[Philip Lelyveld comment: Its interesting how technology "can't be stopped" when it comes to content piracy, but technology can be stopped when it comes to pornography and hate speech. Selective innovation based on short-term self-interest, rather than long-term thinking.]
Video piracy is on the verge of having its Napster moment. A piece of software appeared last week called Popcorn Time. It makes watching pirated movies as easy as firing up Netflix. Everything is free. There’s no mess or fuss — you press play.
And Popcorn Time isn’t alone. A site called FliXanity essentially cloned Netflix’s look and streams pirated content, albeit at a really low resolution. Another called MovieHive is an Android app that’s a far cry from the selection and ease of use of Popcorn Time. Plus it has ads. But it works. It streams pirated content for free.
See the full story here: http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/17/popcorn-time-is-hollywoods-worst-nightmare-and-it-cant-be-stopped/?ncid=tcdaily