What is online streaming? Online streaming is watching video content over the internet. The content includes movies, television, cartoons and basically anything video related. YouTube could also technically fall under the online streaming umbrella, but in contemporary lingo, it does not. The cultural definition of movie online streaming is as follows: Watching video content of any product or format through third party vendors. Now, that may be my own personal interpretation, but it serves to clarify the definition of the term into a broad and general consensus for the sake of this argument. What is far from agreement however and embroiled in controversy, is the legality and ethical merit of online streaming. Most of us do it, but does that make it right?
The standard concept of online streaming involves bringing the desired content to the viewer through alternate channels. Say for example you wanted to watch the movie 300. You would search for the title on an online streaming site and click on the related link. The link would then take you to another, perhaps unrelated, site where the movie would commence. Online streaming sites claim that they are simply connecting a customer to a desired product and that they are operating fully in the boundaries of the law. There appears to be some merit in their argument and with streamers operating in a “grey” area of sorts, it would seem unlikely that an elite cyber enforcement agency will be banging on their door any time soon. So where is the counter argument to online streaming? There are two major issues that streamers have yet to justify. 1) The content is still pirated and 2) the online streaming industry is for profit.
If one were to enter the slew of online streaming sites on the net, one would surely notice the annoying pop up advertisements and banners of raunchy sexual orientation. Those advertisements are obviously present for the sole purpose of generating money for the owner. The theory of generating cost simply to keep the website operational is irrelevant. The internet is a public forum and just like any other establishment, needs to pay a licensing fee in order to provide the content to its patrons. Does a bar pay a fee to show all sorts of video content on their big screens? They do indeed and most of us wouldn’t have an ounce of remorse for those merchants who were forced to pay a fine for not doing so. The internet is no different than a bar, albeit you have to provide your own alcohol.
The movies that we love watching online are products of cyber piracy. Let’s compare movie streaming to this hypothetical situation. If someone steals a box of DVD movies and leaves those out somewhere and another individual were to come along and starts handing them out for free to passers by, all three parties are committing ethical misconduct, not to mention illegal conduct. Granted, those individuals taking the movies would probably not be considered felons by most, but the majority would probably agree that the party handing out the stolen goods was behaving criminally. Handing someone stolen property via the internet or face to face is exactly the same.
So is online streaming ethically wrong? You bet it is. It is theft of not only a tangible product, but of intellectual property as well. Do I watch movies and television through online streaming? I do indeed and I just can’t stop. I’m like a drug addict looking for his next fix. (Right now that fix is called Accepted and which is streaming as I write) I know I shouldn’t be doing it or losing sleep on what has become a norm in the internet and entertainment sub-cultures, but I can’t help myself. It’s like finding $20 on the street and looking for the rightful owner. Most people, good people, just don’t bother looking for the rightful owner and pocket the money instead. Man is an animal prone to temptation and the majority of us are always looking for a quick fix of pleasure. Online streaming is so easy and methodical that fighting the temptation is just too difficult. So watch movies online. Enjoy them and don’t fret over the morality in question. Just don’t hide behind the smoke screen of technical legality, because online streaming is anything but legal.
Ozzy Neav
De Novo Magazine
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