Despite Global Release, Breaking Bad Heavily Pirated

tlhIngan writes "One reason that many people pirate TV shows is 'it's not available in my country until months after it airs.' Which is why the second episode of Breaking Bad's final season was aired globally within a few hours of each other yesterday evening. Despite this, many users still decided to download it than watch it when it aired locally. Australia users we the top, perhaps because it was on FoxTel. This was followed by U.S. and Canada (who obviously got to see it when it aired), and the UK where Netflix had it within hours of the U.S. premier. Fifth on the list was the Netherlands, where it had aired hours before the U.S. premier on a public channel. It's obvious that despite the global release, the show was headed to top its previous highs in number of downloads. Could this spell the doom to future global releases, since the evidence is people just pirate them anyways?"

Comments

How many knew that it was a global release?

[Anonymous Coward]

There would be no need to pirate it if everyone knew that it would be on TV. How many knew that this was the case?

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[InterBigs]

I'm from the Netherlands and I did not know it aired on a public channel on the same day as in the US. I can't find any information about it either. All I know it airs on a premium channel 5 days after the US release, which is still not bad!

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[Jane Q. Public]

"There would be no need to pirate it if everyone knew that it would be on TV. How many knew that this was the case?"

Then there is that other issue, for which people used to use their VCRs. It's called "Time Shifting". Which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled was legal...

BUT almost nobody records on tape anymore. And most DVRs are, sadly for everybody, linked to a particular service.

So what "time shifting" option do they have these days? Unless it's something on Netflix, It's called BitTorrent...

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[jimicus]

I didn't, but even if I did, it wouldn't make much difference because Breaking Bad is on Netflix in the UK.

Netflix isn't available over the air so I can't get it from that.

Netflix doesn't bounce signals off a satellite so I can't get it with satellite TV.

Netflix don't run a channel through Virgin's cable network, so I can't get it with Virgin (even if they did, my town isn't cabled).

My PVR is a Humax, and has its own Internet-based portal but that doesn't allow you to watch any arbitrary Internet-delivered channel; only channels that have partnered with Humax to provide it. Netflix have not partnered with Humax.

I'm not a big gamer, so the Wii isn't even plugged in any more and I'm not about to plug it in for one show.

Yes, I can plug the laptop in; it has an HDMI connection. But the laptop doesn't have the same convenience as all the other equipment that's controlled from a Logitech Harmony remote. So already Netflix is looking at least a little inconvenient (yes I know there are /.'ers who don't consider it the slightest inconvenience to repurpose an old PC as a Roku box and control it with a full keyboard but I'm not one of them).

The UK is chock-full of "Only £5/month!" deals; most of them have strings attached like "rises to £15/month after 3 months, minimum contract period 18 months" in microscopically small print. So I'm naturally wary of anything that involves regular payment - particularly as it's only for one show and I have no idea whether or not I'd like to keep it for anything else.

Lazy? Maybe. But I took the decision a long time ago that I mess around with technology enough for work purposes; I'm buggered if I'm going to do the same for leisure. Once plugged in and setup, it either JFW or it's not plugged in in the first place.

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[Jane Q. Public]

I'll add to that:

The "content" companies created this situation themselves. They don't want people recording (even for legal timeshifting purposes). They want people to stream (which is terribly inefficient) or rent, or otherwise pay royalties. Even on TV shows.

Well, this is what they get as a result. They have nobody to point fingers at but themselves. The hell with them.

And the really shitty part is: they'll complain that this is yet more evidence that people are dishonest. When in reality, it's only more evidence that trying to lock people in to their corporate bullshit profit-and-power-mongering has consequences.

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[bfandreas]

I live in Germany and I wasn't aware of it. If something like this isn't heavily publisized then the old habits prevail. They should have taken out ads on Pirate Bay and gone to the popular media if they had wanted a proper test case.

The Internet has no oceans. Yet they still think that dividing the world into regions is still viable. The other heavily pirated TV show that I am aware of is the British Top Gear. They can not release the full show on DVD even though they'd love to. they can't do it because they use a lot of music. The executive producer of that show said that it is nearly impossible to negotiate deals with the music industry for a global release on DVD. They'd have to talk with so many rights holders they wouldn't know where to begin.
Another annoying habit that stems from this region thinking is what they did in Germany. They sold(and still sell) DVDs with the German audio track only. Sometimes if they sell them with the English audio track they have German subtitles that can't be swithced off(VLC ignores this madness). All for publishing reasons.

So the Breaking Bad experiment failed due to lack of publicity(making front page on /. is not publicity). And the publishers tried to sell overcoming regional releases as something new while we have been blissfully ignoring it for years.

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[TheRaven64]

I don't know the show, so I've neither pirated it nor watched it legally, but add to that:

The pirated version is a download that you can watch on any device any time. The Netflix stream requires Silverlight, so I can't use it on the FreeBSD box connected to my projector nor on one of my tablets. The other tablet runs Android, so there is a Netflix streaming app, but I don't think it lets me download things and I mostly want to watch things on the tablet when I'm on a train or plane (spotty / expensive / unavailable Internet access).

In rural parts of the UK (e.g. where my mother lives), the ADSL connection isn't fast enough for streaming, but it's fine if you start downloading 10-15 minutes before you start watching, so again the pirated version wins because you can just download it and then watch it later.

Give me a service that lets me download DRM-free videos with some reasonable per-month, download-capped pricing, and I'll very happily subscribe (and, no, I'm not moving the goalposts - this is what I've been asking for for the last 10 years). Something like 30-45 hours for £10-15 would be fine. Until then, I'll keep getting the shiny disks through the post.

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[sjames]

I don't know about the U.K. but in the U.S. it can be remarkably hard to actually cancel those sorts of offers. Please carve your reason for canceling into marble slabs in triplicate and deliver to our head office (located conveniently in Uzbekistan) in person between 3AM and 3:01AM on a Friday.

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[AmiMoJo]

Top Gear is produced by the BBC which has a special licensing deal for music. Basically they have an agreement that they pay a flat rate and can use any music they like as much as they like. No per-track fees like most other TV production companies have to pay. Of course it only applies to the UK.

We need to move to global licensing for music, but I can't see how that will ever happen because of the wide variations in laws and licensing rules between countries. Europe would never accept the US system and vice-versa, and China has completely different ideas.

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[Opportunist]

C'mon, they didn't want a "proper test case". They wanted a "see, pirates pirate anyway, even if we reach out to them".

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[Canazza]

It doesn't count for *any* syndication. Even in-country when they're repeated on "Dave" the music gets changed (most noticable in the 'construction' montages where the A-Team theme is conspicuous by its absence)

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[bfandreas]

C'mon, they didn't want a "proper test case". They wanted a "see, pirates pirate anyway, even if we reach out to them".

My point exactly. The whole thing was a dishonest publicity stunt.

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[Anonymous Coward]

I torrent ALL te shows I watch... I also have a satellite subscription that gets ALL the shows that I watch... Why I hear you ask... Well, it is easy... I travel for work. I travel around 90% of my time. I torrent the eps when they become available, and watch them in my hotel room on the TV with my WDTV media player. This way, I do not have to deal with "local" TV and "local" languages. I can also watch the episodes when I want, and commercial free. So, not freetarding... I pay Murdoch a lot of money monthly NOT to watch his ads...

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[slart42]

Germany as well here -- I don't think this "global" release was actually global. Somebody proof me wrong, but I could not find a legal way to watch or download the new episode in my country yet (while watching it illegally is, as always, trivial and free). Maybe "global" as in "all major markets in which where TV shows are by default watched in english" (instead of those countries where you have to wait a year for them to release a badly synchronized version to be able to legally get an original language version).

Re: How many knew that it was a global release?

[JaredOfEuropa]

Same here; I had no idea for the simple reason that I have given up on TV. Watching at set times, being force-fed endless commercials, and no way to catch up on a series that has been running for a while already. HBO is available here and I got a subscription because I watch a lot of their stuff, but even in that case it is so much more convenient to get old and current episodes through Sickbeard.

I look forward to the imminent introduction of Netflix here in the Netherlands and I hope that they will offer some of the top series.

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[gl4ss]

..it's breaking bad.

they should be worried if it wasn't pirated.

being pirated is just a function of how popular it is, even if it's on the air or available on netflix or whatever.

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[Anonymous Coward]

Uhm yeah, the breaking bad episode in the netherlands was not the premier of this season, but the last episode of LAST YEARS season.
Here's a link: http://programma.vpro.nl/drama/afleveringen/breaking-bad-serie-4/aflevering-13.html
The article is misleading.

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[Thanshin]

Unfortunately, to joe public, a sample size of 1 (AKA an anecdote) is enough evidence to base their bias on. The media know this so they'll milk it for all it is worth.

Aiming at influencing the opinion of the retarded majority is easier and has the greatest in legislation and its enforcement. Welcome to democracy. The worst system except for every other one.

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[wbr1]

From one post:

The Internet has no oceans. Yet they still think that dividing the world into regions is still viable.

From another:

We need to move to global licensing for music, but I can't see how that will ever happen because of the wide variations in laws and licensing rules between countries. Europe would never accept the US system and vice-versa, and China has completely different ideas.

I submit that -this- is the ocean we must cross now. There are no real physical boundaries on the internet, but we must still span the sea of greed and sail the oceans of unfairness and lack of understanding.

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[Savage-Rabbit]

I'm from the Netherlands and I did not know it aired on a public channel on the same day as in the US. I can't find any information about it either. All I know it airs on a premium channel 5 days after the US release, which is still not bad!

I live in Germany and I wasn't aware of it. If something like this isn't heavily publisized then the old habits prevail.
They should have taken out ads on Pirate Bay and gone to the popular media if they had wanted a proper test case.

It's not just that people don't know about the global release. If you want to subscribe to the channel airing your show you can only get it if you buy som dumbass package with another 24 assorted sports, celebrity, lifestyle channels,... etc ... most of whom you never watch but that you get to pay a big fat markup for anyway. What I want is zero day global releases through a service where I can download it rapidly, in consistent quality, malware free and on demand and I'm prepared to pay for it.

Re:How many knew that it was a global release?

[gravis777]

I'll take it a step futher. I ended up canceling the cable. Here is why:

4 choices here - Dish, DirectTV, Time Warner, and AT&T Uverse. I wanted to bundle in internet, and have unlimited data. That rulled out everyone except Time Warner.

Time Warner said that they would bundle cable for $10 a month more. But then there was the charge for the HD reciever. Then the HD tier. Then they didn't carry all the channels I wanted in HD.

Then I tried to get a DVR. There was one option, with a tiny harddrive that held about 10 hours of HD recording. And there was a DVR fee (on top of the HD box fee) and a DVR service fee.

The choice to get out of the fees was to get either a TiVO (wait, there are fees there) or a cable card for the PC. I elected the latter - I got terrabytes of storage space, and I could archive stuff to disc..... EXCEPT....

Time Warner puts broadcast flags on EVERYTHING. Would not work in Linux or a half dozen programs I tried in Windows - it ONLY worked with Windows Media Center. The recordings were then wrapped in DRMed crap, meaning it would not play in anything other than Windows Media Center. Which would still be an option, except that if you moved the recordings to another location or device, the recordings became unwatchable.

So, the $10 extra a month became $80 extra a month to get HD channels and a DVR that held almost no data, third party solutions did not work, and the MAJORITY of the shows I watch are available on Netflix or Hulu? That was an easy choice for me. I cut the cable, Netflix, Hulu or Amazon what I can, Vudu the couple of shows I can't, (which averages the same cost as a little over a month of cable for a year's worth of shows - I guess about 2-3 months if you add in subscrition costs to the other services) and torrent the stuff that is not available on any of those services.

I did look at going back and getting cable and DVRs through one of the other three companies and keeping internet through Time Warner (I loved Dish's DVR when I had them), but when the quality of streaming media off of Hulu looks better than Dish's or UVerse's HD channels, and DirectTV's pricing system and contracts make me cringe, the solution was simple - fast internet pipe and streaming services.

Broadcast TV

[kwiqsilver]

Do they still broadcast TV shows?

Re:Broadcast TV

[Anonymous Coward]

Speaking specifically of Australia program was only broadcast on Foxtel which is a private pay TV provider where the cheapest plan is roughly 4 times as expensive as NetFlix and the premium plans are up to 10 times as expensive (and still lacks the programming choice of similar overseas pay tv networks). Due to restrictive region restrictive licensing agreements NetFlix and other similar services aren't available to potential Australian customers without using methods which hide where the customer is located, something that's beyond the tech understanding of most of the potential customers. Given the restrictive choice and the high pirating level here I can only assume our inability to view the program has contributed to the high piracy level which further leads me to conclude that despite the piracy level apparent in other countries it would be even HIGHER without the timely broadcasting that studios are attempting.

commercials

[Anonymous Coward]

maybe people are sick and tired of stupid commercials interrupting their viewing pleasure.

Re:commercials

[anubi]

AC posted posted my first impression of the problem.

Ads.

Countless amounts of legal and technical efforts go into trying to make us ingest a nauseating pill. Its like trying to get a cat to swallow a pill. If you have ever owned a cat, you know this routine.

I have seen ads that were entertaining, but very seldom.

Most ads are delivered with all the finesse of a panhandler trying to bum the price of a beer off some restaurant's clientele - and if the beggars get too annoying, the clientele goes elsewhere just to get away from the beggars.

Since a lot of decision makers read Slashdot, I'll offer up this bit of feedback... instead of trying to coerce your audience to watch your ad through skip-resistant technologies, frequent interruptions, punitive and legal means, and other highly annoying tactics and threats.... instead how about getting some artisans to work on your idea to make it entertaining... something people will hold their pee for.

Look to Google. I note they apparently are doing research on ads.

On YouTube, the ads are often skippable, but you know what? Some of the ads are better done than the thing I dialed up in the first place - I end up watching the whole ad and then skipping the video when what I had originally intended to watch turned out to be a disappointment.

My guess is Google figured it was probably better to let people skip the ad if it was simply annoying to them, lest they leave the website completely; ramming a ad onto someone non-receptive to it is completely counterproductive. However introducing a new product to someone interested in it is the ultimate goal. The problem is matching them up. The cat does not like the oats which interest the horse, nor does the horse find birds of culinary interest.

TL:DR You are wasting your time trying to force people to watch your ad. Make them interesting!!!

Re:commercials

[RotateLeftByte]

Well said.

Back in the dark distant days of the past, the Guinness adverts on British TV were works of art. They never mentioned the product yet you knew what the product was. No 'in your face' branding here. They were subtle and actually required a modicum of brains to appreciate them

Sadly with everything being dumbed down to lower than even below average intelligence these days are long past.
The result is as far as I am concerned
1) I never buy anything that is advertised to me ( Cold Callers and Virgin Media especially )
2) I never watch TV stations that have adverts live. It all goes on my PVR
3) When watching 'stuff' on my PVR I skip over the adverts. If I can no longer skip the adverts, I will just stop watching.

Yet I still go out and buy 'stuff' but it is what I really 'need' rather than some advertiser telling me what I 'want'.

False.

[Anonymous Coward]

They also doubled their viewership. It's obvious piracy is not a problem.

Re:False.

[Anonymous Coward]

Mod up parent.

US viewership alone went up by approximately 100% between the final episode of season 5, part 1 and the first episode of season 5, part 2. The obvious hypothesis to make here is that the show got more popular, which caused both viewership and piracy to increase.

Expectation...

[Bert64]

Many people are simply in the habit of torrenting shows, and often have rss feeds or similar automation set up to grab them automatically. I personally wasn't aware that breaking bad was airing here, nor did i know when the rest of the season was due to start. I only found out about it when it popped up in the RSS feed, by which time it had already been downloaded via torrent.

If i had known it was on tv i may well have watched it there (or recorded it for later viewing), but i certainly wouldn't watch it via a drm encumbered streaming service.

Well duh

[readingaccount]

If you've been pirating TV shows for so long and have become accustomed to its benefits (no ads, offline watching at any time and not just when aired/networked, encoded in cross-platform, DRM free formats for easy transfer to multiple devices, etc), it's very hard to go back to traditional methods of watching TV shows.

Re:Too Many Adverts?

[Drakonblayde]

I remember once upon a time when movies had no ads before the movie itself, just trailers (which I guess could be a form of advertisement). I'll never forget the first time I walked in and started seeing ads for crap other than yet to come out movies and being highly angered.

I find it ironic that I'm a highly capable of techno geek who's capable of doing lots of fun things with technology, but I maintain only tacit involvement for most things just due to the amount of marketing, whether it's too me directly, or to companies that want to take my information to try and figure out how to better market at me. I highly resent attempts at manipulation.

I get confused looks when I pay for most things in cash, and no, I honestly don't want your loyalty rewards program. My personal information is worth alot more to me than the pittance it'll save me (looking at you Best Buy and Gamestop)

What is this TV you speak of?

[mybeat]

But seriously, I haven't owned TV since 2006 and probably none of the channels I have available air it.

Even if they did I can't just imagine sit at TV on a specific date/time. This is not how it works now, I will watch it when/if I have time not when they think I should watch it.

I also like to watch multiple episodes at a time, and the legal way of me doing this (can't use hulu or netflix where I live) is ordering box set via amazon which costs 45 pounds for seasons 1-4.
No thanks, make it 10 pounds and you got a deal since it's just piece of plastic with printed out papers.
The only advantage I see in a dvd box set is that audio levels and quality is consistent across all the seasons/episodes but even this can be a non issue if you take your time searching right torrents.
Plus it will take 1 week for the DVDs to get here and would require me to go to the post office, wait in line, get back home to finally view it.

Now lets compare the other alternative that I have:
Open up the bay, type in breaking bad season, get the one with most seeds/ok quality and press magic download button. 1 hour later I have what I needed without all the annoyances.

So guess which route will I or anyone sane would choose?

Re:Too Many Adverts?

[CadentOrange]

It's just greed to be honest. They could probably dump half the channels on Sky with no noticeable drop in content quality. The hundreds of channels they tout are mostly crap. Hence I don't bother with Sky anymore.

Here's why I downloaded ("pirated") it

[C4st13v4n14]

I usually don't respond to the threads on /. about piracy; I don't see any point in debating it. I'm pretty much going to do it regardless until they hand over full control of me being able to do what I want with something after I have purchased it. I believe many others out there have the same reasons, so I decided I would post them.
1. It's easy. I turn on the computer, surf over to The Pirate Bay, search for what I want, click on the magnet link and a few minutes later I have it.
2. Freedom. I can then do whatever I want with the file. Put it on my laptop and take it with me, watch it on my 27" monitor, stream it to a TV or run it from a computer connected to TV via HDMI. I can give it to a friend on a USB stick. Save it on my hard drive for later. Pause it in the middle to do something else and resume later.
3. Cost. Buying a new television every few years is expensive. I don't know about you, but I want to retire early. I move around a lot because of work and having a television with me is not an option. Also, in my country of Norway, we have to pay a TV licence fee of around 500 dollars a year if we have one. I hate Norwegian television, it's boring and ethnocentric. The rest of the world seems to be in a television series renaissance, but here it's the same boring shit that no one outside of this small and insignificant country cares about. Mostly about "Big Brother" type of programming and gatherings of celebrities.
4. Advertising and commercials. I don't have to fucking watch them when I download something. Period.
5. The Man. I'm just trying to make my way in this world and I'm sick of people better off than me trying to get their hands in my pockets. I don't want theirs, I just want mine. And to keep it. Knowing that they didn't get it this time gives me pleasure and satisfaction. I will ultimately buy the stuff I really like because I support the artists/authors. I have over 1000 music CDs in storage I've bought since my first CD player in 1993. Now, I try to buy FLAC or 320 kbps MP3s directly from the bands. I have over 400 games on Steam, many from Indy publishers, most I haven't even played. Especially since I gave up computer games as my new year's resolution 2013. But I still buy them because I support what they do, and I like that I will always have them on Steam. Movies? They release them on DVD, then Blue Ray, then a special edition, then an uncut with added scenes, then 20 years later with lost fucking footage. This doesn't make me feel like they give a shit about me getting what I am paying for. Sure, I could forgo films and television series completely, but there's that social aspect of being a part of conversations at work and at gatherings that I would miss out on. I already don't give a damn for sports, might as well drop out of society completely.

If they were to figure out a delivery system like Steam for music, films and books, where I would actually own what I've paid for, I would give up downloading. Imagine buying a film in 1080p and when they decide to upscale it to 4K with new footage and features, it would automatically get updated without you having to dish out more cash. I think that's something we all want. I also want an itunes alternative, a real one, I don't support companies who bully and sue everyone.

Re:Some reasons I would "pirate" include...

[gsslay]

Let me fix points 2 & 3 for you.

2. I get stuff for free.

3. Everyone else pays for it.

You have to agree it's a compelling argument, if you're selfish and can fool yourself with the "they're all rich anyway, so that's ok" argument. Unfortunately, if everyone followed your reasoning no-one would get paid, and no-one would make the TV you want. But I guess you're special and should be allowed to freeload.

Re:Season 5 has not aired yet in Australia

[nedlohs]

If you only count free to air TV then it hasn't aired in the US either.

iTunes fraud contributing as well

[CODiNE]

A lot of people bought a season pass of breaking bad during the first half of season 5. It was already announced that the season would be halved and completed this year. Everyone was thinking "Oh good I'll get the whole season"

Well no.

On iTunes it's called season 6 so you have to pay again.

Nice money grab there.

I'm sure that contributed to piracy as well. After all, steal from people and many won't feel any moral problem with taking what they already paid for.

Very smart, turn your remaining paying customers into pirates.