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Comment by k-mcgrady | Hacker News Reader

I can see very little reason for people to use this other than they don't want to pay money for movies.

Netflix is cheap, has a large selection, is available in several countries and its geo-block is easy to bypass with a Chrome plugin meaning you can get full selection from any country. There are also other streaming services in various countries. Not to mention the large number of countries iTunes Movies are available in. Obviously new releases can only be viewed in the cinema but if you really want to see something that's not too big of an ask - or you can wait a couple of months.

There are always people trying to justify piracy and although I disagree with it I can see their frustration at times but movies are incredibly convenient and cheap to access. Is there a 'valid' reason to use something like Popcorn Time?

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Netflix is not so good. Specially if you're not in the US and you don't speak english. Here in the Netherlands the selection is very limited, you rarely see subtitles in languages other than dutch. You can use a proxy to get US Netflix, but that's illegal and doesn't work with a smart TV.

The Popcorn Time or XBMCTorrent experience is so much better. You get a huge selection of movies and series in high definition, with subtitles and audio in any language at a distance of a click.

I would pay many times what Netflix charges for a legal service like this. So would many other people.

You can use a proxy to get US Netflix, but that's illegal and doesn't work with a smart TV.

This is by no means a good solution, and perhaps still illegal, but it does work. I used to do that for Pandora:

You can run a VPN client on your router connected to a server in the US and add routes for Netflix to go through that connection. That way all devices on your home network should be able to connect to Netflix.

Or some other geo-ip-restricted service. You just need to sniff out their IP blocks.

You set it to reconnect automatically and it's not even that inconvenient. Although you do have to pick networking up as a hobby.

There are various services that do the proxying for you and you "only" have to change your DNS server. One I've used in the past is unblock-us.

I'd like to have Netflix. I'd really like. But the only alternative here costs 30€, doesn't work on every device, and has a very limited selection, even limited in time. I won't try to bypass a geo-block just to watch movies at a normal price. It's not even authorized!

I understand that bypassing the geo-block isn't allowed but surely it's better that the content producers/creators receive some money form you rather than pirating it?

Bypassing the geo-block is just as illegal as using torrents.

If someone for ids me to use/buy content, and I do that anyway, then it's pirating.

I'm not denying its illegality but morally it's less wrong.

- don't use Chrome (and won't change that)

- don't own an iOS device (and won't get one)

Netflix doesn't exist here for all I can tell and all alternatives are utterly broken. I haven't even looked at Popcorn Time for now (to avoid 'Ah, you just want to defend your decision' arguments), but there is no way to watch movies or tv series here¹. None.

The best potential option: Buy DVDs or similar media. They usually tend to come with just a bit of sillyness (really? unskippable parts?) and include the original audio most of the time. That means that you wait aeons to get your hand on the content though and you generate garbage. Because .. usually I watch a movie/series once.

1: With my requirements being: Original version (not dubbed), more or less recent (i.e. not gazillion years behind the US, just because) and accessible on my devices (can be streamed to my xmbc setup for example).

> Netflix is cheap, has a large selection, is available in several countries and its geo-block is easy to bypass with a Chrome plugin

As I said in a different comment, bypassing the geo-block is against Netflix' TOS, so is not legal either. Ideally you could say "but my money goes to the rights holder eventually, so it's better than nothing", which I think it's ok. However, given that you are still liable for watching the movie illegally, you are literally giving money to the studios and getting nothing in return: you already have the movie for free but you lack the license to watch it, and bypassing the geo-block means you are not getting that.

you sir have no clue of the world outside the US

I believe I do as I have never lived in the US :) Nice job jumping to conclusions though.

As far as my experience goes (roughly ten years of trying to access sites like Comedy Central’s Daily Show), no geo-blocking solution works for more than a month — up to a couple of weeks now. Hola worked for 10 days for me.

I am happy to pay for Netflix; the selection, partial where I am now, justifies the price. However, if they won’t sell me anything more up to date… well, I won’t buy it.

If you bypass the geo-block, you don't have a license to play the geo-blocked content either, regardless of your Netflix subscription.

True but IMO it's still better than piracy. The content creators at least still get paid.

Oh its still piracy. You took media you weren't "allowed" by technical force. Its just less, um, pirate-y than simply taking it via torrent. The fact that people are willing to do this (go out of their way to find a way to give the content providers some money even though they intend to break the rules) is a very good sign. People really do balance ethics against easy (or possibility) of use and try to make moral decisions.

It's not just piracy, it's fraud : you agreed to a contract that in no uncertain terms said you can't violate the service areas.

They check whether you do this or not through DNS geolocking. Then you use technical means to deceive those checks and violate the contract.

This is fraud. You are intentionally deceiving a contracted party in order to violate your obligations under a contract. If netflix asks the police to prosecute, you could go to jail for this.

Morally, it's also an abomination. You enter into an agreement with the explicit intent to violate it. Yes, it's good for netflix and it's good for you (which means the studios will react against it as soon as netflix has credible competition, and if takes too long they will create credible competition. One studio might go lone wolf against them though, and get a large conviction).

How is this different from using a fake bank card in the store to make the payment terminal say "accepted" while paying only 10% of the listed price ? It's not. (except for the much lower chance of punishment)

How about https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7401949 Original post https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7401055

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