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Netflix inadvertently killing off pirates and Bittorent

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Netflix, probably the most popular video streaming service ever, is having an unexpected consequence on the world of piracy and torrents. Apparently, the popularity and accessibility of Netflix, as well as the affordable U.S. prices that it can boast with, have impacted the way in which Bittorent is used. It seems like there are fewer and fewer pirates ripping movies and series with Bittorent and the number of the torrent client’s users has dropped. That leads us to believe that people are turning away from piracy thanks to the obvious benefits that Neflix offers, and we’re glad about it.

We are familiar with the legal implications of piracy and stealing and distributing copyrighted content. But there was a time (and still is in some countries), when people simply could not afford to go to the cinema to watch a movie or subscribe to HBO to be able to watch Game of Thrones, Spartacus, Six feet under, Carnivale, How I met your mother and the list goes on. But with Netflix bringing affordable content to so many people across the world and services like UnoTelly making Netflix available in European and Asian countries, piracy has plummeted.

According to a Sandvine report entitled In the Americas, Netflix + Google + Facebook = The Internet?, Bittorent and Netflix seem to be clashing. While more and more people are flocking to Netflix, less and less people are making use of the Bittorent client and ripping content from torrent sites like The Pirate Pay, Kickass and I’m sure you can name a few others. The report details that Neflix has become more dominant among users in North America, accounting for more than 36 % of bandwidth use during peak hours of internet use. Although Sandvine doesn’t give out precise numbers for the change, they do emphasize the pull that Netflix is having on Bittorrent clients.

It seems like affordable and accessible content is the way to weed out pirates and to convert them into upstanding citizens of the internet, if I may. Although there’s still a lot of piracy going on in all entertainment industries, including movies, series, cartoons, music and talk shows, the number and sheer volume of content that is being watched illegally has dropped. Netflix can be proud of their accomplishment, and have proven to the world that the business model they are using is effective and has a positive impact on the industry.

Naturally, Netflix isn’t the only video on demand service that people can use, but it seems to be much more popular than Amazon Prime on demand, Hulu or others. The amount of content that Netflix has to offer for subscribers is large enough to be able to cater to all types of viewers with different preferences, which is the essence of a healthy business model for a streaming site. Bittorent pull in bandwidth share has dropped to about 6 %, which is a lot smaller than what it used to be. Once making up 30 % of bandwidth use, Bittorent has lost a lot of its users in the past 5 years to a decade.

Although this can be considered a positive change, for Netflix at least, Bittorent doesn’t just mean pirating content. File sharing is a concept that is still alive and well, but it’s no longer being overwhelmingly dominated by p2p and torrents or file sharing platforms like Limewire (remember?). Do you think that the affordable prices and sea of content that Netflix and other streaming services offer are worth abandoning the Bittorent structure in file sharing?

As part of the editorial team here at Geekreply, John spends a lot of his time making sure each article is up to snuff. That said, he also occasionally pens articles on the latest in Geek culture. From Gaming to Science, expect the latest news fast from John and team.

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Last of Us HBO Showrunner Quietly Removes Name from Troubled Borderlands Flick

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When your writer—one of Hollywood’s hottest—tries to hide their involvement, it’s a bad sign. The Borderlands film’s original script was written by Craig Mazin (The Last of Us, Chernobyl), who recently asked the WGA to use the pseudonym “Joe Crombie” instead of his name.

We hope this means Mazin considers Joe Abercrombie, Lord Grimdark, the grittiness GOAT, but that theory is unproven. Since Mazin wrote the script in 2015 for Eli Roth to direct, a steady stream of writers has been brought in. Aaron Berg, Chris Bremner, Sam Levinson, Zak Olkewicz, Tony Rettenmaier, Juel Taylor, and Oren Uziel have put around 70 fingers in the honey pot.

The name change likely avoids confusion. Mazin probably doesn’t want to be blamed for Jack Black/Claptrap madness, but he wants to keep his rights.

To clarify, the Borderlands film finished filming in 2021, but Roth was replaced by Tim Miller (Deadpool) in January.

When this surprising star-studded film (Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Cate Blanchet) limps out, what are your expectations? We think this was supposed to coincide with Borderlands 3’s 2019 release, but it’s overshot the mark.

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Monday’s YouTube premiere of “Foundation” is free

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Apple is streaming the first episode of “Foundation” on YouTube and hosting a Q&A on Monday before the second season’s premiere.
“Foundation” will return for ten more episodes on Friday, July 14, on Apple TV+. Apple is streaming the first episode of the first season to promote it.

“The Emperor’s Peace” will air on YouTube on Monday at 11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern. After the episode, executive producer and showrunner David S. Goyer will answer questions live.

 

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Netflix cracks down on password sharing worldwide

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After a delay, Netflix’s password sharing crackdown is reaching U.S. and international subscribers. After experiencing cancellations in regions where it had already implemented “paid sharing,” the streamer delayed the debut till the summer. U.S. Netflix consumers must either remove people from their account or pay $7.99/month for an additional membership for non-household members.

In weeks and months, many of worldwide markets will undergo similar transformations.

Current members can examine which devices are signed into their account and remove unwanted ones, as well as reset their password, to make this transfer smoother.

A “Transfer Profile” feature lets Netflix account sharers move their viewing history and watchlist to their own account.

Netflix informed investors that despite early cancellations, the password enforcement will benefit its long-term development and financial health.

Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said the password enforcement in its first supported markets was similar to how subscribers reacted to pricing increases during its first-quarter earnings.

“We see an initial cancel reaction and then we build out of that, both in terms of membership and revenue as borrowers sign up for their own Netflix accounts and existing members purchase that extra member facility for folks that they want to share with,” Peters told investors on the April earnings call. “First of all, it was a strong validation to see consistent results in these new countries, because there are different market characteristics different from each other and also from the original Latin American rollout countries,” he said.

Netflix tested the feature in Latin America before adding Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain this year. It will reach more global markets today, including Brazil, Bolivia, Belize, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Philippines, Malaysia, Israel, Thailand, Taiwan, Switzerland, Sweden, and others.

The corporation may have postponed the crackdown in Q1 to avoid hurting net additions. Last quarter, the corporation added 1.75 million global customers, below Wall Street’s 3 million projection, to 232.5 million accounts.

It announced at results that U.S. members would receive the password-sharing adjustments “on or before” June 30. Netflix may have accelerated the timing.

Netflix revealed on its blog today that it will email U.S. account sharers.

“One household per Netflix account,” the firm advises. “Everyone living in that household can use Netflix wherever they are—at home, on the go, on holiday—and take advantage of new features like Transfer Profile and Manage Access and Devices,” the post adds.

The email, labeled “An update on sharing,” lists options and links to support documentation.

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Netflix explains in a press email that it is “now starting to roll out updates to sharing to countries around the world, including the U.S.”

Netflix has yet to see the effects of a password crackdown in the U.S., where it faces increased competition for users’ time and money.

Today, HBO Max becomes Max, a new service that combines HBO and Discovery+ content, doubling the amount of programming. Paramount+ will add Showtime next month on June 27. Disney plans to merge Disney+ and Hulu into one app. Subscribers get more content with some price increases. Netflix is charging more for the same.

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