How Netflix tried to beat Piracy (and why it failed)

Here’s why Netflix’s business strategy wasn’t enough to fight piracy.
Netflix's business model once had a complete monopoly over online streaming, which started to decline as more companies entered the market.
Subscribing to multiple services isn't ideal for everyone, and has lead to an increase in piracy in the last few years.
The general approach being - subscribe to a couple of services and pirate the rest.
Netflix definitely has done better than other streaming services like Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO due to its large library of exclusive hits like Stranger Things or Narcos.

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[Telhias]

The piracy rose again not because Netflix lost its monopoly but because all the streaming services are buying exclusivity deals. If these platforms competed only with quality of service then piracy would still continue to decline. But unfortunately every exclusivity agreement is a monopoly on a product. You prevent customers from getting that product unless they buy into your platform and no platform has all the films a customer is interested in. The only legal solution is to buy into all of those services but while paying 8 dollars a month for watching whatever you want is easy paying 80 is not. Personally I find exclusivity agreements despicable and inherently anti-consumer. Every single motion pictures company that cries piracy is full of shit as every single one of them gives monopoly to one or other platform. Without exclusivity deals where all the content licenses can be bought by all platforms the focus would shift to making the best service possible. Moreover this can only improve the quality of first party productions as when they are sold to other platforms they will still earn money, potentially even more if the product is popular enough that every platform wants it. Remember that making a first party exclusive does not earn any money directly. It simply vaguely encourages new customers and increases retention of old ones, however sale of a license is a pure profit.

[ghostxfairy]

Because pirating is actually not as hard or as risky as you make it sound if you know what you’re doing. Anyway, as Gabe Newell said, piracy is a service problem. I sure as hell am not going to pay for a bunch of different services just so I can watch a show or two from each.

[FNLNFNLN]

I hope that $52 billion in losses the movie industry is claiming isn't assuming that every single pirated view is someone who would have paid to watch that movie in theaters.

[mwbgaming]

i can pay hundreds of dollars *PER MONTH* to access all streaming services and only watch a show or movie while *THEY* decide to feature it (once they stop featuring it, im screwed if i want to watch it again) all that is assuming my ISP doesnt decide to throttle my speeds or the network isnt congested AF

or i can buy a few hard drives, install an ad blocker and a good antivirus, then go on the pirate bay and permanently own literally every movie or TV show ever made in bluray quality, and i can watch them as many times as i want without worrying about internet speeds or big companies deleting them, all that, for the cost of the storage medium and the initial download

and these companies wonder why people like me still pirate movies and tv shows

[Supersteam]

The thing about piracy that these companies can’t beat is the price. All you need are pop up blockers, ad blockers, and good antivirus protection and you’re good.

[johncasey]

I never fell for the Netflix train. I knew it was about getting pirates to abandon their wares and thwart piracy. I have been pirating for 25 years and will never give up my wares. Over 6, 000 movies, over 1, 200 complete TV series, 20, 000 MP3z, complete game rom collections for numerous consoles, etc.

[refraysmusic]

What makes me mad is that piracy sites(especially the anime ones) show us what legal sites COULD BE. Imagine having all shows you want in one place, no hassle.

[Volvith]

Fun fact: I have a Netflix subscription and still pirate Netflix titles.
... Because their streaming quality is often so shit it's unwatchable, and their download times are more than twice as long as pirating those titles.
Every original is a monopoly.
And if there isn't an alternative, people will make one; Piracy isn't just _A_ solution, it's the most capitalistic solution, because monopolies are inherently toxic in a capitalistic society. ;)


EDIT: This comment makes me look like some sort of white knight.
I pirate everything i can, usually.
The only reason i will buy anything is if the quality of the product is better than the one i can get for free, or if i respect the party producing the product enough.
Examples of the former are relatively rare games from larger companies.
Examples of the latter go anywhere from AAA developers that are openly against everything destroying their respective industry (CDPR, to name one), and LITERALLY every small time indie dev creating halfway decent-products, quality and complexity wise, because fuck the large corporations for shoveling shit our way and asking top price for it. (COUGH, fuck you ea die in a pit of burning shit, COUGH.)

I'm of the opinion that if you're systematically against pirating, you're either:
A). Amish
B). A fucking idiot.
C). Someone who wants to change my mind, which would make you an even bigger idiot than B would be, so please don't even try and take your pride while you've still got it; Go with B.


P.S. Almost forgot: Games as a service are literally a scam and you could theoretically take them to court when they shut down servers GOODBYE.

[debeeriz]

netflix lost out to piracy when they started clamping down on geoblocking,

[YonatanAvhar]

The issue for me is that I live in Israel, and with a population of only ~8 million people, the Netflix library is just awfully small, and I have to pirate 90% of the films I watch.

[TheGodEmperorOfMankind_]

Region locks, ye thanks but no thanks.
When piracy is easier than the legal way, I'll pirate

[sonicmeerkat]

Or streaming services could be denied exclusive licenses like cinemas and the old dvd shops were.

[gamertcell]

Ya know i kinda wish they DONT win. Pirates are not thieves, they are heros that take back WHAT IS stolen.

[Mannedavid]

I pirate mostly anime, because pretty much nothing is available in Switzerland - also, movie and music piracy is legal in Switzerland for personal use (only seeding is a gray zone).

[pamlin]

It must be a crime to have so few subscribers. This channel needs more attention. Keep up the good work.

[craigmcpherson]

PC games piracy will rise due to all the exclusivity deals on the Epic game store.

[samuelhildebrandt]

Exactly, if it was all in one place I would just pay for it.

[Anonymous-prgr]

Lets be clear, you probably will get better quality from pirated content than Netflix. That's because pirated content often have way better converted versions of a given movie, if not the original. Netflix on the other hand compresses their content to the very maximum, decreasing quality.


I always watch blu-rays. When i go watch something on Netflix, i get the "Yuck" face because of the poor quality. You can get used to it, but it never changes the fact that it's shit quality regardless.

[FreeAimDog]

i remember when netflix first released it had EVERYTHING (well at lease for me) and now it just has scary movies with the dumbest victims that have no brains. what happened to netflix?