Here’s a quick link for officers and other ex-pats. http://watch-series.com is a pop-up riddled, probably quasi-illegal site that I can not in good conscience recommend to anyone. It has links to all sorts of Asian, Spanish, and even a couple of English websites that host television shows. I presume these are all completely legal in their respective countries, much like Hulu is in the U.S. (I fully respect intellectual property rights and have no sympathies whatsoever for the pirate party.)
Watching TV Abroad
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
After a few trips overseas I am intrigued by the “American Idol” phenomenon. That is, just as we adopted (stole?) the idea from the Brits, many other nations have it now also. Also the reality show concept.
They both suck in any language, if you ask me (which you didn’t but I told you anyway).
As someone who also respects copyright law, I found the easiest way (not the least expensive) to watch television in ones native country is using a service like a2btv.com (US expats) and thetelly.net (for British expats.)
I literally sit back in my couch and watch every channel whenever I want to … remote control in hand and all.
Just wish I owned a piece of either pie!
@Mamuka - I don’t believe you when you say AI sucks; I mean, clearly the second half does, but that first half when it’s just people making fools of themselves in public for no pay whatsover? Televison gold.
@Simon - Thank you so much for sharng a2btv.com! I think I know what I’m going to be doing for my TV during my next post…
Well, there is something to be said for that (people making fools of themselves in public) but other than Bikini Girl, none of it can compare with watching a rerun of Seinfeld for the 87th time.
There is an important middle ground between no copyrights and the current insanity that passes for copyright policy in the USA at the moment. Current policy is completely out of touch with the intentions of the framers of the constitution and entirely disconnected from the technological reality of the day. Of course copyright is needed, but current “life plus 70″ is atrocious. A return to the original system (copyright granted upon application for 14 years) is much more reasonable. I would even be willing to grant a doubling of that period (non transferable beyond original copyright holder, of course). Copyright exists to protect and encourage innovation but it was also designed to revert back to the public for important reasons. Denying the public domain has important costs for society and its even reached the point to where copyright law is now INHIBITING innovation. Additionally, shorter terms of copyright furthermore contribute to innovation by motivating creators to keep creating.
As for the Pirate Party, they aren’t against intellectual property in and of itself (as far as I’m aware) but they recognize that IP shouldn’t be the ONLY thing we consider. The link you provided said that they are opposed to patents but I’m not sure that’s exactly true. I think they are opposed to information patents (software, 1-click buying, etc) but I do not believe that they want to burn down the patent office entirely.
Finally, when it comes to copying copyrighted material, there is a market issue to consider. I absolutely do not advocate taking for free when you can buy it but I’m not opposed to downloading when either there is no market mechanism (TV is a good example: if content providers won’t provide viable legal access I see no reason why I shouldn’t watch programs that are available in other ways) or as a try-before-buy option. I know that Big Music doesn’t like the idea of me downloading an album for ANY reason, but I don’t see any difference between borrowing an album or checking it out from the library before buying it. If I copy this solely to avoid having to buy it, that’s stealing. But to download music or software to try it out shouldn’t be criminal and clearly isn’t amoral. Not buying it if you are going to use it is.
Thanks for the blog. Thanks for listening to my position on this as well.
Mr. Not-a-pirate brings up a good point about the length of copyrights and to whom should they transfer to, if anyone. The idea of patents is to promote creativity by allowing the creator to bank on his idea for a while before other people can copy it for free. If they are too long, then society loses out on the benefit of others improving on the idea. However, I feel intellectual property is different. How do you improve upon a Beattles song? Sure, you can cover it, or write new words to the music, but those people typically pay for the right to do so, as they should. Simply copying in this case just encourages less talented people to make a quick buck (sounds harsh, but I dislike it) that the original creator should benefit partially from. However, I think royalties should stop at the end of the creator’s life. At that point, no one else in my opinion deserves the fruits of his/her labor, and society can benefit from enjoying his/her music for the expense of any kind of overhead costs to supply the music, which could be pennies.
Just my opinion though…and I do have to acknowledge that there are some REALLY good covers, but they still generally gave a piece of the pie to the original creator if they were still around.
Just getting familiar with the site when I read this blog. If you have family members in the US that are already paying for Satellite TV or Cable and have a high speed internet connection, just buy a Slingbox for less than $300 and it will do the same as a2btv.com. This service takes the same technology and “hosts” it in LA (as if your parents lived in LA and hooked up the Slingbox to their TV). If you like the added services, then a2btv.com is very nice, otherwise, go with the cheaper option. If you want, you can even help pitch in for your parents internet and cable!
I’ve been using http://www.uktelevision.tv since they went live last month.
Of all the services I’ve tried this one has not let me down yet, and every stream is independant, so you never loose quality as more people watch.
I believe they are still doing free trials.
http://www.uktelevision.tv for the win!