Paramount is genius

Remember everyone, media piracy is in the spirit of a tv show about a post-scarcity socialist utopian future.
- I feel like Quark giddily grabbing his security rods to break into Sisko's personal logs.

Wtf why did a parrot land on my shoulder
- It's a mystery!
- Do you have a sudden urge to sing sea shanties?
- I'm happy about the long curly hair, but the hook for a hand, peg leg, and eye patch arrrren't great. Worth it, but not great. Arrrr arrrr.
- Ok, I know why I lost my eye, but where the fuck did this hook come from and what happened to me hand!?

That's okay I'll just watch it on Netfli...WHAT!? Since almost two years ago you say? Because of late-stage capitalism you say?
- I really miss old Netflix. Even had Disney movies 😭
  
  The worst part is, Netflix didn't even mess up. All the content owners decided to pull their licenses and make their own Netflix. Now we have 200 streaming services.
  So I joined the party and made my own netflix. And not to toot my own horn, but it's the best one.
  
  Those were the days...:-D
  
  They're getting some Disney content back. I'm not sure if this was intentional by the OP or not, but Archer is one of those. Also How I Met Your Mother, Horn Improvement, Lost, other stuff.
  Still nowhere near old Netflix, but it could be the start of a trend.

So here's an unpopular opinion, but this isn't a bad thing. It's just not enough.
The biggest reason that legal, paid Streaming is so shitty these days, the reason people miss old Netflix, is that everything is spread across so many different platforms now. Back in the day, just having Netflix meant you had just about everything, and if you wanted more still you could get Hulu... and that was it. One, maybe two subscriptions, and you're set. But now? Now you need half a dozen subscriptions and you're still picking what things you won't get. If content was more centralized again, that wouldn't be a problem.
And if content was more centralized, that centralized platform would have PLENTY of subscribers, they wouldn't need to add commercials and hike prices just to stay afloat. I mean... they'd do it anyway because capitalism enshittifies everything, but it wouldn't be a do or fail situation for them.
The only thing I ever used the Paramount streaming for was Trek. I wouldn't complain if Trek, ALL Trek, migrated to somewhere else that has other things I like, too.
- We think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem," he said. "If a pirate offers a product anywhere in the world, 24 x 7, purchasable from the convenience of your personal computer, and the legal provider says the product is region-locked, will come to your country 3 months after the US release, and can only be purchased at a brick and mortar store, then the pirate's service is more valuable.
  -Gabe Newell
- The problem is that the people who hold the rights don't want to share. They want that sweet, sweet, monthly subscription income. They don't want to compete because that means they'll potentially earn less and have to spend more.
  I tell people about fmovies every chance I get because it has just about anything you are looking for. I've only run into a few titles they don't have.
  No registration, completely free, and easy to use.
- IMO, we really need an update to copyright law covering streaming. Think of how Redbox would just buy DVDs even though studios wanted them to wait about 2 months.
  Streaming services should have a similar option. Then they'd need to compete on features, not on the streaming equivalent of "you can only watch this movie if you buy a Betamax player".
- This is why I own most of star trek on dvd. Cant take that away from me.
  Its also very difficult to find complete torrent for the series. Just too much content that nobody wants to host the wild file sizes
  
  This is why I own most of star trek on dvd. Cant take that away from me.
  I was so disappointed when the HD remasters stopped. I snapped up TOS, Animated, TNG, and all the movies on Blu-ray (replacing DVDs in the case of the movies and TNG) despite them being available on Netflix at the time. I was really looking forward to catching up with DS9 and Voyager the same way since I was only able to catch them sporadically when they were airing... but no, it seems these are doomed to remain in SD purgatory.
- It's odd that people are against monopolies, generally speaking, but for streaming services we would prefer if there were a few giant companies which owned it all.
  I'm not disagreeing with the above, just thought it was curious.
  
  Compare Movie/TV-show streaming to the Music streaming industry. Spotify/Tidal/Apple/Amazon all offer access to the same music (more or less). They compete on features/quality/apps/prices/etc. They don't compete based on their exclusive libraries. Somehow the music industry can survive in that model. Video streaming needs to do the same. Stop the exclusivity. This way, monopolies are not needed in video streaming.
  
  People aren't clamoring for a monopoly, they are asking for interoperability. I didn't need a single VHS rental store to be the only place I could get Ernest Scared Stupid, but I did need to be able to get Ernest Goes to Jail at every VHS rental store.
  
  All we'd really need to do that is just make it a law that contracts aren't exclusive.
  If shows were sold to multiple streaming services legally, then those services would compete based on the actual service they offer, and not the content they have.
  In other words, make streaming services the customers for shows, instead of individuals, and then let people be their customers.
  As it is, a streaming service is pretty comparable to a car dealership.
  
  No, my problem is that we have this system where each piece of content is its own monopoly. That exclusivity means that people need to use a specific service to access that content.
  The whole "I wish it was all on one platform" isn't really wishing for only a single platform to exist, but wishing that one platform could host all of the content. Ideally, there would be multiple ones doing this and differentiating themselves from each other in some way and, well, competing on their platform itself rather than "I paid a bunch of money so that you have to come here if you want to see anything Marvel."
  
  I think two or three viable platforms was kind of the sweet spot. It's not all dominated by one, but I also don't have to shop around and subscribe to five different things if I want to get what I want legally. But you're right that it's a sticky issue that just doesn't seem to have a good answer.
- So you're saying you want a media company that has a monopoly?
  
  I mean, that's a kind of shitty take. The point they're making, that IP hoarding is making streaming fuck awful, is correct. They had a time in the recent past where that wasn't the case and were trying to make an argument for why that should be again.
  Content being centralized doesn't require a monopoly, it requires the separation between streaming services and IP creators (like early Netflix). That would disincentivize the IP hoarding without requiring a monopoly.
  Ya know, like movie theaters or video rental stores (when those existed). By allowing for vertical integration, you get Disney Movie Theaters, which only show Disney movies, and that blows (which is why any IP streaming service blows). Movie theaters, instead, show every movie coming out right now and that's how streaming services should be. That way, the only way to compete is with app quality and price. Ya know, things customers actually give a fuck about.
  
  I can listen to pretty much any song I want on Spotify. Does Spotify have a monopoly?
  
  Streaming services should compete on quality of the platform, pricing and features, not exclusives. If every tv series and movie were available on every platforms, prices would drop and quality would increase, as the platforms try and be the best, it's the contrary of monopoly because people can freely choose. Now they don't care about being the best, they try and get exclusive rights for something you like watching so you have no other (legal) way to do it, right now it's already a monopoly, a segregated one, but still a monopoly, because you have no choice.

If content is being streamed commercially, any other commercial streamer should be allowed to stream it for a fixed royalty. Every streaming service should have all publicly available content that they want to stream, and they should compete on quality of service and price.
- they should compete on quality of service and price
  But they don't, they compete on "exclusives" to their platforms. Thus increasing the fragmentation in the market and exacerbating the end user. We're basically back to the days of cable...
- But innovation is haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrdddd...

What did they do?
- Paramount removed all the Star Trek movies from their own streaming service, and gave them to HBO MAX. They have always billed their streaming service as "All things trek", but now they don't allow you to stream their own properties on their own streaming service.
  
  That and hiking their prices like the rest of the streaming services while having a fraction of the new content.
  
  Jesus... Well time to get out the Bat'leths.
  
  Time to take up the life of an Orion Pirate
  
  Ok, I have to ask. Wtf?
- gestures vaguely
  
  That's a pretty good summary, thank you.
  
  LOL

This is why I have a media server.

Paramount+ is such hot trash. I tried a free trial after Amazon Prime went apeshit with ads one day as I was finishing up DS9. The app kept crashing my FireTV, wouldn't play, would randomly change languages and the only solution was to "keep going back seasons and episodes until you find one in your preferred language and then just fast forward until the episode you want." I had to go back 3.5 seasons - I don't got time for that shit.
They asked me to complete a survey when I canceled the trial after 35 minutes. I was... not polite. I may have suggested that any programmers guilty of releasing code so incredibly damaged into a production environment should commit seppuku.
- I may have suggested that any programmers guilty of releasing code so incredibly damaged into a production environment should commit seppuku.
  To be honest, my anecdotal experience is that any feedback with this sort of nonsense is removed from the data set. It's pretty easy to spot and right or wrong, it would be considered noise or an outlier at best.
  
  I'm certain it didn't get read, just as I'm certain any negative feedback gets similarly binned. It was far more catharsis for me than any misguided belief that anyone would see or even (lol) act to make their product better.
  
  Fwiw we have a feature that lets people type out a message on our website and it shows up immediately and directly in our slack channel. I work for a major tech company you've for sure heard of
- Their app is really the worst I've seen. Not only is as buggy as you say, some months ago they added a circle in every episode for the age rating, and when you pause the circles in inscribed in a black square. They cannot even implement transparency on their menu lol. This is not a lack of resources or funding, it's just plain incompetence. I only have it because paramount+ is freely included in another subscription and it's the only place I could fins nutrek, otherwise I wouldn't give it a cent.

What did they do this time?
- Removed the Star Trek movies and Prodigy
  Went from 30 second to 60 second unstoppable ads on a paid platform
  Have different UI controls between different programs on the same platform
  For some reason their app continually turns off captions on DS9 between episodes and puts the language selection in a different order randomly
  Those are just the ones off the top of my head
  
  When did the ads thing happen? I have not experienced this.
- Exist.

Spin up a jellyfin server, obtain the movies, copy to jellyfin.
Problem solved
- Way ahead of you...
- Does Jellyfin support audiobooks? Perhaps that is just categorized as music.
  
  it supports books outside of music, but if you want it to work like an elibrary with books and audiobooks, apparently it's a bit finicky. I also saw something called audiobookshelf which specializes in ebooks and podcasts

Finished setup Jellyfin on a home server. roku, apple tv, and devices with swiftfin. was using plex, but they are going for the streaming profit model hard and probably worse than that soon. managed to find the TOS and TNG 4K remastered movies on usenet. hard drives are cheap and my ethernet is fast enough for 4k. whoo hooo....I mean, Arrrrrr!
QI'yaH, QI'yaH!

There are lovely 4k blurays of all the movies.

I pretty much have to. Paramount+ never actually works whenever I have had a free trial. If they expect me to pay for something that doesn't even work, they're outta their fuckin' mind.

People still stream considering how insane the whole ecosystem is?

This reminds me I need to catch up on Star Trek, while avoiding the 14 trackers in the app.
I'm sure I'll find a perfectly legal way to do so. Arrr.
Edit: I haven't shopped Trek DVDs in awhile, but I will look there first. It remains to be seen if my DVD backups skills can provide the same level of quality and service as the high seas, but I'll give it a go.
- When trek dvds were super cheap, my family had Good Netflix (RIP) so they "didn't need" to get the dvds.
  Now the dvds are expensive again and streaming is shit.
  My hat and hook sre in storage somewhere but I'm looking for some dust rags to clean them up.

I do want you to do that.

Jellyfin, putio, showrss, eztv, torrentgalaxy
Build the service you wish they provided .

Pluto tv has two trek channels that play tng and ds9
- You can even watch all of DS9 on demand. TNG on the other hand only has on demand for Season 3, which is weird.