Even with Netflix, people still pirate

One of the main reasons given by pirates for their downloading of TV shows and movies, is that there's no decent quality, convenient and fast way to watch the content when they want, how they want. However, this isn't necessarily the case with the recent launch of the Netflix funded fourth season of Arrested Development, which recently debuted on the on-demand platform. Despite this though, it's still being downloaded tens of thousands of times via torrent sites.

According to TorrentFreak stats, over 175,000 people downloaded the first episode of the new series. Of course this is a lot smaller than the millions that regularly torrent the new Game of Thrones episodes, but it's still a noticeable number. What's the reason for people downloading illegally, when for just a few pounds, they can watch it on any Netflix enabled device? Are they just cheap? Is it force of habit? Even better convenience?

[Insert in-joke here]

Looking at some of the comments for this story, for most it's a case that they'll pay for a service and then consider that as giving them the right to download and use the files as they like. Most of them don't want to have to be connected to the internet in order to enjoy the media, or don't have the smart features on their TV to be able to watch in their bedroom or similar.

Another big reason is geographical availability. Australia is one of the world's biggest pirates, simply because it doesn't have legal access to a lot of the shows we do. Netflix just isn't available there.

Despite these hiccups, Netflix needs to be applauded for its efforts. It's one of the few media companies actively listening to consumers and tailoring its service to their requests.

KitGuru Says: Do you guys download? If so, do you also have a Netflix or Lovefilm account as well? 

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