Thanks to technology, there are many ways we can enjoy your favorite shows or movies.  We could wash them on the regularly scheduled times,or record them and watch them when we want.  We can also buy them on DVD, or just watched them on the broadcasters website.  There is also a way that is very questionable that allows users to watch the shows on the Internet from third-party websites.  The legality of this issue is still in debate, and I won’t get into it at this time.  I would however like to let everyone know that a popular website called TV leaks has been shut down and the owner, a 26-year-old UK-based lad has been arrested.

Now, his website TV-Links,didn’t actually post any videos but just linked to other major websites that hostedit such as Youtube and Google video. this is a common practice that is used widely in torrents.  Sites don’t actually link to the files but instead to torrents that can be used to download the files.  This was considered a loophole allowing websites to stay open but still allowing users to get their shows. But since this recent development, a number of other websites including AllofTV have announced that they will be closing their doors.

There are still however hundreds of websites that allow the user to watch any show or movie date police on demand.  Consumers want to watch a show when they want and how they want, and no matter how much large companies go and arrest the viewers, others will continue to do it.  Companies can either continue to arrest people, or except people watching videos on the web and instead learn how to exploit it.

Viacom in fact has just launched a new surface that allows users to watch any episode from the daily show with Jon Stewart from the past eight years on their website.  These videos are free to watch and you don’t have to sign up for anything, they are supported solely by advertising.  Since the episodes of the daily show are now so we easy to view on the web and good quality, it can be very easy to predict that piracy of the episodes will dramatically drop.

I think consumers are making it pretty clear that they’d want to be in control of what they watch and companies need to accept this and learn how to build a new structure around this.  What are your thoughts on this?  Feel free to leave any comments on the subject, after all it’s a widely discussed subject that can easily affect you!

Tags: internet, tv, legal, illegal, piracy