this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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We are contacting you regarding a past Prime Video purchase(s). The below content is no longer playable on Prime Video.

In an effort to compensate you for the inconvenience, we have applied a £5.99 Amazon Gift Card to your account. The Gift Card amount is equal to the amount you paid for the Prime Video purchase(s). To apologize for the inconvenience, we've also added an Amazon Gift Certificate of £5 to your account. Your Gift Card balance will be automatically applied to your next eligible order. You can view your balance and usage history in Your Account here:

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[–] RanchOnPancakes@lemmy.world 222 points 2 years ago (8 children)

If you can't save it, its not yours. Sail the seas.

[–] SmoothLiquidation@lemmy.world 66 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Or buy it on physical media. More and more studios are pulling their disks and it is getting harder to find. If you have a disk, it can never be recalled.

[–] RoquetteQueen@slrpnk.net 34 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Ever since Disney announced they are also going to ban account sharing, I've been going to thrift stores and grabbing any DVDs my children like or might like. I've gotten quite a few classics so far for less than the cost of one month of Disney+. I almost bought a VCR because the VHS collection at thrift stores here is huge and they are so cheap, but rewinding sucks.

[–] Pxtl@lemmy.ca 36 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I don't think you realize how unwatchably blurry VHS is. I can't believe we ever watched those things now.

DVD is still a bit of a nuisance because of aspect ratios and they're a little blurry because SD, but VHS is just garbage.

[–] LifeInOregon@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

VHS can look as good as DVD (or better in cases where the DVD was poorly mastered), but there aren’t many good VCRs out there anymore. A well maintained VHS tape and VCR can give you a great capture. https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-restore/1567-vcr-buying-guide.html

[–] RoquetteQueen@slrpnk.net 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I still have my CRT and old game consoles and use them sometimes. The blurriness with the games doesn't bother me, but maybe a movie would be worse. I am constantly forgetting my glasses though so I'm kind of used to blurry. I still might grab a VCR if I see one, though, just to show my children what it was like when I was a kid. Could be fun.

[–] pimento64@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 years ago (2 children)

^^eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

The ability to hear this comment is dependent on the reader's age in a rather interesting way.

[–] konalt@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Nothing better than a 15625hz sawtooth tone.

[–] protovack@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

smart move. make sure to back up everything on multiple hard drives.

[–] RoquetteQueen@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 years ago

I'm the worst at backups...

[–] BottleOfAlkahest@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Maybe look into the cost of transferring those vhs to dvds/memory sticks. It might be worth the cost if you buy enough VHS tapes.

[–] Pxtl@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I haven't looked into it, but doesn blu ray need some kind of connectivity to manage its cryptography?

[–] SmoothLiquidation@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

The encryption keys are stored on the disk I believe. I use MakeMKV and load the files into my media center software (Jellyfin). That works for DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K disks just fine. Every once in a while if I get a 4K early, the keys haven’t been updated yet and I have to give it a day (usually less) before it rips.

[–] MaxVoltage@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

technically you dont own the disks either bro have you never read the back of a DvD box

[–] SmoothLiquidation@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

I mean, yeah, but so what? We are talking about an article where Amazon pulled a video someone purchased down so they can never watch it again. I have never heard of a company recalling physical media and demanding it’s return.

[–] Malfeasant@lemm.ee 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

But it can just stop playing... I have a handful of discs, still in cases, look pristine, no scratches, and yet can't be read by either my computer or DVD player. No recourse. It's a separate problem of course, but similar.

[–] SmoothLiquidation@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

Disks can degrade or be manufactured badly. If they never play you can usually get a warranty replacement. Old disks can degrade, but I have many 20+ year old DVDs that play fine.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago (2 children)

This is a non-story.

"Who knew $EvilCo would fuck me over for a sub-$10 profit?!"

I never stopped stealing media, and I never will.

[–] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 years ago

You can't steal media unless you steal the medium.

Copyright infringement is a crime you might commit but by its draconian length, most cases are the public taking back what's rightfully ours.

Superman II (any version) should be in the public domain.

[–] Yoru@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

you can't steal media, it's still there but just copied over.

[–] bennieandthez@lemmygrad.ml 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Kinda crazy that pirates have more ownership over media than people buying it 😂

[–] admin@lemmy.my-box.dev 5 points 2 years ago

"Piracy is a service problem, not a pricing problem."

Gabe Newell, 2011

[–] TwilightVulpine@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

Sucks for online games though...

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 4 points 2 years ago

Or just buy the disk

[–] stealth_cookies@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Unless you can physically hold an offline device containing everything you need to replay it you don't own it.

[–] SirQuackTheDuck@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

According to my local (Dutch) laws, I don't need to own a physical copy. A YouTube purchase is sufficient for me to legally download a copy over p2p, I'm just not allowed to upload it.

We're still being charged "thuiskopie" taxes on storage devices, so I'm still allowed to make copies for personal use, either via the app I bought it on, or as an MKV found on torrent sites.

[–] stealth_cookies@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

This is banking on someone else providing the data you want when you want it. Things on torrent sites do disappear especially if they are more niche media.

[–] SirQuackTheDuck@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

Yeah, but I usually buy it somewhere and then torrent it. Except for YouTube, most UIs aren't all that dashing (or just slow, like Prime).

[–] Chailles@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Amazon's Music service, while it takes some hoops to jump through, actually does let you download music. Though I don't know if that's a general policy or on a per music/per artist basis.

[–] neshura@bookwormstory.social 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I get the feeling they're trying to get rid of that feature, whenever I try to download something there I have to jump through an increasing number of hoops to get the download option to appear.

[–] Chailles@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

I'm fairly certain it's been the same number of hoops to get there. Same with actually trying to buy it specifically.

But yeah, its so sequestered away that honestly, I'd probably just outright pirate it if it wasn't for the fact that it's readily available on release and I'm familiar with the methodology of it.

[–] RanchOnPancakes@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

and save outside of their app as a non DRM'ed file because otherwise its extra hoops for the same problem

[–] Anamana@feddit.de 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Why is owning sth you might watch once every 10 years so important? I don't care about it, as long as it isn't some niche content or stuff I watch every year.

[–] RanchOnPancakes@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Because paying actual money for something that can be taken away with the changing of ever shifting IP ownership and steaming rights is a giant waste of money.

[–] Anamana@feddit.de 1 points 2 years ago

I disagree. Like I said, I don't need to 'own' something I rarely use. I'm fine just borrowing it for a couple of days as well.