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Comment by Zirro | Hacker News Reader

I think the film-industry should be inspired by this. If they offered something which is as easy to use and as good-looking as this, piracy will certainly decrease.

Just put a "Pay here"-button before giving the user their download-link. Skip the DRM and the restrictions for different parts of the world and they'd have a killer-platform for selling their products.

I am not saying that piracy isn't "unethical", but that there are many ways it could be resolved without resorting to harsh laws.

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If Hollywood made this exact same product but with pay buttons, why would I as a user choose it over movies.io.

Because you want to support the making of more movies of the same kind. Because you have a conscience. That said, there will always be those who shoplift in stores, or pirate movies. I don't believe those people constitute the majority of the population.

Convenience and (the perception) of safety, both from law and malware. Paying a reasonable amount for a movie that is easy to find and watch is a no-brainer for me. Of course, my time to income ratio is low.

And of course quality.

Because this site (movies.io) will inevitably get shut down within the week.

I don't think it will. We'll try to maintain it up by any means possible as long as there's a satisfying worldwide alternative to buy/license this content.

In a way, it's a political stand. We're already in contact who could help us make an alternative that would be both legal and ethical.

EDIT: this is the manifesto I was looking for: http://www.dontmakemesteal.com/

Just because its possible to get a thing for free doesn't mean no-one will pay for it. Just look at bottled water.

Where do you get bottles for free?

1. Purchase tasty beverage.

2. Drink beverage.

3. Free bottle!

Doesn't work in Germany, we've got 15-25ct deposit on all bottles.

Set up a bin anywhere people go that says "recycle" and you'll get plenty.

Is the bin that says "recycle" free?

People don't buy bottled water for the bottles, otherwise they'd throw away the water, and keep the bottles. Instead they keep/use the water and throw away the bottles. The water is what they pay money for, you can get that for free at home.

> People don't buy bottled water for the bottles, otherwise they'd throw away the water, and keep the bottles.

Speak for yourself; I personally have done this.

OK, I'm sure there are counter-examples to just about ever rule. However I think it's accurate to say that the vast majority of the population buy bottled water for the water, not the bottles. My point stands.

Free water from home tastes worse. Making the analogy, if they want to sell content they need to give extra quality than "illegal" download. Cinema large screens, live concerts, etc. I cannot see another way.

> If Hollywood made this exact same product but with pay buttons, why would I as a user choose it over movies.io.

Same reason you buy stuff instead of stealing them?

But downloading is not stealing.

Interesting, but would you take a stolen car? Doesn't quite compare, I know, but it's a bit silly to justify it by saying that.

Because you want to support those who produce the content, if you like using it. Not supporting them while using their creation is sheer disrespect, regardless whether piracy is illegal or not.

I'd pay 5-10 bucks for a high-quality mp4 or mkv, even if the site's interface was terrible. Right now I rent movies, about once a year. I find myself wanting to buy them online once or twice a month.

If it were also reasonably priced, users who wish to reward people who make this type of content possible would pay for it.

1080p, surround sound, perfectly mastered instead of being ripped from a dvd or a cam, and no threat of being sued.

I'm honestly pretty bad at pirating. I'd _love_ it if HBO threw up paid streaming for Game of Thrones. If they charged something like $3/episode I think it might actually even be cheaper than the time I spent trying to pirate it (granted, most people are probably better than I am at pirating).

I think your best bet is pirate bay plus adblock. Once you remove all the ads their site actually becomes usable.

I should add: I'm looking for these episodes relatively quickly after they're aired. The PB links I get when I google for stuff don't seem to be for recent episodes.

A friend of mine generally finds a link through his own sources relatively quickly and shares it, though.

See eztv.it when you create account you can register which series you are interested in and then you will have a personal page on which you can get directo torrents for new/unwatched episodes

There are plenty of easy ways to legally buy and download movies - certainly a lot easier than torrenting. See Netflix, iTunes, Google Play etc.

It would be both nice and pragmatic if they would drop the DRM that is clearly doing nothing to combat piracy. This is not going to achieve that.

> There are plenty of easy ways to legally buy and

> download movies - certainly a lot easier than

> torrenting.

The Oatmeal disagrees: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

No there are not. Not if you don't live in the States. The US is not the only place on earth you know :) It's hard/impossible to get anything new (and most things old) in other countries legally streaming.

Exactly. Eventually they'll learn, but it takes them a long time.

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