[Dylan16807]

A streaming service is perfectly viable without DRM, especially if downloading is speed limited after a while. If you want to make copies at playback speed, well, you could do that with DRM too and it hasn't made the system collapse.

[andrewstuart2]

Without DRM, it's super viable because P2P is a piece of cake, and Netflix would only have to seed and host less-frequently-used content.

[Dylan16807]

I don't think DRM stops them from doing P2P. Limited upload speeds are a much bigger issue. Plus people finding it icky to be an uploader on something they already paid for.

[zrm]

BitTorrent solved the limited upload speed problem. Split the data into chunks and download from multiple users at once. Even that is only necessary if a user doesn't have enough upload bandwidth for a stream, which for 1080p is ~5Mbps.

And the second problem has a simple solution. Give the customer a tiny discount for uploading. Anyone with an unmetered connection sees it as free money even if it's only pennies/month, and it works fine even if some customers turn it off because the discount-accepting customers can upload more than they download.

[maxerickson]

Which DRM free streaming service has the most customers?

(let's say they have to be at least sort of like Netflix, with minimal advertising and comedy/drama shows)

[Dylan16807]

I'm not sure what that's supposed to prove. There are only a few big studios, and they all happen to be wrapped up in inertia and paranoia. But that's just how the dice came out, it's not because DRM provides actual value. If they wanted to perform a realistic market assessment we could be DRM-free in a snap.

[maxerickson]

The point is that 'viable' means something. Overcoming inertia and paranoia is providing actual value.

[Dylan16807]

The business model is viable in terms of the studios deciding to sanction it. So not treating the studios as black boxes.

[izacus]

None, because currently it's not possible to get non-DRMed content from provider for various reasons - legal and dumb ones.

[problems]

Does it need to be legal? $10/mo for usenet and it just gives you what you want, DRM free, often in better quality than other services offer too.

I used to be able to use Netflix alone fairly well, but the fracturing of online services is making me lean more and more on automated piracy tools like Sonarr. If I were going to pay $10/mo to a dozen services I'd go back to cable.