Village Roadshow (Australia) launches legal action to block 41 websites

[Keith Walters]

http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/614804/piracy-crackdown-village-roadshow-launches-legal-action-block-41-websites/?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=googlenewseditorspickfeed&google_editors_picks=true

 

What intrigues me about this and similar articles is the way they invariably provide a handy list of all the best sites :rolleyes:

 

The current method of choice is to use Android-based "Kodi Boxes" which simply tap into your network without your computer being involved, thus removing concerns about Malware getting into your PC.

 

The boxes (and Kodi) were originally intended for managing offline media stored on Hard Discs etc, so you could basically add the functions of a so-called "Smart TV" to an ordinary TV for just $50 or so.

 

But what you don't get with smart TVs are specialized downloading functions provided by third party apps. There appears to be quite a community out there of sites that host illegal downloads, and others that keep track of what is available on what website and so on.

 

So in theory you can download a seemingly endless list of movies, TV shows etc that are supposedly available. What's supposed to happen is that when you click on a title (or run a search for it) it then will download a list of all the places it can be downloaded from. (Once again, you have to ask what people get out of doing all this unpaid work :blink:)

"In theory" because the only time I tried using one of these boxes, I could get all the legal downloads ("catch-ups" provided by the TV stations etc) with no trouble at all, but no matter what else I clicked on, it would whirr and clank for 30 seconds or so and then come with the message "no D/L available".

 

I thought I must have been doing something wrong, but eventually I got a "Hit". That was to what looked like a third generation VHS copy of a few episodes of "Barney Miller"....

So I'm beginning to suspect that illegal downloading isn't QUITE the cakewalk people make it out to be, even with anonymous people doing all the work for you. Me, I couldn't be bothered. FINALLY, we're starting to get entire TV shows (that is all seasons and all episodes) available on DVD for a price that works out to a couple of dollars per disc. No viruses, no superimposed station logos, no ads, anybody in the household with a DVD player can view them.
It would even make it easier for people who do the illegal hosting; everybody wins!! :P

 

They make great Christmas gifts too; I got enough last Christmas to keep me going probably until mid-year, not being a huge TV watcher...