Sharks, and what you shouldn't do on the internets....

My favourite site which is the only thing keeping me sane at the moment is under attack. The person running it has just over two thousand registered members. And while the focus is on soaps, most of which you can find scattered about in one place or another, it was becoming much more ambitious, and there were series, and specials, and fun things to watch, which--- if you aren't on the continental US... is forbidden and blocked by the major networks, because they want to sell them at very high prices to nations abroad. Which is ok, but most of it is such junk, no one here would buy it anyway.

The set-up is such, you register as a guest, and you get a lot of something for nothing. So now, after about a year, there were restrictions, because few wanted to contribute ten Euros to be a VIP member and have unlimited access to everything. I saw that it was worth doubling down for two days, and did so voluntarily, because the people running it were diligent, fast, and it was a one-stop place to get my fix and see a mess of things I wouldn't have had access to.

Ten Euros for a year as VIP is NOT coming from someone out to make a killing and there are running costs for such a site, as it is connected to other storage sites.

Judging from the instant message box... a mess of the people who have been thrilled about it were members of service people in the armed forces stationed abroad, where their on-base stations aren't delivering their 'stories' (read: Soaps). And especially the horrible HORRIBLE analphabet mess called 'The Bold and the Beautiful'. They were so grateful to watch that monstrosity. And YES, it gets all the Emmys, but it's a train wreck in slow motion. But that is beside the point.

INSIDE the US, these poor people can access CBS.... which offer full episodes with ads.... BUT. You click the link--- and the strangest thing just happened.. typing, my window disappeared, and I was on CBS all of a sudden... who hacks whom, here? That was weird... (GOOOGLE! shakes fist).

Whatever, you click one of their links and get a message that you are not in a region where that is allowed.

So... from what I have read, it seems that members of US servicepeople feeling estranged and in foreign cultures could get their 'fix' and see 'their stories' and were very happy about it. That accounts for about two-thirds of one-thousand people, give or take a few dozen.

There ARE people who are Europeans and sort of crazy and enjoy their Soap fixes. And not having to wait ten years to see a series that finally got cheap enough for local stations to buy.

My all-time favorite 'guest' was a woman in Germany who couldn't use the pay-pal for ten Euros for a year of being a VIP because... her husband would see it on his credit card statement, and he had forbidden her to watch 'The Bold and the Beautiful'. So the owner granted her VIP status. I cannot IMAGINE... well, perhaps I can, thinking of HJ...a German so tyrannical and cruel as to do that. SHE must have a marriage made in hell if that is the only thing that keeps her afloat. Can you imagine this poor Hausfrau sneaking onto her husband's computer to watch that, and THAT is the height of her day???? Oh, the humanity...

Well, mistakes were made. The owner got 'ambitious', and began ripping dvd's of the soaps, mostly, for sale. And I thought, 'uh-oh...' It probably was that no one wanted to become a VIP member. A month ago, only 140 people had signed up for it. So I would guess it was a way they thought of to cover costs, but that is way dodgy.

The second mistake was trusting that people enjoy, but don't necessarily rat out anyone, especially on the net. And as far as I can tell, someone with cotton candy for BRAINS and the temprement of a 14 year old went onto a CBS fan board, and let people know where they could see full episodes.

And YES, a B&B fan. Who has no life of his/her own, and just needed to share.
Gewalt, hey!

This got the owner into so much trouble, it's a catastrophe. But it is interesting to see how the sharks work. It sounds like the person running it is having a nervous breakdown right about now.

And you know what? It won't stop. Other sites will pop up and give access to what people want to watch. Instead of making a deal, and letting people see what they want to see for ads, or stuff like that... hell, MSNBC has ads you can't skip, but I still go there... they want to take down someone who for over a year now has given a bunch of people an opportunity to tune into the window of US broadcasting that they block from the outside world.

I know that most of the people signed into it are US troops or their families. How does that support them?

Here's what it looks like when you break a conglomerate rule---and by the way, I can't watch most of the vids on Huffington Post, esp. Bill Maher, because 'it isn't available in my region'. But catch things anyway.

And on second thought... I guess I shouldn't be quoting that letter. Whatever, some of the decisions made just weren't wise.