Watching American TV When Living Abroad

[Mr Silver]

I don't recommend using less than legal means. BitTorrent, naturally comes under that description for anything that is subject to your respective countries copyright laws. Far be it for me to tell people what to do, but many European countries at the moment are cracking down on illegal sharing. Just this month in the UK, it was announced that a crackdown on streaming live sports events had started.

I'm no saint when it comes to watching TV programs through the medium of the internet, but I've come to respect copyright law. For me it's more rooted in music, I won't download music from anywhere except iTunes. Similarily, I prefer to buy DVD's, rather than watch movies online because I like the physical collection element. But I'm not made of money so I search for the best value deals (legally) on DVD's.

What I will say is that I don't think it's fair that shows that air on free networks (such as ABC, which is free in many locations in the USA) in the USA aren't free to watch when they air in the UK, or any other country. This happened with shows like Lost, where originally it was attached to one of our terrestrial channels and was then bought by a satellite one (and no longer free). Things like that take the piss and I have no problems with anyone breaking the "law" to watch their favourite show under those circumstances.

 

[Sean Aaron]

What I will say is that I don't think it's fair that shows air on free networks (such as ABC, which is free in many locations in the USA) in the USA aren't free to watch when they air in the UK. This happened with shows like Lost, where originally it was attached to one of our terrestrial channels and was then bought by a satellite one (and no longer free). Things like that take the piss and I have no problems with anyone breaking the "law" to watch their favourite show under those circumstances.

Well, doesn't the reverse apply? BBC iPlayer is only available for use in the UK - should that be available worldwide to people who don't pay TV License?

 

[Mr Silver]

Well, doesn't the reverse apply? BBC iPlayer is only available for use in the UK - should that be available worldwide to people who don't pay TV License?

From my POV, yes and maybe the BBC will eventually do this.

 

[Sean Aaron]

Well, doesn't the reverse apply? BBC iPlayer is only available for use in the UK - should that be available worldwide to people who don't pay TV License?

From my POV, yes and maybe the BBC will eventually do this.

I'll be very surprised if it does, though I think the TV License's days are numbered.

 

[TheGodBen]

I'm no saint when it comes to watching TV programs through the medium of the internet, but I've come to respect copyright law.

I respect the principle of copyright and that those that are involved in making a work should be able to profit from it. What I don't respect is copyright law and its regressive attitude towards technological advancement.

I used to torrent music back when I was in college, but these days I purchase all my music because the music industry finally started selling their music online through multiple retailers. If the television industry started to do the same then I would absolutely avail myself of the legal methods for watching episodes, even if it meant paying money for it. But they don't. Just look at the case of Breaking Bad, one of the best shows on TV currently, yet there's no way for anyone in the UK or Ireland to legally watch the third or fourth seasons as the episodes never aired on TV nor was the third season released on DVD. I would happily pay AMC and Sony for producing this wonderful show if they wish to provide me with a method to do so, but they and the regulations are choosing to stick to distribution methods that have become defunct in the information age.

 

[Sean Aaron]

If the television industry started to do the same then I would absolutely avail myself of the legal methods for watching episodes, even if it meant paying money for it. But they don't.

I'm very sympathetic to this position. I was really irritated when I finally was at a point where I was ready to make music download purchases, only to find that the music I wanted wasn't easily available in the bitrate I wanted or hobbled with DRM. In my case I limited my use of services like Limewire, but mainly I just stuck with CDs.

Similarly, now I'm ripping my DVD collection and I'm reluctant to buy more DVDs, but again I find that the film studios and TV networks still haven't gotten on board. In this case I think it's not wanting to end up beholden to Apple like the music industry did, but the only thing I see them offering as an alternative are streaming pay-per-view services and I don't want that.

Unlike music, however, my position is likely going to be simply not buying more visual media rather than torrenting. I've got other things to do if they want to play hard to get.

 

[Captain Ice]

Folks,

We need to leave the P2P/bittorrent suggestions out of this thread. Discussion of these can cause us problems with CBS/Paramount and therefore they are not to be discussed here.

 

[Ro_Laren]

I would pay for a Hulu subscription if they would let people in other countries view their shows!