Hey, I might be able to catch up here...

[amethyst73]

Reposted from kayray: 

I haven't actually tried anything on the site, but it seems that watchsitcoms has full episodes (and seasons?  somebody check me on this) of several TV shows - including Lost!  Whee, I can has polar bear now.  :)  And movies and stuff too.  Looking forward to checking it out.

(Yes, it's likely easier and nicer watching DVDs, but hey.  Free is free, especially if you don't feel like going to the library.)

Comments

[meepodeekin.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't mean to say that you were a terrible person. Of course you aren't! I certainly don't judge other people for their decisions, either way, about the many different downloading options available these days.

That said, I only watch video off of the network's own webpages or paid for on Itunes. I don't watch Youtube, except the occasional video that I am sure is a private citizen's upload. I tend to agree with CP on the reasons why.

Lawful is a different alignment from good, and sometimes being too lawful can be annoying, but here I am.

[amethyst73.livejournal.com]

Didn't mean to sound at all harsh there - sorry! I was mostly being tongue in cheek when I said that. :)

I'm actually mostly lawful most of the time, and probably won't use this service. Extending the 'the servers are in a country so the copyright isn't at issue' argument from what Librivox does, LV's stuff is only really legal if *the user* is also in America, or in a country in which the material is clearly PD.

Which this stuff definitely isn't, in the US.

Having done some more poking, there actually are some legal download/stream services (which you're probably aware of), e.g. Hulu.com, Comedy Central, and (I think?) NBC (which has the original Star Trek series for streaming, which is pretty amusing). Are there other good lawful spots you can point me to?

[meepodeekin.livejournal.com]

All of the broadcast networks have free streaming of current shows and I regularly use them all--ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, CW. I haven't watched new shows live in a while. (This habit was developed from 3 months without a tv and then 3 months of strike.) Their usefulness varies. ABC will usually let you watch the last few eps, but has one or two older things, like My So Called Life. NBC is the nicest. They'll let you watch the entire history of at least some of their shows. FOX, CW, and CBS will only let you watch the last 3 eps.

Netflix also has a download service that is free (and commercial free) for all members. Dunno if you have Netflix, though. But if you do it's a good one--they have some tv, both new and old, and lots of movies. Not the hippest, most popular , newest ones, and not a broad spectrum, but a lot of movies.

I haven't found a way to watch cable for free. If I really want to watch it promptly (we don't get cable), I download it by the ep from Itunes. Otherwise I wait for Netflix to get the dvd. Itunes actually has a lot of free stuff. Usually only one or two eps per show, but if you are just looking for something to kill a little time it's worth checking. They also have a bunch of free "video podcasts"--things like old, out of copyright cartoons.

That was probably TMI. Or really tl;dr. Oh well.

[meepodeekin.livejournal.com]

Oh also, I think Librivox is different. A service in the US that is available worldwide but plausibly intended mainly for US users, and openly tells people to check their own laws before proceeding is very different for a service that is clearly in Russia only as a copyright dodge and is intended to be used by Americans and Europeans for whom the stuff isn't legal.

I didn't think you sounded too harsh. I just know I tend to get a bit righteous about copyright issues and downloading and I didn't want to have sounded too judgmental.