At first this article reads like your typical anti-piracy screed. It rants about how 10x more people watched GoT illegally (confusing them with lost sales) and ends with how downloading movies can get your credit card stolen.
The middle of the article however, destroys the author’s case.
Time Warner (owning company of HBO) CEO Alan Bewkes stated in 2013 how becoming the most illegally streamed show in history was “better than an Emmy” and that torrenting ultimately led to more paid subscriptions.
“We’ve been dealing with this for 20, 30 years—people sharing subs, running wires down the backs of apartment buildings. Our experience is that it leads to more paying subs. I think you’re right that Game of Thrones is the most pirated show in the world and that’s better than an Emmy.”
The CEO of Time Warner, who knows more about the finances of his own show than ForeverGeek writer Tom Llewellyn, championed piracy and said that it brought them more subscribers rather than nearly destroying the show as the article claims.
Needless to say, Tom forwent a rebuttal in favor of writing how you can get malware from downloading it…
Anti-Piracy Propaganda: 0 Truth: 1
I wasn’t even able to stream it legally in Canada. The only way I could watch it legally was to get a cable subscription and a $15/mo HBO package. Fuck that!
That sounds like a contradiction.
Edit: For everyone else who doesn’t bother to read the rest of the thread: it hadn’t occurred to me that buying HBO doesn’t include video on demand. But now I do. You don’t have to tell me. I know now. What I’m saying is you don’t need to tell me. Because I already know. So there’s no need to tell me, for I already know.
He means one needed cable. It wasn’t available purely as a stream
Oh wow, it hadn’t even occurred to me such a subscription wouldn’t include the ability to watch on demand. That’s so last century.
So he was able to stream it legally, he just wasn’t happy with the requirements for doing so.
Edited to add, I think I’ve misunderstood the original poster. I thought they were saying they could stream it if they had cable. Now I’m not sure that’s what they meant.
For those saying I was being pedantic, I don’t think it’s pedantic to refute that someone said they can’t do a thing when they can. But again, I think I misunderstood.
Basically the experience 10+ years ago: https://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones
STREAM =/= CABLE
Thanks!
How so? There was no streaming option in Canada for GoT. HBO max was not offered. I even tried with a VPN but they wouldn’t accept a Canadian credit card. So piracy was the only option unless I wanted to get cable… But who would want that.
Thanks!