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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday July 13 2019, @10:16AM   Printer-friendly
from the pray-I-do-not-alter-it-any-further dept.

It's difficult to imagine that Friends, a show that ended 15 years ago, could be of any real importance to a modern streaming giant like Netflix.

In fact the sitcom, which features a bunch of 20-somethings living together in a time before streaming was even invented, is US Netflix's second-most watched show.

Today, Netflix announced that it's poised to lose its rights to broadcast the series to its original parent company, Warner, which plans to launch its own streaming service, HBO Max in the first quarter of 2020.

The blow follows another announcement in June that Netflix's number one series, the US version of The Office, is also being snatched back by its creators, NBCUniversal, to be broadcast exclusively in the US on its own yet-to-be-launched streaming service.

Old media, analysts are noting with no small amount of surprise, is suddenly bringing the fight to Netflix, and it looks like Netflix could be the one that gets knocked out, or at least very knocked around.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/home-entertainment/tv/huge-threat-to-netflix-revealed/news-story/e86f7778556735d22e4cd9f054fb51af


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Chocolate on Saturday July 13 2019, @11:47AM (32 children)

    by Chocolate (8044) on Saturday July 13 2019, @11:47AM (#866555) Journal

    Who would bother ripping Netflix off when it's $10 a month?

    --
    Bit-choco-coin anyone?
    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by takyon on Saturday July 13 2019, @12:09PM (30 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Saturday July 13 2019, @12:09PM (#866560) Journal

    I have "ripped" content even when I had the legit disc or streaming service available.

    Netflix is $9-$16 per month, with the cheapest plan offering only SD content. The point isn't the cost of Netflix (which has increased several times), but the balkanization of streaming services, each with their own costs.

    Having everything in one place... priceless (literally).

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @12:19PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @12:19PM (#866568)

      I just want to watch old movies from the 70s, 80s, 90s.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @12:31PM (6 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @12:31PM (#866574)

      Haha. I've "ripped" content just to avoid searching through my stored pile of dvd boxes, almost-every-time since have fiber internet. And always keep the downloaded copies in my NAS. Really should dump all these dvds that won't use any more, but still keep them for sentimental value.

      • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @12:38PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @12:38PM (#866575)

        You're using ripped wrong.
        You have pirated content to avoid finding the relevant DVD. Ripping refers to converting the content from a DVD/BluRay/VHS/WebStream to a stand-alone file that can be stored and/or shared without DRM.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @02:11PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @02:11PM (#866615)

          What has this got to do with being on a ship on the high seas raping and pillaging?

          • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @03:35PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @03:35PM (#866644)

            I tried raping a dvd once, but the hole was too big.

            • (Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @03:51PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @03:51PM (#866648)

              Take out the dildo, put a smaller one in. Try using the one your girlfriend shoves up your ass.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 14 2019, @12:10AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 14 2019, @12:10AM (#866748)

        I used to rip dvd's from netflix just to avoid watching previews and fbi warnings.

      • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday July 15 2019, @02:56PM

        by Freeman (732) on Monday July 15 2019, @02:56PM (#867200) Journal

        In the USA, ripping the DVD and using that on your own device, is called "fair use". You need to keep the DVD for legal reasons, though.

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by fyngyrz on Saturday July 13 2019, @01:41PM (17 children)

      by fyngyrz (6567) on Saturday July 13 2019, @01:41PM (#866604) Journal

      Having everything in one place

      I call that "it's on the shelf", or "bought the blu-ray" or "bought the DVD." Bonuses:

      • When (any part of) the net goes down, I can still happily watch my stuff.
      • I can watch my stuff again. Any time. As many times as I want.
      • I can watch my stuff on any device in my house that can be made to display output from a player.
      • If I get tired of some content, I can resell it.
      • I can also lend or give it to my friends, just like a book.
      • I enjoy a higher bandwidth experience: the network never meets the bitrate of a blu-ray.
      • I don't have to engage with shady websites. Like the Pirate Bay. Or... Netflix.
      • My viewing quality doesn't degrade when some bit of content is popular.
      • I don't have to pay a "provider" every month.
      • I'm not making off with intellectual property in violation of the terms of the creators and their representatives.

      ...of course, these are all very minor issues. I'm sure streaming is much better and I'll finally realize that... just as soon as I suffer a few head injuries. :)

      PS: This all works for music too.

      --
      Kleptomaniacs always take things literally.

      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday July 13 2019, @05:39PM (8 children)

        I don't have enough physical storage space for all the video I want at my fingertips. Maybe if I threw out my bed and slept on piles of cases...

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Saturday July 13 2019, @08:13PM (6 children)

          by fyngyrz (6567) on Saturday July 13 2019, @08:13PM (#866699) Journal

          I don't have enough physical storage space for all the video I want at my fingertips.

          Your church must be used very differently than my church. We just dedicated a wall to DVD/blu-ray storage, floor to as high as either of us can reach, shelves exactly as spacious as the tallest case we had in the collection at the time.

          --
          Fact: Celery is 95% water
          and 100% not pizza.

          • (Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 14 2019, @07:29AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 14 2019, @07:29AM (#866825)

            He's talking about discs purchased at actual stores containing mainstream content like blockbuster movies and tv series. Not kiddy porn.

          • (Score: 3, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday July 14 2019, @11:14AM (4 children)

            I currently have over 4TB of H264 video. Mostly 480p but a notable amount of 720p as well. It would take up an unholy amount of space in one-deep rows of discs and still be much slower to access.

            --
            My rights don't end where your fear begins.
            • (Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Sunday July 14 2019, @12:32PM (2 children)

              by bobthecimmerian (6834) on Sunday July 14 2019, @12:32PM (#866874)

              I have stacks of boxes with the original disks, which I almost never access. I've ripped it all to MPEG2 (DVD) and H.264 (Blu Ray) and then reencoded it all to H.265. The machine I'm typing from has a 3TB share of media files, and I've got Kodi installed on most of the devices in the house.

              It's incredibly convenient - but the whole setup process, including ripping hundreds of disks and reencoding them, was a royal pain.

              • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday July 14 2019, @04:11PM (1 child)

                Truth. It's much easier for one person to rip video and distribute it than for everybody to have to rip it themselves. Greener too from all the juice used for each encode.

                --
                My rights don't end where your fear begins.
                • (Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Monday July 15 2019, @09:12PM

                  by bobthecimmerian (6834) on Monday July 15 2019, @09:12PM (#867323)

                  Right now I don't distribute. I can see the ethical arguments for it but I don't completely buy them. I might change my mind.

                  As a more practical thing, I know just enough about anonymity software, etc... to get myself into trouble. With my luck the first time I tried to use Tor to upload to a pirate torrent site I'd get malware on all my boxes and an overnight MPAA lawsuit.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 15 2019, @12:02PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 15 2019, @12:02PM (#867147)

              You bugger me hearty shiver me timbers PIRATE!
              Take all your ill gotten rips outside, pile 'em up, and set fire to 'em.
              Then, pull down your pants, open your wallet and hold it in front of your, pull down your pants and wait for the 'appropriate authorities' to come deal with you.
              YOU STINKIN ASS PIRATE YOU
              how dare you rip off the starving artists! deprive them of an income! consume their content for free! glutton! evil, misbegotten pirate! Burn on a pyre of DVD-R disks!

        • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Sunday July 14 2019, @08:35AM

          by TheRaven (270) on Sunday July 14 2019, @08:35AM (#866829) Journal
          Even without recompressing, DVDs are not that big in comparison to modern disks. A DVD is typically about 7.5GB. That's around 130 DVDs per TB. A NAS with a RAID-Z configuration of three 4TB disks, can store over 1,000 DVDs. That's 40 feet of DVD shelf space to store them all in their boxes. Once you've ripped them, they can be stored in the back of a deep cupboard where they're totally inaccessible except as backups.
          --
          sudo mod me up
      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by legont on Sunday July 14 2019, @12:17AM (7 children)

        by legont (4179) on Sunday July 14 2019, @12:17AM (#866749)

        In short, you want ownership rights as opposed to usage ones. That's the main difference between capitalism and socialism.

        We do build socialism and most don't even notice. For example, one owns money as gold, while fiat money is just a use right.

        --
        "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
        • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday July 14 2019, @11:17AM (6 children)

          Gold is no different than paper unless you have a non-currency use for it. And it's a shitload heavier.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
          • (Score: 2) by legont on Sunday July 14 2019, @04:06PM (4 children)

            by legont (4179) on Sunday July 14 2019, @04:06PM (#866927)

            The biggest difference is that gold can't be easily devalued by the authorities. Yes, Romans and such shaved the coins and added silver, but it was a long process with limited results.

            Gold or any other commodity money would hold value as long as community accepts it. Money, by definition, is a commodity used for exchange. In this sense Marx's prediction that money would dapperer and by the effort of the very capitalists has come to be already and most don't even remember what money is.

            --
            "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
            • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday July 14 2019, @04:20PM (1 child)

              Dunno what gives you that idea. What they accept as $1 of value is entirely up to the government. They could easily make gold worthless except as a commodity within a decade.

              --
              My rights don't end where your fear begins.
              • (Score: 2) by legont on Sunday July 14 2019, @04:47PM

                by legont (4179) on Sunday July 14 2019, @04:47PM (#866938)

                Roman emperors tried and failed. I doubt ours would be more successful.

                --
                "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 15 2019, @12:16PM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 15 2019, @12:16PM (#867154)

              easily devalued

              ORLY?

              Executive Order 6102 [wikipedia.org]

              Executive Order 6102 is a United States presidential executive order signed on April 5, 1933, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt "forbidding the hoarding of gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates within the continental United States". The order was made under the authority of the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, as amended by the Emergency Banking Act the previous month.

              The stated reason for the order was that hard times had caused "hoarding" of gold, stalling economic growth and making the depression worse.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 15 2019, @12:06PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 15 2019, @12:06PM (#867149)

            How many kilograms to "1 shitload"?
            Is that like a 'metric buttload' or is it 'x metrix buttloads to 1 shitload'?
            Inquiring minds wants to nough.

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @03:19PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @03:19PM (#866640)

      I found it was easier to torrent stuff i had a legitimate copy of, because ripping all of Battlestar Galactica was going to take hella long, disk after disk after disk after disk, box after box after box................................................................................................

      Torrent took a couple hours or more: set, forget and go do something else.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @04:00PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @04:00PM (#866651)

        I spent days ripping Farscape, 4 seasons, old PC, took ages. A while later a nasty accident destroyed the disks. So glad I took a backup.
        I've read about the peacekeeper wars. Maybe it'll come to Netflix some day.

  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday July 13 2019, @01:33PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 13 2019, @01:33PM (#866602) Journal

    Yes, that!!

    I have never, in my life, been able to justify the cost of cable, satellite, or most of the internet offerings. But, ten bucks per month for unlimited watching? It's almost worth that, even to me, to give the wife and kids something to waste their time on. Back in the day, when the kids thought $60 was reasonable to get all the channels they wanted to watch? Believe me, my kids were disappointed!!!