Fans of the hit Netflix original series, Orange is the New Black, are standing by, like Cinderella, waiting for the clock to strike midnight on the west coast tonight. When the clock strikes twelve viewers worldwide will be able to (legally) binge watch all 13 episodes of the popular prison ensemble series. Netflix has expanded to dozens of markets in the Americas, Europe and Oceania.
While the series will undoubtedly be widely pirated, now that piracy havens like Brazil have Netflix it will be interesting to see if the problem is less widespread. In fact, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings made news last week by suggesting (with caveats) that illegal piracy actually paved the way for Netflix’s success by changing audience viewing habits.
People have grown to prefer tailoring their viewing habits to their own schedules, a key factor in why Netflix’s appeal has grown. In comments to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Hastings explained:
“I think Spain will be one of our most successful countries. There is a high rate of Internet connectivity and a population that is accustomed to the use of electronic commerce and that has shown signs of being interested in our product. We are very optimistic.”
“Well, you can call [piracy] a problem, but the truth is that it has also created a public that is now used to viewing content on the Internet.”
It’s not to say Netflix isn’t worried about the negative impact of piracy. There’s plenty of concern that illegal viewing could negatively impact profits. From Forbes:
Piracy has a direct effect on the attractiveness of Netflix’s exclusive programming. Subscribers may not be interested in viewing these shows at Netflix’s paid platform when they can get the same shows for free. The company even addressed this issue in its last quarterly letter to its shareholders by acknowledging piracy as one of its biggest competitors.
Countries where Netflix is available
There are also plans for Netflix to expand to big markets known as piracy hot spots including China and Russia. Will Netflix turn people away from free downloads in favor on convenient streaming options? That remains an open question. For now at least, progress is being made and more people can sit down tonight and indulge in the season 3 of Orange is the New Black. I can’t wait.
YouTube, its users, and shady certified “aggregators,” partner together to make money off pirated TV shows, movies & music
YouTube’s life-blood is advertising and by now it’s become pretty clear that Google doesn’t give a hoot about what videos it slaps ads onto. After all, why should vetting content BEFORE putting advertising on it get in the way of company profits right?
Of course Google continues to publicly deflect criticism of its business practices by repeating the tired mantra that anything goes in the name of innovation. Susan Wojcicki, YouTube’s CEO penned a panegyricfor Google’s thinkwithGooglenewsletter, The Eight Pillars of Innovation,in which she waxed on about Google “striving for continual innovation, but not perfection.” She also makes this observation about Google’s mission:
Google’s mission is to ‘organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.’ We use this simple statement to guide all of our decisions.
Sounds nice, but a more honest (and accurate) observation about what really guides (all) their decisions would read:
Google’s mission is to ‘organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful and profitable for us.
Sure, Google is great at making stuff more universally accessible and useful, but its success comes with a heavy price tag….and Google isn’t the one paying. All these platitudes about innovation–and serving the common good–provide cover for what drives Google–the almighty dollar. The ongoing search for innovative income has given rise to a company all that too often operates in a shady, often illegal sphere, dancing delicately along the edge to create a dubious morality built amid prevarication and platitudes.
In Google’s world, tainted profits acquired through illegal acts are OK as long as one doesn’t get caught red handed. It’s all just innovation right?
A glaring example Google’s innovative profiteering was on display when news broke that YouTube slapped beer advertisements on ISIS recruiting videos uploaded onto the site. Outrageous yes–but it’s only one particularly jarring reminder that Google has a corporate habit of placing profits above all else. Remember too, that not only was Google placing ads on ISIS videos, but by doing so was putting money into the pockets of terrorist and its own coffers.
Dive deeper into the cesspool that is YouTube, moving past the beer advertisements on ISIS recruiting videos and you’ll witness an entrenched, well-oiled (and oily) business model that enables Google to rake in millions, perhaps billions, by creating partnerships with cash-seeking YouTube users and shady middlemen who routinely monetize content they don’t own.
Who are these YouTube “certified”aggregators who are approved to work with Google who pave the way for users who knowingly make money off infringing content?
Why is it OK for YouTube to earn money off stolen goods?
Why don’t advertisers know (or care) where their ads are placed?
Let’s take a look at how this works. Let’s say I want to make some money by putting ads on YouTube videos. It doesn’t matter whether I own actually own them….what’s required is a way to get put my uploaded video onto YouTube, put ads on it and get paid based on the number of views it attracts.
How do I do this? I could try to get approved as an individual, but the easier way, if the pirate uploads I’ve checked our are any indication, is to partner with an aggregator. These entities are YouTube approved and give users an easy way to upload infringing content and get paid for it.
Sign up with them, upload a popular (pirated) TV show or movie via your aggregator account and ta-da!– you’re on your way to earning some easy money. Of course the aggregator will take a slice–as will YouTube–but hey, it’s free money right? Zero risk, and some reward–what could be better?
As is typical for YouTube, there don’t seem to be any safeguards to make sure these “certified” partners are on the up and up. After all YouTube isn’t so why would the company ask partners to behave better? As long as these partnerships bring in profits it’s best to look the other way right?
What it means to be YouTube Certified
YouTube Certified exists across several specific subject areas called “certification tracks.”
An individual may become YouTube Certified by successfully completing an in-depth training program and passing a final exam to demonstrate expertise.
A company may become YouTube Certified if a minimum of 3 employees have attended the training program and passed the exam. Company certification is valid for 12 months from date of issue. See below for a list of current YouTube Certified companies.
Note: YouTube does not make any promises or representations about the performance or quality of any YouTube Certified individual or company. YouTube does not guarantee you will get any specific results from working with YouTube Certified individuals or companies. It is always important to evaluate the companies you may work with and decide for yourself what makes the most sense for your business.
Hmmm, I wonder if that special “in-depth” YouTube training includes any mention of copyright law and/or ethical business practices? Doubt it… Ironic too that YouTube doesn’t do a better job “evaluating” these companies once they’ve been certified.
It seems that episodes of the Netflix hit starring Taylor Schilling, Orange is the New Black, is a popular show to upload and monetize. Below are four different episode uploads and FOUR different owners who claim worldwide rights.
Looks like Orange is the New Black has lots of different “owners” making money off episodes uploaded to YouTube.
Unfortunately this example is not the exception on YouTube, it’s the rule.
These YouTube approved aggregators pretend to have standards. Music Nations, a “certified” YouTube partner that has claimed one of Orange is the New Black episodes shown above, has an online application includes this disclaimer: Also please tick this box to confirm that you understand that uploading copyright material will cause your partnership to be cancelled. Of course they don’t vet the actual uploads…it’s only if you get caught. Meanwhile, uploaders get 70% of the revenue received from YouTube while Music Nations gets 30%. Of course in this case Netflix would receive ZERO.
Of course paying lip service to copyright doesn’t mean anything is actually done ahead of time to vet ownership or enforce compliance. In the graphic below is an example where a different Music Nationsclient,utmun dossa, has also uploaded and monetized multipleOITNB episodes (an ad for Secret adorns this playback, Pampers another). They’ve been online for more than a month. Google/YouTube makes money, Music Nations makes money and the user makes money but the rights holder gets nothing. For Google, this is innovation…
When I used the online customer “chat” at Music Nations to ask whether they required uploaders to prove ownership the agent I was chatting with didn’t know responding, “I don’t know if that is part of the process before a channel gets accepted but there is a team that reviews the application before they get accepted.” Seems like a pretty basic question, but there’s a reason customer support doesn’t have an answer.
Music Nations isn’t the only aggregator I’ve run across that seems to monetize stolen goods. Another “certified” YouTube partner is the Russia-based QuizGroup. I wrote extensively about their enterprise in my earlier blog post. They’ve also acted as the intermediary for monetized pirate uploads of Orange is the New Black, claiming worldwide rights. Note that all these uploaded episodes are altered (via letterbox or smaller frame size) in order to bypass any safeguards Netflix may have in place via Content ID.
If these were legit content claims, why would Netflix use multiple aggregators?
Another question worth asking is why do these aggregators stay on YouTube’s approved partner list?
QuizGroup remains on YouTube’s list of certified aggregators despite monetizing pirated content
One has to imagine, given the relative ease with which I discovered these examples, that both aggregators have had clients reported (repeatedly) for copyright violations. Why are they still allowed to do business YouTube? The answer is simple–because YouTube, and parent company Google, make millions. Go ahead FTC, look the other way and ignore Google’s bad business practices. Perhaps the Europeans will do the work you should be doing.
Part II-YouTube’s dirty money game continued, coming soon…
Netflix doesn’t pay for all the content it allows subscribers to stream
VPNs make it easy for Netflix subscribers to watch movies and TV shows that aren’t licensed in their country
source: http://www.nasdaq.com/
Netflix profits grow as its brand spreads around the world–but who’s paying the price?
In January the popular online streaming service claimed its subscriber base had grown to nearly 60 million worldwide. Although nearly 3/4 of those are in the U.S., Netflix has already extended its reach to 50 countries and by 2017 has plans to expand to 200. Just this past week Netflix opened up shop in Cuba.
As Netflix grows, so too should the amount of money filmmakers earn right? Well, no…not really. Enter the VPN, or virtual private network, a simple technology that allows internet users to access geo-blocked websites by providing access via a local IP address. Also known as “tunneling,” a VPN makes it easy to jump virtual fences.
How does it work? Let’s say I want to watch a movie that isn’t available via my Netflix account in the U.S. but it is available on Netflix’s Danish site. With the help of a free browser plugin that takes just seconds to install, I can click a button and surf the web from an IP address in Denmark. When I go to Netflix.com/dk/ and login using my U.S. account, and voilá–I can stream the program (see example above).
Why is this a problem? After all, I have a legit, Netflix account which I pay $8.99 per month for, so why shouldn’t I be able to watch content via Netflix portals around the world? It’s a problem because while I’m happy as consumer to watch a film via Netflix sites worldwide, those who actually paid to produce it are financially left out in the cold. For Netflix it can be viewed as a win, win. Netflix pays for U.S. rights, but forgoes purchasing rights elsewhere knowing full well its subscribers worldwide can still watch. Netflix profits grow at the creators’ expense.
This scenario also hurts smaller distributors of independent film who negotiate with Netflix to license titles for streaming rights in their territories. Why should Netflix worry about spending more money to (legally) acquire rights for from distributors operating in small territories when subscribers can happily watch their films on U.S. Netflix via a VPN?
As Netflix expands offerings to attract subscribers worldwide who pays the price?
How much of an impact might this type of VPN pirate viewing be? GlobalWebIndex, a UK firm, estimates that some 54 million people access Netflix via VPNs each month, 21.6 million of them from China alone. How do subscribers in China get Netflix accounts in the first place? It’s easy using PayPal or other payment method like a virtual credit card. Apparently Netflix doesn’t dig too deep–since it can pocket more cash and grow its brand to reach markets outside its realm. Why should the company crack down on a winning, albeit slimy, way to attract customers?
There was some speculation that Netflix was changing course when it reportedly tweaked its Android app to make accessing content via illegitimate VPNs more difficult, but according to the BBC company officials denied reports that it has changed its approach:
“The claims that we have changed our policy on VPN are false,” said Netflix’s chief product officer Neil Hunt.
…”People who are using a VPN to access our service from outside of the area will find that it still works exactly as it has always done.”
According to Variety, Netflix supposedly employs other methods to thwart subscribers who don’t belong:
Netflix has always tried to block such unauthorized access, via a multistep verification process that encompasses credit card info, mailing addresses and Internet addresses.
“You may view a movie or TV show through the Netflix service primarily within the country in which you have established your account and only in geographic locations where we offer our service and have licensed such movie or TV show,” the company’s terms of use say. “Netflix will use technologies to verify your geographic location.”
Despite company claims to the contrary, this morning, as I sat at computer to write this post I found it only took me seconds to login to Netflix sites in the UK, Denmark, Cuba and Brazil. Instead of blocking me, a pop-up window politely explained since I was “traveling with Netflix” I might notice a different offering of movies, etc. Of course, one could ask shouldn’t I be able to travel with Netflix? Of course that should be OK, but the problem is, using a VPN I can travel with them while seated at my home computer.
In fact, in order to confirm that I had full, unfettered access to geo-blocked content I searched for a TV series unavailable in the U.S. I chose the Danish series Den som dræber (Those Who Kill) I own on dvd. By selecting Denmark via the VPN (see graphic at the top of post) I was able to log into Netflix.dk and easily stream the program. Question is, are the producers of the program being paid by Netflix for viewers, like me, who watch outside of Denmark? I believe the answer is no.
Generally distributors receive a flat fee for programs/films Netflix adds to its catalog. Rights are given for specific territories and, while sometimes rights are worldwide, often they’re restricted. Why not just give Netflix worldwide rights? Well, easier said than done.
Contrary to the rhetoric promoted by piracy apologists, financing TV and films productions is not a simple task. In many cases foreign rights pre-sold as part of financing deals cobbled together to cover the costs of production. Without such agreements many of the films and TV shows we enjoy could never be made. So for now, when it comes time to distribute them, these financing packages are invariably part of the equation. It often means a single entity doesn’t hold all the (territorial) distribution cards, hence the complexity.
However, with VPNs, Netflix doesn’t have to make negotiating territorial rights a priority. By not restricting the use of VPNs and indirectly allow users to watch programming they aren’t paying for, Netflix can continue to grow its subscriber base and pocket more profit. Why pay the producers of Den som dræberfor U.S. rights when U.S. viewers, using their VPN, can use their accounts to watch it anyway?
Emails uncovered in the Sony hack show that Netflix do-si-do around the geo-blocking issue is of growing concern to producers and distributors. As noted in a recent piece by Sean Gallagher in Ars Technica:
The latest data leaked from Sony Pictures Entertainment by hackers reveals that Sony executives had accused Netflix of breaching its licensing contract for Sony Pictures Television (SPT) shows by allowing customers in foreign markets to use virtual private networks to stream them, calling it piracy that is “semi-sanctioned by Netflix.”
Sony pressed Netflix for increased “geofiltering” control over its customers to prevent the practice, including restricting payment methods for the service to ways that would allow screening for customers living outside countries where Netflix had contractual rights.
Gallagher quotes a hacked email between Sony Pictures Television’s president, international distribution,Keith LeGoy and the division’s president, Steve Mosko that outlines concerns over Netflix’s tacit acceptance of VPN abuse:
Netflix are [sic] heavily resistant to enforcing stricter financial geofiltering controls, as they claim this would present a too high bar to entry from legitimate subscribers. For example, they want people to be able to use various methods of payment (e.g. PayPal) where it is harder to determine where the subscriber is based. They recognize that this may cause illegal subscribers but they (of course) would rather err that way than create barriers to legitimate subscribers to sign up.
…Netflix of course get to collect sub revenues and inflate their sub count which in turn boosts their stock on Wall St., so they have every motivation to continue, even if it is illegal…
So what to do? Clearly, there’s a problem. In certain situations VPNs can be a good thing, particularly for those who live in places like China where access to web services is routinely restricted by government firewalls. However, when tens of millions of Netflix subscribers are using VPNs to access unlicensed content it’s clear that the company isn’t doing enough to make sure that content creators receive fair compensation.
Netflix isn’t cracking down on VPN use because it’s good for (their) business
When Australian journalists attending the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas tried to ask Netflix officials about a VPN crackdown reported by Torrent Freak, they were rebuffed–even though, according to an article on news.com.au, “An estimated 200,000 Australians pay for Netflix subscriptions, and access the service by masking their computer’s location so they appear to reside in America.”The story also notes:
The movie giant is due to launch its service in Australia this March, but many of its popular shows including Orange is the New Black and Better Call Saul, are unlikely to screen on the local service due to licensing agreements, potentially providing little incentive for existing subscribers to switch.
It’s yet another tangible example of how a program’s producers may be left holding the bag. Netflix gets 200,000 paid subscribers from Australia, but it doesn’t have to pay the filmmakers for rights to their films in that territory.
Some make the argument that overall, Netflix is a good online influence and has helped diminish the lure of piracy, because, as this piece in Billboard explains, it offers consumers, “Content, value and ease of use.” While that’s mostly true, it’s really a tangential issue and certainly doesn’t exempt Netflix’s business practices from scrutiny. Nor does the fact that Netflix has opened the door to new creative possibilities–both in terms of production and distribution. Creators are justified in demanding that the content Netflix subscribers stream is actually paid for–otherwise it becomes just another variant of (corporate) piracy.
What next? Well, as moves forward its with global expansion plans, either Netflix needs to spend some of its profit to find a way to begin effective geo-blocking, or–if that’s not possible–find another formula to calculate a fair price for content that factors in total (worldwide) views, VPN or no VPN. It might be a bitter pill for stockholders to swallow, but for now, it’s the only legitimate way forward.
Piracy apologists love to pull out the Robin Hood card in order to justify their theft. After all who cares about all those rich people in Hollywood right? Wrong….a fact which the MPAA’s Chris Dodd pointed out in piece published in Variety this week:
Two million people get up every morning in all 50 states to go to work in good-paying jobs. Few will ever walk a red carpet, but their jobs are in jeopardy because of piracy.
When we talk about stolen property like pirated films or shows, I think the assumption is these are wealthy people, so what difference does it make if I steal from them? There’s not an understanding that 96% are hard-working, middle-income families paying mortgages and trying to educate their kids.
Like any other industry, the American film industry depends on its worker bees to make its products. In turn, those workers depend on a healthy film industry for their paychecks.
In fact, one of the reasons Hollywood became such a successful cog in the U.S. economy was because the studio system that emerged in the early part of the 20th century was really a factory system modeled after Henry Ford’s automobile assembly line. In Hollywood’s studio system, each worker played a specific role in the film production (or manufacturing) process.
At their peak, Hollywood studios were producing hundreds of movies each year. Last year, the six major studios produced only 120 movies. Contrast that with the 204 produced in 2006. Fewer films means fewer jobs on the production line for Hollywood’s 96%.
Looking back, it’s also worth noting that a thriving movie industry allowed some of the greatest American movies of all time to be made. As noted in Wikipedia:
Many film historians have remarked upon the many great works of cinema that emerged from this period of highly regimented film-making. One reason this was possible is that, with so many films being made, not every one had to be a big hit. A studio could gamble on a medium-budget feature with a good script and relatively unknown actors: Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles and often regarded as the greatest film of all time, fits that description.
The more income studio’s generate, the more chances they can take to finance less mainstream movies. When losses due to online piracy undermine the industry, it also undermines the diversity of choices that movie lovers appreciate. In lieu of funding less mainstream fare, studios stick with formulaic flicks that generate big bucks opening weekend (before piracy can dilute audiences). The sad thing is that we won’t know what we’re missing because it’s not made. In the future films like Citizen Kane may never see the light of day.
Of course, new ways of producing and distributing films online are taking hold, but even the new guard is suffering from the scourge of online piracy. As Netflix CEO Reed Hastings wrote in a recent letter to shareholders, “Piracy continues to be one of our biggest competitors.” He pointed to Popcorn Time, a platform that makes viewing pirated films as easy as watching one on Netflix as evidence of the damage being done.
Online piracy not only diminishes livelihoods, but consumer choices and unless we can limit the losses, the picture will only grow dimmer. In the end, we may well be left with only cute cat videos on YouTube to entertain us. Piracy hurts everyone.
Streaming brings viewers quality stories and a cornucopia of great roles for women
I don’t watch a great deal of television, but when I do, more and more I find myself drawn to Netflix. I recently watched two excellent dramas, Jane Campion’s “Top of the Lake” and “The Fall” a BBC production starring Gillian Anderson. The migration for dramatic storytelling from cable TV and movie theaters to streaming services does not diminish the “film industry” but enhances it– demonstrating film’s enduring role in our creative culture and opening up new ways of cinematic storytelling in the process.
Last night I sat down to check out Netflix’s new series “Orange is the New Black.” I hadn’t read anything about it and had intended to watch only the first 55 minute episode….yeah, right. Five hours later I finally turned out the lights and went to bed. In fact, I was so drawn into the show that I had to really force myself to stop watching. I had succumbed to binge viewing in all its obsessive glory.
Jenji Kohan, the creator of Showtime’s “Weeds,” is behind the new comedy/drama that takes place in a women’s prison in upstate New York. Loosely based on a memoir of the same name by Piper Kerman, the series revels in rich multi-cultural characters and their compelling, often poignant, back stories. There is much humor amid the tears, and the show does have moments that are almost shocking in their un sanitized frankness, but it’s all done in service of the story.
Tatiana Maslany plays 6 roles in Orphan Black
I approach the joy of binge-viewing such quality programs with mixed feelings. On the one hand I love experiencing the unfolding narrative over the course of an evening, but at the same time dread when it comes to an end–an experience I recently had with the compelling BBC-America series “Orphan Black” (which I recorded and watched via DirecTV on-demand).
The added bonus of being able to watch these shows on Netflix is having the chance to watch so many talented women display their acting craft in such a variety of rich roles. Whether it be Tatiana Maslany playing multiple versions of her clone or Elisabeth Moss shedding her Mad Men persona for a Kiwi cop, rich female characters are sadly few and far between in most traditional Hollywood fare. In fact, according to a recent USC Annenberg study that reveals women receive less than one third of the speaking roles in 2012.
Across five years (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012), 500 top-grossing films at the U.S. box office, and over 21,000 speaking characters, a new study by USC Annenberg found that females represented less than one-third (28.4%) of all speaking characters in 2012 films. When they are on screen, 31% of women in 2012 were shown with at least some exposed skin, and 31.6% were depicted wearing sexually revealing clothing.
Even worse? “There has been no meaningful change in the prevalence of women on screen across the five years studied. In fact, 2012 features the lowest percentage of females in the five years covered in this report,” said Communication Professor Stacy L. Smith, the principal investigator. “The last few years have seen a wealth of great advocacy for more women on screen. Unfortunately, that investment has not yet paid off with an increase in female characters or a decrease in their hypersexualization.”
Streaming has made finding shows featuring diverse female characters a whole lot easier and the good news is that Netflix has already renewed “Orange is the New Black” for a second season. My 8 bucks a month is money well-spent.
As an indie film and broadcast journalism veteran, I'll share my perspectives on issues of interest to the creative community and beyond--Ellen Seidler
Fans of the hit Netflix original series, Orange is the New Black, are standing by, like Cinderella, waiting for the clock to strike midnight on the west coast tonight. When the clock strikes twelve viewers worldwide will be able to (legally) binge watch all 13 episodes of the popular prison ensemble series. Netflix has expanded to dozens of markets in the Americas, Europe and Oceania.
