serious, while Netflix can't compete with piracy on price, it seems to have compensated with convenience. This makes it the rational choice for people who find piracy a little difficult or just inconvenient to carry out. It's also a sensible option for consumers who are inclined to get content legally, even in the presence of free options like torrents, but whose only legal options were ridiculously priced or ridiculously inconvenient. While Netflix won't affect the consumer who will always pirate stuff if given the option, Netflix can probably affect everyone else.

[Imachoirstarter]

I haven't had a television for getting on 10 years now, so Netflix provides a convenient way to watch what I want to watch without the cancer that is advertisement. Plus with a VPN you can access so much content from other countries that the sheer idea of having a television seems even more redundant to me than it already did.

 

I still torrent for the latest TV/Movies, and unless Netflix or a similar addfree service can provide that convenience to watch the latest content from the likes of HBO, I can't see me changing my habits. 

 

I feel like Netflix are on the right track, but it's about shifting the mentality of the boardroom fat-cats who care only about one thing, and making them realise that consumers don't want to be locked into a pattern of weekly recurring episodic content, they want high-quality content that's convenient to them.

 

The entertainment industry is shifting but the fossilized CEO's don't want to change for the future, they'd rather leave it for the next generation to deal with (kinda systematic to society as a whole at the moment).

[RagnarokDel]

Netflix is good but I still pirate a lot of shit because of geolock.

[GrimNeo]

Netflix does not have that great of a selection of movies and I have seen almost everything they have to offer. lol screen junkie here. Also they need to carry more anime.

[shujin]

A lot of people noticed it was a distribution but the big companies were just ignoring the issue but then cried about pirating. I remember at time shows will come so late but in place like NA it was already shown lol

 

Lets be honest we have that one show we all like, for example GoT was shown in the different country but a week early and the only way to watch it was though piracy a week early wouldnt you do it?

that's exactly what I was trying to say thanks for rephrasing 

[shujin]

In order to conclude that Netflix would reduce piracy, you would have to assume that consumers are not rational, intelligent decision-makers. That they would pay for something that they had gotten used to getting for free. That they would pay for content not out of neccesity, but out of... goodwill? ...Out of a feeling that they owed money to the content creators for watching their shows?

If you assume that consumers _are_ rational, intelligent, and only concerned for themselves, then you would have to conclude that they would always choose to pirate content instead of buying it, because it's cheaper, and they've already grown accustomed to it. Figuratively speaking, no "carrot" can compete with torrents that are both free and convenient. This leaves one other strategy to get consumers off piracy: make the "stick" as big, heavy and painful as possible.

 

end sarcasm;

 

To be serious, while Netflix can't compete with piracy on price, it seems to have compensated with convenience. This makes it the rational choice for people who find piracy a little difficult or just inconvenient to carry out. It's also a sensible option for consumers who are inclined to get content legally, even in the presence of free options like torrents, but whose only legal options were ridiculously priced or ridiculously inconvenient. While Netflix won't affect the consumer who will always pirate stuff if given the option, Netflix can probably affect everyone else.

to assume that everyone just think about themselves is stupid (some people like me I don't know if they are other will pay for content if they can and if they want to help the content creator which imply I don't watch a lot of stuff tho)

[Trik'Stari]

One thing that would be really interesting to see a map of:

 

When content isn't available on netflix in your nation, is it because of trade agreement problems, corporate greed, or stuffy government saying "NUUUUUUUU YOU CAN'T SHOW THAT HERE!"?

 

THEN

 

Overlay that map, with a % of world piracy estimate map.