Slight sensationalism aside... Yeah. Piracy is a thing in Russia. Surprise! Today it is so much easier to get a foreign film in great quality on the Internet if you know where to look. Given the...
Slight sensationalism aside... Yeah. Piracy is a thing in Russia. Surprise!
Today it is so much easier to get a foreign film in great quality on the Internet if you know where to look. Given the country's new propensity for "parallel imports" (read: government-sanctioned piracy enshrined in law after the international response to the war), it should be as if nothing had happened for an average Russian. <corporateSmile>Remember: if the people don't protest, it's fine!</corporateSmile>
I'm sure it's going to bother some people that they now have to engage in crime in order to access foreign media, but not that many. In the neck of the woods I grew up in, piracy was just something you did. Constant economic worry, compounded by the fact that "services" wasn't a thing in the USSR like it was in the US and Europe, tends to do funny things to people.
(It was funnier still that before the advent of the home Internet access, we used to buy pirated CDs and DVDs that were a lot cheaper than the legit stuff: sometimes by five times. I can still remember the smell of the plastic after opening a new DVD.)
Setting up a pirate cinema is not something I'd anticipated, but I'm not surprised.
Interesting bit I always wondered about and seeing confirmed here: Nerdier people always claimed that internet users in China could easily bypass government restrictions by using VPNs but that...
Interesting bit I always wondered about and seeing confirmed here:
Normally, tech-savvy individuals would turn to VPNs to access content around censors, but the Russian government has been actively working to shut down VPN servers within the country. Wired reported that the Kremlin blocked 20 VPNs by the end of March, though the website Top10VPN shows that as of April 11, there are still several options for users looking to access foreign servers.
Nerdier people always claimed that internet users in China could easily bypass government restrictions by using VPNs but that always seemed like either an oversight or low priority by the censorship bureaus. The last step would be a "white list" approach where the internet is inaccessible by default expect for a few government-approve sites. Do this while keeping the China/Russia equivalent of Google/Facebook/Youtube and maybe the top 100 shopping sites and 90% of people wouldn't even care.
Russia has always been one step behind China in this game but they might overtake them in a matter of months once they're doubling down on isolating themselves from the world. Interestingly, I wonder whether that would mean Russia suddenly having less access to pirated content than before, would be ironic.
It's not surprising. We've seen countless times that if people can't easily access entertainment legally, they'll just get it illicitly. Why would they crack down? What does the government care...
It's not surprising. We've seen countless times that if people can't easily access entertainment legally, they'll just get it illicitly.
The Times reported that, so far, the government has not cracked down on these illicit screenings, according to the underground theater hosts reporters talked with.
Why would they crack down? What does the government care about foreign corporations losing money? If anything, I'd think they'd support it as a way to distract people from the war in Ukraine.
Slight sensationalism aside... Yeah. Piracy is a thing in Russia. Surprise!
Today it is so much easier to get a foreign film in great quality on the Internet if you know where to look. Given the country's new propensity for "parallel imports" (read: government-sanctioned piracy enshrined in law after the international response to the war), it should be as if nothing had happened for an average Russian. <corporateSmile>Remember: if the people don't protest, it's fine!</corporateSmile>
I'm sure it's going to bother some people that they now have to engage in crime in order to access foreign media, but not that many. In the neck of the woods I grew up in, piracy was just something you did. Constant economic worry, compounded by the fact that "services" wasn't a thing in the USSR like it was in the US and Europe, tends to do funny things to people.
(It was funnier still that before the advent of the home Internet access, we used to buy pirated CDs and DVDs that were a lot cheaper than the legit stuff: sometimes by five times. I can still remember the smell of the plastic after opening a new DVD.)
Setting up a pirate cinema is not something I'd anticipated, but I'm not surprised.
Interesting bit I always wondered about and seeing confirmed here:
Nerdier people always claimed that internet users in China could easily bypass government restrictions by using VPNs but that always seemed like either an oversight or low priority by the censorship bureaus. The last step would be a "white list" approach where the internet is inaccessible by default expect for a few government-approve sites. Do this while keeping the China/Russia equivalent of Google/Facebook/Youtube and maybe the top 100 shopping sites and 90% of people wouldn't even care.
Russia has always been one step behind China in this game but they might overtake them in a matter of months once they're doubling down on isolating themselves from the world. Interestingly, I wonder whether that would mean Russia suddenly having less access to pirated content than before, would be ironic.
Fun fact: while still in Russia, I have been successfully using ProtonVPN with no trouble at all, all the way to my leaving in very late April.
You left Russia ? Wow. That takes a lot of guts. I wish you all the best in your new adventure!
Cheers. Full update incoming on the newest Ukraine invasion thread, just FYI.
It's not surprising. We've seen countless times that if people can't easily access entertainment legally, they'll just get it illicitly.
Why would they crack down? What does the government care about foreign corporations losing money? If anything, I'd think they'd support it as a way to distract people from the war in Ukraine.
Related, this video is a great explainer on how the Russian internet is potentially isolated from the rest of the internet. They've been moving more and more toward a China-style controlled internet.