Comment by reubenmorais | Hacker News Reader

Comment by reubenmorais | Hacker News Reader

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Torrenting is an answer to bad service. I want to look up a movie I want to watch, choose between different quality/file size options depending on my bandwidth/hard drive space needs, download an MP4 with decent speeds, watch it, then store it to watch again if I feel like it.

I can do this legally for games via GOG or Steam, I can do this legally for (most) software I use, I can do this legally for music (limited artists) via Bandcamp, but there's NO option for movies, TV series, or most mainstream music. I literally cannot legally watch the latest episode of any of the shows I follow, because when they do have an online offering, it's restricted to the US.

So for me, downloading a movie on TPB is first about convenience, I want to get to the movie and TPB is the means to it. But implicitly it's also sending a message to the gatekeepers of content that I'm interested in their product. The other part of the message is making a habit of looking for and paying for convenient, DRM-free content when it's available.

I fully understand what you mean. I saw you're from Brazil too, so you know how awful Netflix is around here and how much we pay for games, for example. I download mostly due to the reasons you mentioned. As much as possible I avoid downloading books and I try to pay for music when I can (some stuff is just too expensive to import and many times really hard to find). I also rely on Steam and digital copies to avoid stealing (I have no problem calling it that) games.

But by the end of the day, despite being hard to find or expensive or unavailable, it's not mine to take. I understand I have no right to just rip The Flash S01E09 and make it available for free, IMO. Even though I downloaded and watched it yesterday.

Why? It's not like the most downloaded TV series are also the ones making the most money.

> Torrenting is an answer to bad service. I want to look up a movie I want to watch, choose between different quality/file size options depending on my bandwidth/hard drive space needs, download an MP4 with decent speeds, watch it, then store it to watch again if I feel like it.

Totally agree. I own over 1000 CDs, but rather than ripping each one to my hard drive, it's much easier to download them illegally via P2P networks and torrents.

I download music illegally for other purposes too, but I've also spent a much greater portion of my income on music than most. Downloading has likely stimulated my appreciation for music.

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