'Expensive' Streaming Services Are a Key Reason for Americans to 'Pirate'

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Market structure & competition

  • Users argue streaming doesn’t behave like classic price competition because each service hoards unique content; shows are non‑substitutable, so “competition” is limited.
  • Some note this resembles the pre‑1948 studio/theater vertical integration problem; others say the services did compete on price early on but all ran losses until higher interest rates forced price hikes.
  • Several see lack of FCC/antitrust action and strong lobbying as enabling the current fragmented market.

Comparisons with music & books

  • Music/ebook services mostly share catalogs and compete on price/convenience; video doesn’t.
  • Explanations offered: much higher production costs for film/TV, studios running their own platforms, different licensing history, and a desire to use exclusives to drive subscriptions rather than licensing revenue.

Profitability & accounting

  • One side emphasizes that most streamers (except Netflix) lose money, citing earnings reports and failed services like Paramount+.
  • Others distrust claims of losses, pointing to Hollywood accounting, tax write‑offs via content removal, and possible profit shifting, though it’s noted that title‑level accounting ≠ whole‑service P&L.

Why people pirate (again)

  • Cost is cited, but more often fragmentation, needing multiple subs for a few shows, and complex sports rights.
  • Content constantly appears/disappears; “purchases” are revoked; mid‑series removals push people to piracy or physical media.
  • Poor UX, ads on paid plans, device/region restrictions, forced subtitles, resolution downgrades, and bad dubbing further erode trust.
  • Some say they happily pay when a service offers fair, complete, and stable access (e.g., specific sports packages).

Piracy tooling & UX

  • Modern setups (Plex/Jellyfin/Emby + Sonarr/Radarr/etc.) provide a unified, high‑quality, ad‑free interface across all content, often better than legal services.
  • Setup is still technical, which some see as a “protective” barrier; others mention quasi–plug‑and‑play options and torrent/Usenet tradeoffs.

Ownership, legality, and ethics

  • Many feel that if “buying” doesn’t mean owning, then downloading lost content isn’t morally piracy.
  • There are debates over legal rights to format‑shift, DRM circumvention, and whether IP enforcement against individuals is ethically justified.
  • A minority insists people pirate simply because they can and face little enforcement, regardless of prices.