Piracy General

I was wondering if there was something similar to Aniyomi for desktop, and I found this when I went looking.


Haven't tried it out yet since I'm at work.

Update: Doesn't seem to work, unfortunately. I was hoping to get some program to centralize all of my anime/manga piracy needs, but I guess I'll have to stick to using my browser and bookmarks.
 
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Are the classic Amazon Firacy Sticks on the way out? Short answer, not yet.

TorrentFreak: Amazon Remote Disables Piracy Apps Sideloaded on Fire TV Devices (archive)
AFTVnews: Amazon blocks the use of two popular piracy apps on Fire TV devices — Likely due to embedded malware (archive)

AFTVnews has a comment section talking about it. These two apps have probably been disabled only due to malware concerns and not piracy, but it could also be a sign of things to come. It's a reminder that you don't really have control, at least when Amazon's Fire OS is running.

I ditched Fire sticks years ago for cheap and easy-to-use x86 computers that don't require weird and constantly breaking apps to access pirate streaming sources. The sticks look slick but are unusable for normies since Kodi piracy plugins don't work well outside of MAYBE premium "debrid" sources, which are also under attack last time I checked.

But I still want to see a Fire TV Stick 8K Max become a reality just to see what kind of hardware it would be packing (the latest 4K Max 2nd gen has 4-core Cortex-A55, a PowerVR IMG GE9215 GPU, 2 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of storage, up from the crap 8 GB in every previous stick that would slow the system when filled).
 
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The Mass Shooter Ron Soye said:
Are the classic Amazon Firacy Sticks on the way out? Short answer, not yet.

TorrentFreak: Amazon Remote Disables Piracy Apps Sideloaded on Fire TV Devices (archive)
AFTVnews: Amazon blocks the use of two popular piracy apps on Fire TV devices — Likely due to embedded malware (archive)

AFTVnews has a comment section talking about it. These two apps have probably been disabled only due to malware concerns and not piracy, but it could also be a sign of things to come. It's a reminder that you don't really have control, at least when Amazon's Fire OS is running.
Click to expand...
I don't understand the appeal of these sticks unless you're into sports. Free apps like Plex and Pluto TV work fine if you just want to watch the news or have a TV channel on as background noise. Everything else, it's so easy to just torrent or get it on usenet. I guess most people who use them buy them with the streaming apps pre-installed so they're just plug and play?
I ditched Fire sticks years ago for cheap and easy-to-use x86 computers that don't require weird and constantly breaking apps to access pirate streaming sources. The sticks look slick but are unusable for normies since Kodi piracy plugins don't work well outside of MAYBE premium "debrid" sources, which are also under attack last time I checked.
Click to expand...
I used to run Kodi on a Raspberry Pi, but I just installed it on my Xbox One, and it can still connect to the Network share with my pirated shit fine, so I just use that. I really like just having one device connected to the TV instead of a tangle of devices and cords.
 
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Never Scored said:
I don't understand the appeal of these sticks unless you're into sports. Free apps like Plex and Pluto TV work fine if you just want to watch the news or have a TV channel on as background noise. Everything else, it's so easy to just torrent or get it on usenet. I guess most people who use them buy them with the streaming apps pre-installed so they're just plug and play?
Click to expand...
In general, it's a cheap way to hijack a smart TV and replace it with Amazon's ecosystem. It's probable that many smart TVs have slower hardware than whatever the latest Fire TV, Google, or ONN (Walmart) stick/box has. But you are also bypassing any nuisances of the TV's OS, such as TVs that are connecting to the Internet to spy or serve ads. You may be replacing one set of problems with the same set of problems, but it depends. I think the ONN devices have little bloat and are closer to stock Android TV.

For piracy, it can offer a convenient ten-foot interface, but the piracy apps/plugins break too often. This is what I'm talking about when I say Kodi on Fire Stick. If you are using Kodi to access network/local storage, it works great.

Using the stock (Silk?) web browser with the stick+remote sucks, and the CPU/RAM makes it slow. I think you would need to sideload Brave or a browser that can use adblockers to even have a chance, since if ads aren't blocked it's toast on pirate streaming sites.

I don't bother wasting storage downloading movies and shows anymore. I can get most of the slop on demand instantly using those sites. If there are connection/reliability problems, then I might download it.
 
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Hentai-Semitism said:
How do modern TVs with Internet connection spy on you if you don't do anything other than watch Blu-rays? I mean if they're connected, of course. I'm assuming they're always doing something regardless.
Click to expand...
I think the new thing is that they can actually analyze what's on screen.

Roku patent invents a way to show ads over anything you plug into your TV (archive)
Now, the company is apparently experimenting with ways to show ads over top of even more of the things you plug into your TV. A patent application from the company spotted by Lowpass describes a system for displaying ads over any device connected over HDMI, a list that could include cable boxes, game consoles, DVD or Blu-ray players, PCs, or even other video-streaming devices. Roku filed for the patent in August 2023, and it was published in November 2023, though it hasn't yet been granted.
Click to expand...
 
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The Mass Shooter Ron Soye said:
I think the new thing is that they can actually analyze what's on screen.

Roku patent invents a way to show ads over anything you plug into your TV (archive)
Click to expand...

The Mass Shooter Ron Soye said:
I think the new thing is that they can actually analyze what's on screen.

Roku patent invents a way to show ads over anything you plug into your TV (archive)
Click to expand...
Can't wait to see a fullscreen ad for Pipedream Extreme™ Fuck Me Silly™ Mega Masturbator™ (Over 20lbs. Of Pussy & Ass!) as I fight Starscourge Radahn in Elden Ring.

(I didn't go overboard with the trademark signs, by the way. That's what it looks like on the packaging)
 
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Oh yeah, modern TVs are a fucking dumpster fire. Mine is smart and recentish but at least I can keep it offline and it doesn't nag me in any way. I don't look forward to the era where TVs demand to be online to even be used. I'll be solely on monitors by then even if they have to be a lot smaller, eat shit corpos.
 
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The Mass Shooter Ron Soye said:
Are the classic Amazon Firacy Sticks on the way out? Short answer, not yet.

TorrentFreak: Amazon Remote Disables Piracy Apps Sideloaded on Fire TV Devices (archive)
AFTVnews: Amazon blocks the use of two popular piracy apps on Fire TV devices — Likely due to embedded malware (archive)

AFTVnews has a comment section talking about it. These two apps have probably been disabled only due to malware concerns and not piracy, but it could also be a sign of things to come. It's a reminder that you don't really have control, at least when Amazon's Fire OS is running.

I ditched Fire sticks years ago for cheap and easy-to-use x86 computers that don't require weird and constantly breaking apps to access pirate streaming sources. The sticks look slick but are unusable for normies since Kodi piracy plugins don't work well outside of MAYBE premium "debrid" sources, which are also under attack last time I checked.

But I still want to see a Fire TV Stick 8K Max become a reality just to see what kind of hardware it would be packing (the latest 4K Max 2nd gen has 4-core Cortex-A55, a PowerVR IMG GE9215 GPU, 2 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of storage, up from the crap 8 GB in every previous stick that would slow the system when filled).
Click to expand...
It doesn't surprise me with those apps that are blatantly for streaming/downloading content like CinemaHD and Popcornflix. I've barely ever seen one last more than a year tops. I guess apps like Tivimate and Stremio are the way forward since they don't actually provide any content and are just empty stock apps that the user has to sideload m3u or RD content onto themselves.

The Mass Shooter Ron Soye said:
In general, it's a cheap way to hijack a smart TV and replace it with Amazon's ecosystem. It's probable that many smart TVs have slower hardware than whatever the latest Fire TV, Google, or ONN (Walmart) stick/box has.
Click to expand...
It's portability helps too. Say you wanted to switch to another room or go over to a friend's house and watch stuff it's instantly available and less hassle.
 
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Jang Joo said:
Oh yeah, modern TVs are a fucking dumpster fire. Mine is smart and recentish but at least I can keep it offline and it doesn't nag me in any way. I don't look forward to the era where TVs demand to be online to even be used. I'll be solely on monitors by then even if they have to be a lot smaller, eat shit corpos.
Click to expand...
I think the only TV so far that will definitely refuse to function without Internet is Telly, the literally free (as in YOU are the product) ad-supported television set with a dual screen for even more ad space:
https://kiwifarms.st/threads/telly-...ly-by-advertising-you-get-it-for-free.165287/

It was inevitable given that 43" 4K TVs from the cheapest of brands are often on sale for $100 these days. It's said that if you power it on and there's no Internet connection, it doesn't function. But if you lose the connection after you power it on, it may work, at least for a while.

Every other TV should have an option during setup to continue without connecting to a network, and function without it. They may try to obfuscate the option but not enough to fool someone who cares about this. Even the most suspicious brands like Roku and Amazon should work. If they make the move to always online, people will take note of it. Maybe the easiest way for them to attempt it would be to stick a cellular modem in the TV so they don't need a Wi-Fi network. Or they could make a deal to connect to one of those corporate botnets like Comcast's Xfinity, which turns every customer into an accessible hotspot.
 
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Hentai-Semitism said:
How do modern TVs with Internet connection spy on you if you don't do anything other than watch Blu-rays? I mean if they're connected, of course. I'm assuming they're always doing something regardless.
Click to expand...

The Mass Shooter Ron Soye said:
I think the new thing is that they can actually analyze what's on screen.
Click to expand...

At this point, wouldn't it work just as good to just get an oversized computer monitor and connect whatever you want up to it, including tv tuners, air-gapped entertainment devices, and raspberry pis?
 
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Does anyone know the best way to watch stuff on Tubi and Plex and the like without ads? Regular adblockers don't work for me so I'm looking for any alternative, except for torrenting because I don't currently have a lot of space at the moment.
 
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Aero the Alcoholic Bat said:
At this point, wouldn't it work just as good to just get an oversized computer monitor and connect whatever you want up to it, including tv tuners, air-gapped entertainment devices, and raspberry pis?
Click to expand...
We're not at a point where the TVs can't be easily used without an Internet connection. It can still act as a dumb monitor. Connect any computer you want, and sure, you can have a PCIe TV tuner, OTA box with antenna, or whatever it is people are using these days. I have a newer offline TV connected directly to an antenna, with no box. TV vs. monitor should be a matter of price and image quality/use case. Cheap TVs are probably a worse choice for gaming, with more ghosting, latency, possibly worse color, etc., and may be too large for some setups.

I think a typical Alder Lake-N (e.g. Intel N100) computer in the $100-150 range is a better choice than Raspberry Pi for media consumption, since the RasPis are slower and have lackluster hardware decode. Raspberry Pi 5 doesn't have AV1 decode, and even removed H.264. Here's what their documentation says:
  • 4Kp60 HEVC hardware decode
    • Other CODECs run in software
    • H264 1080p24 decode ~10–20% of CPU
    • H264 1080p60 decode ~50–60% of CPU
    • H264 1080p30 encode (from ISP) ~30–40% CPU
Click to expand...
As Windows 10 loses support, we may see many perfectly capable computers dumped on the used market for similar prices.
 
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