I really don't understand all this waffling. Why would you start a project like this in 2014 without considering legal responses and having prepared for them?
It's my guess that the founders did this not to create a sustainable legal business, but to get the source code out there so that anyone can fork it and create something really great from it.
As explained in the fist iteration of the product, popcorn time was an experiment to test the limits of real time technology. Look at what they've done. They received media attention, legal attention and certainly attention from the tech community. The founders have created a name for themselves and released something very cool in the process.
I think it was more of a protest action than any attempt at a viable project/business. They probably did consider the legal responses and are reacting in the best possible way to get and keep people talking about.
As explained in the fist iteration of the product, popcorn time was an experiment to test the limits of real time technology. Look at what they've done. They received media attention, legal attention and certainly attention from the tech community. The founders have created a name for themselves and released something very cool in the process.