this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023
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[–] axby@lemmy.ca 52 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (33 children)

I may have missed it, but does he (or anyone else) have recommendations for options to simply pay for content and get high quality DRM free files (edit: I mean legally)?

And how much of a pain in the ass is it to buy DVD box sets and rip them? Presumably that’s legal for personal use? Is that the only way? :(

I have some additional frustrations with Netflix:

  • they have removed some shows that I like
  • if you travel to another country, you can’t always watch the same shows— even if you downloaded them within the app
  • they completely remove some episodes: the episode of community where they play Dungeons and Dragons, and (other streaming services) remove the Michael Jackson Simpsons episode.
  • extremely user hostile way to browse content. They always move your list around and show the same show in multiple places
  • I absolutely hate how all these streaming services auto play to the next episode. You can often change this behaviour. But my partner sometimes casts it to our TV and the damn app (Disney+ in this case, I think) changes the interface just as you get to the credits. I want to sit in peace and let the credits play, and discuss the episode. But it tries to shove another one down your throat, presumably to “maximize engagement”. (I get it for content that you’re binging or are re watching. But this is horrible if you’re just watching an episode during dinner and don’t want to have to scramble to stop the autoplay as soon as it ends)
[–] smileyhead@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

And how much of a pain in the ass is it to buy DVD box sets and rip them? Presumably that’s legal for personal use? Is that the only way? :(

It can be a pain at first when you figure out a schema, look for software etc., then just a matter of inserting a disc and pressing a button. DVDs are easy to rip, there are fully open source programs to do it, for example libcss from VLC team. And DVDs don't require using leaked decryption keys like BluRays.

It is legal depending on the country. In US it's in gray area as you strip down DRM. In country I live in (Poland) from my research there are no such measures and copyright works differently. In Poland the movie/music is untied from medium you bought it on, so copying is legal but selling or giving those copies without destroying other copies you have is illegal.

My advice is that for first dozens of movies don't play with Jellyfin and storing them. DVD player on USB is the best and rip just to have movies for a trip or on a phone. Just out of simplicity, why spend time managing backups, storage shares and additional machines when there is only a few titles to manage.

[–] DigitalBits@programming.dev 1 points 1 year ago

Even assuming ripping is legal (it usually isn't ,though it should be), the effort required is significantly higher, the cost is significantly higher, and at least for TV shows, you usually suffer from huge delays as you wait for the season box set to be released. This is even assuming they bother to release a bluray in 4k with HDR.

Netflix and other services (assuming it even has the content you want) have fixed these issues, with the massive downside of no 4k, lower bitrate, and no ownership at the end of it.

Piracy, while more illegal, has the content you want, at 4k, usually a higher bitrate, with minimal effort, no cost, and no delays. Now that I'm employed, I don't pirate music or games anymore, because the services offered are good enough that piracy isn't worth the effort. But for movies & TV shows, the services offered are simply terrible.

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