Amazon FireTVstick

Isn't this illegal? Doesn't this download movies over the internet? Isn't everything online trackable?

Seems like you are asking for trouble.

I've never heard or read of anybody getting into trouble streaming from the various sources listed in this thread. Back in the day, the services were really centralized and would get shut down by the authorities only to set up shop in another country hours later and be back online. The standard now is decentralization, which is nearly impossible to shut down since there are many servers spread across different countries. For standard file sharing offenses, the authorities never go after the consumer, but the person or entity that's actually sharing the files. Take bittorrent for example. If you don't seed (upload) anything, you're rather safe, but if you are seeding, you stand a good chance of getting pinched if you're not running behind a VPN or other encrypted connection.

In the end, the content companies are largely anti-consumer. There are many cord cutters out there, but most of them have to subscribe to multiple services because the studios ink exclusive deals with the distributors (Amazon, Netflix, etc) which forces the consumer to subscribe to many in order to get the content they want. There is also the quality aspect. What you get on Netflix and Amazon video is a poor example of the actual material. They drop frames and reduce quality, something that would've been more excusable a decade ago when home internet connections were 1/10th to 1/20th the speed they are now. I subscribe to a couple of services, but I also download a lot as well. If I can't find what I want on the services I subscribe to, I'll download it. If it's something that must be in it's original quality to be properly experienced, I refuse to take the reduced quality peddled by the services. Ideally, the subscription services should be unhindered as to what content they can provide and let market capitalism make them compete with each other for your dollars. Amazon and Netflix may look like competitors on the surface, but you aren't competing if you're offering a different product. You're the lone wolf.
 
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