One upon a time, movies were released in different countries at different times. This could be done because there was no easy way to copy and store away a movie. If you lived in Italy, you could wait up to two years before you saw a popular movie. Then two things happened: it became easy to copy and store movies; and everybody in the world suddenly became interconnected. The regional segregation has ended: the only ones to believe that it's still there are the dinosaurs from a past era.
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Netflix: The Crumbling Borders of Geolocation and the Thieves Who Happily Pay for What They "Steal"
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(Score: 4, Informative) by pTamok on Tuesday June 09 2015, @10:19AM
An editor has left an unclosed tag again, I think.
(Score: 3, Funny) by pTamok on Tuesday June 09 2015, @10:20AM
As have I, by mistake.
(Score: 2) by Ryuugami on Tuesday June 09 2015, @10:47AM
Holy crap, the entire interface is tiny O_o
And getting tinier. Had to ctrl+wheel to even see the text I'm typing. Any way to fix this? For now I'll try to put a few closing tags here.
If a random comment (or TFS) with an unclosed tag can wreak havoc on the entire site, that's a major bug :/
If a shit storm's on the horizon, it's good to know far enough ahead you can at least bring along an umbrella. - D.Weber
(Score: 2) by Ryuugami on Tuesday June 09 2015, @10:49AM
For now I'll try to put a few closing tags here.
Didn't work :(
Seems like you can't close a tag that was left open from another comment.
If a shit storm's on the horizon, it's good to know far enough ahead you can at least bring along an umbrella. - D.Weber
(Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Tuesday June 09 2015, @12:51PM
Intuitive attempt :)
Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
(Score: 2) by lentilla on Tuesday June 09 2015, @03:23PM
If you are having difficulties with the size of input boxes (particularly with <textarea> elements), may I suggest you find a suitable browser extensions? I'm using the GPL-licensed "It's All Text" [mozilla.org] here in my Iceweasel (aka Firefox). I edit my submission in Emacs (pick your favourite editor) and when I'm finished it gets dumped back into the browser. I get all the functionally of my regular editor and I still get to use the web like a "normal" person.
You might have a point about the size of this particular text-entry box but it's a fact of life that the majority of people will be mildly dissatisfied with anything that is designed to consensus. (Consensus being the point at which the majority isn't unhappy.) I'm content provided that the consensus hasn't arrived at a "solution" that prevents me from working around it easily so I won't complain too much unless I am actively prevented from working around the annoyance.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Ryuugami on Tuesday June 09 2015, @03:44PM
Thanks for the help, but I don't have any problems with the default size :)
There was a bug (well, two bugs) with unclosed tags in the summary and comment subjects being applied to everything below it, including the input boxes. On top of that, subjects weren't filtered for tags at all, so arbitrary tags could be used there... including <script>. Whoops.
In this particular case, after three or four layers of <small> the text became too tiny to comfortably read, hence my comment about trying to close the tags (it failed; perhaps I should've put them in the subject instead of in the comment body).
Thanks to a swift action from the devs (thank you guys, you're the best), at least the subject filtering bug seems to have been patched before any damage was done. Well, except for a bunch of comments that were demonstrating the bug but no longer do so :)
If a shit storm's on the horizon, it's good to know far enough ahead you can at least bring along an umbrella. - D.Weber
(Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Tuesday June 09 2015, @10:55AM
As seen in the article text:
(Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Tuesday June 09 2015, @11:06AM
This site is vulnerable to XSS attack!
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @11:11AM
XSS = Cross Summary Small? :-)
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday June 09 2015, @12:25PM
Appreciate the heads up. Tags shouldn't be allowed at all in the Subject.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Tuesday June 09 2015, @01:09PM
Thanks for the quick response. Btw there are some leftovers in the thread above.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by pkrasimirov on Tuesday June 09 2015, @11:09AM
Devs, please take cate to fix asap!!
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @11:16AM
Click on the title to find out!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @12:31PM
NoScript FTW again!
All you javascript-loving nodejs devs who were born yesterday can suuuuuuuck it!
Javascript makes security brittle -- one screw up and a site goes from safe to loaded with exploits.
(Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Tuesday June 09 2015, @12:56PM
They have noticed, thank you for alerting everybody :)
Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
(Score: 2) by paulej72 on Tuesday June 09 2015, @02:15PM
Team Leader for SN Development
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @02:50PM
I would have done if I had known of that site.
(Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Wednesday June 10 2015, @06:06AM
Me too. Thanks for the info.
(Score: 2, Funny) by pTamok on Tuesday June 09 2015, @07:55PM
Apologies.
I had a brainfart, and put the tag in the subject of the comment trying to let you know there was an unclosed tag in the article.
I then noticed that my subject contained, of course, an unclosed tag, as the poor computer couldn't know I was referencing the tag, not trying to use it. So my apology for that, which contained the tag in the subject again made things even smaller.
I really wasn't trying to make a point.
But at least I inadvertantly discovered what could have been a serious bug. But only by demonstrating my stupidity. So sorry again.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @12:08PM
GOG had a similar incident back in 2012:
http://www.gog.com/forum/general_archive/man_i_think_im_realy_old_when_did_title_game_got_old/page1 [gog.com]
For those who don't get what happened, GOG were not escaping characters, so when someone posted a topic called:
> Man, I think I'm realy old. When did <title> game got old?
<title> was taken as HTML and nothing displayed underneath it. The community reaction was.. impressive.
Basically became a playful fight between people doing trolly (but non-malicious) redirects to MLP forums and Steam and others
doing redirects to simple text pages explaining the situation and advising users stay away from the site for a day or so.
More detailed write up on the GOG Wiki: http://gogwiki.com/wiki/Notable_Events [gogwiki.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @12:56PM
Interestingly, (perhaps I should say usefully?), NoScript picked up on the XSS attack on this page when it loaded and helpfully blocked it / gave a warning.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by pkrasimirov on Tuesday June 09 2015, @01:14PM
Lol, do you mean you saw a browser alert box saying "XSS attack!" ?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @01:35PM
that's what i saw
(Score: 3, Interesting) by pkrasimirov on Wednesday June 10 2015, @06:13AM
That was *the* attack :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @01:03PM
well this is fun
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @01:15PM
the small tags seem to work in the reply page
(Score: 2) by Anne Nonymous on Tuesday June 09 2015, @02:20PM
You're killing me, Smalls.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday June 09 2015, @04:06PM
You leave Biggie out of this!
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 5, Funny) by ticho on Tuesday June 09 2015, @02:04PM
And no single on-topic comment was made (And I'm not exactly helping here either.)
(Score: 2) by The Archon V2.0 on Tuesday June 09 2015, @02:28PM
Wow, I just modded some stuff in here and the moderation results page looks really weird from all the HTML in the titles.
(Score: 2) by Open4D on Wednesday June 10 2015, @01:42PM
I just modded a comment and did not encounter any problem. What I saw was this:
Same as always.
So, perhaps it has been fixed? Can you, or anyone else, confirm that? There appear to be no github issues [github.com] about it (open or closed) at the moment.
(Score: 2) by The Archon V2.0 on Wednesday June 10 2015, @01:58PM
Yep, looks like it's been fixed there too.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 09 2015, @02:54PM
There are a bunch of nitwits in the UK who insist that I can only watch UK stuff if I'm in the UK. There seem to be some exceptions to the rule, but I don't understand them, nor do I really give a damn about the rules OR the exceptions. VPN does the trick. I know, I should gloat to much over those silly-ass Brits. We've got Hollywierd over here. Arrogant sons of bitches think they have the right to treat the whole world like redheaded stepchildren.
Hello, "Entertainment" industry! Just make your shit, and offer it for sale. It's none of your GOD DAMNED BUSINESS what nationality I am, what race I am, what culture I live in, or where I live. Make your movie, put it on the market, and that's it. You know that WE WILL get what we want, when we want it, where we want it, and there's nothing you can do about it.
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @05:00PM
I wonder how region restrictions can be considered compatible with free trade.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by kaszz on Tuesday June 09 2015, @06:01PM
Donation and dirty secrets make everything compatible :P
(Score: 4, Insightful) by tibman on Tuesday June 09 2015, @03:01PM
Region locking has never made sense to consumers. To us it looks like they don't even want to make money. Just put the stuff on the market and let everyone buy it.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 1) by penguinoid on Tuesday June 09 2015, @06:26PM
In theory, price discrimination is a great blessing to poorer consumers. It means that a company can offer their product at a price right down to their marginal cost of production, without losing the profits from selling it at the "regular" price to people who can afford it. So price discrimination could turn out to be a very good thing -- not that I've ever seen a good implementation.
RIP Slashdot. Killed by greedy bastards.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Tuesday June 09 2015, @08:13PM
I think that is a "have the cake and eat it too" situation. If they start at the high-price (like normal) and have the price slowly go down over time (like normal) then they still capture everyone who wanted to buy it. Only instead of a geographical variable they have a time variable. Pirates will pirate, no matter the price.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday June 10 2015, @03:32AM
On the other hand, if the market was healthy they would be forced to sell at just above their marginal cost from day one everywhere.
(Score: 1) by penguinoid on Wednesday June 10 2015, @04:25AM
On the other hand, if the market was healthy they would be forced to sell at just above their marginal cost from day one everywhere.
No, it doesn't work that way. There is no idealized free market with infinite competition and perfectly interchangeable products. Remember also that when it comes to digital products of any kind, the marginal cost of production is basically zero, yet the development costs can be huge, and everything is covered by copyright. It's the development costs that need to be paid off -- and this can be done making fewer sales at higher prices, making more sales at lower prices, or doing both (price discrimination).
Of course, when their product is basically free to reproduce and transport, failing to release it everywhere is like begging for it to be pirated.
RIP Slashdot. Killed by greedy bastards.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday June 10 2015, @05:59AM
Keep in mind that a blockbuster recoups it's production cost in the first week. Most others do so sometime during their first run, typically before moving to the cheap second run theaters. That still leaves the DVD mastering costs, but that's not much compared to the cost to produce the movie. Basically, that is covered in the "just above".
Here's a sanity check: DVDs for a five or 10 year old movie in region 1 still cost well more than just a bit over the marginal cost.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @06:43PM
To us it looks like they don't even want to make money
You dont think hollywood accounting works by magic do you?
JMS: The show, all in, cost about $110 million to make. Each year of its original run, we know it showed a profit because they TOLD us so. And in one case, they actually showed us the figures. It's now been on the air worldwide for ten years. There's been merchandise, syndication, cable, books, you name it. The DVDs grossed roughly half a BILLION dollars (and that was just after they put out S5, without all of the S5 sales in). So what does my last profit statement say? We're $80 million in the red. Basically, by the terms of my contract, if a set on a WB movie burns down in Botswana, they can charge it against B5's profits.
They need 'loss' to offset the profit. To make it look like the whole thing is run at a loss.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Tuesday June 09 2015, @07:31PM
Always upvote JMS.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by tibman on Tuesday June 09 2015, @08:09PM
I'm actually rewatching B5 right now : ) Such a great show.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday June 09 2015, @07:19PM
People doing the end-run around region locking is a harbinger of things to come. That is, people will see through artificial scarcity and act accordingly. If we make the tools to do that universally available to each other, it will greatly erode centralized control of all kinds.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 10 2015, @06:08AM
The pity is .. them dinosaurs put a penny in the bank way back in the Pleiscene Era and now, through the sheer force of simple interest, have enough money to swamp any opposition with more lawyers than law school can produce in six million years.
(Score: -1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @03:10PM
Who really f*****g cares whether they can't see the episodes of some stupid TV show in another country right away?
Like you've got nothing else to watch? Or do? That's not 10x better?
This is just more whining from the "Those greedy media company executives are screwing us over, and that's why we were forced into pirating" crowd.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @05:04PM
Adi Shankar has a much better perspective on what it takes to get a movie made and financed. Watch his video on the process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWP88WKVBKs [youtube.com]
Now remember there are now dozens of 'owners' in 'regions'. You can see exactly how we ended up with what we have. Basically the financiers are either trying to make the movie look like a loss (no distribution deals, tax writeoff), or being greedy (only particular exclusive deals).
It is one part trying to do segmented pricing one part 'exclusive contracts'. Remember the people paying the bills want their money back.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @06:50PM
They want to DRM the HTML https://defectivebydesign.org/netflix [defectivebydesign.org]