Downloading stuff before it's aired in the UK

[tek-monkey]

I’ve enjoyed Dexter’s fourth season hugely (although considering I’m the bloke who apparently failed to notice season three’s deficiencies, my opinion probably doesn’t count for much ). John Lithgow in particular has been superb.

However, as the finale approaches (I’m watching it on the FX channel, so the final episode is now two days away), I’m unfortunately in a position where I already know how the season ends and have known for weeks. I didn’t mean to find out and learned about it by accident via the internet.

Nowadays US imports are usually on UK TV within days of being shown in the States (Walking Dead, set to replace Dexter in FX’s schedule, makes its debut on the 31st of October in the US and then starts here on the 5th of November), but with Dexter it seems we’re about a year behind. Avoiding spoilers for a week or so isn’t hard, but avoiding them for a year? Difficult, especially when you visit the kinds of websites I like to look at.

But I doubt we’re going to be synching up with the US on Dexter. I mean, what would they do - show two seasons back-to-back? I can’t see it happening. Therefore, in order to avoid further spoilage, I’m thinking about trying to view episodes of season five, as soon as we’ve got season four’s conclusion out of the way. However, I’ve never attempted anything like this before (I’ve downloaded programmes via the BBC iPlayer, but that’s about the extent of my past experience!).

Clearly some of you forumites know what you’re doing, and I’d appreciate some advice. Where do you download episodes from? And how do you make sure you’re not infecting your system with viruses? And what about the legality of it - is there a danger of getting busted?!

As is probably very clear, I’m clueless about this, so any advice would be appreciated…

Admin, should we make this a seperate topic?

Legally, you are in the wrong. In reality, the chances of getting busted are extremely minimal if you follow a few simple steps.

1. Use newsgroups rather than torrents
2. Choose a decent ISP (NOT sky!)
3. Stick to known sources

I'm happy to supply any info you could want, but not til after my lunch break! I do this kinda stuff a lot, and seem to have automated most of it now. My phone controls my downloads, so if I'm out somewhere and I think of something to watch it is waiting when I get home.

 

[Colossal]

Okay, let's not derail the Dexter thread. I'll PM you...

 

[tek-monkey]

EDIT: Should I make another thread? I'll report this post to admin and ask him to do it, so he can move the other posts.

OK, further info.

Are you happy to pay a small amount to get the programs you want? If so I'd recommend getting an account with a newsgroup provider. How much you use it will influence what you pay, I use astraweb and pay $25 for 180Gb of downloads. This is plenty for me, until I started getting HD rips I was paying this about every 4 months.

One thing to remember is that your ISP may well host its own newsgroups, virgin does for example. These groups have a lower retention (how long they keep stuff) than paid ones, and stuff gets removed when they realise its dodgy, but they are still useful. I am of the opinion that if I get prosecuted for DLing from this place, they will have to prosecute virgin for providing it to me - a much bigger crime in the eyes of the law. I always use virgin as my primary server, then have astraweb picking up the pieces that virgin doesn't have.

You now need a program to download these files, what you use will depend on your home setup. I use SABNZB as I like the web interface, it means I can monitor my downloads from anywhere. There are hundreds of programs to choose from, I'm sure others here have their own choices.

Gotta run, will post more later.

 

[Colossal]

Heh! Just tried to PM you, but your inbox is full...

 

[tek-monkey]

OK, thats the server covered and the software kind of mentioned, so where do you find the files you want? I'll post my usual haunts here, but I'd be interested to see where everyone else visits.

NZBMatrix - Most stuff you'll ever want
NZBxxx - More pr0n than you can shake your stick at

I have more, but I can't remember them and I'm at work. You can also use applications that look for files for you, so for example you can say you want dexter and its downloads every new episode. I am only just looking into this myself, so more info will follow, but ones I know of offhand are sickbeard and couchpotato.

What else do I need to cover?

 

[Admin]

EDIT: Should I make another thread?

Yes, that would have been the simpler option.

 

[tek-monkey]

Thanks admin. Wanted to make sure Colossal saw the reply, then got carried away
Also, inbox now cleared.

So, what else? I suppose highlighting how all these programs can work together? My download program of choice is SABNZB, this is able to monitor my bookmarks on nzbmatrix by using an RSS feed. This means I can add a bookmark from my phone, and my PC at home starts the download. Very useful. Couchpotato and sickbeard do the same, monitor things and push the download to SABNZB when they find one. You can also download NZB files directly, and have SABNZB monitor a folder for any new ones. I chose a folder in my dropbox for this, again so I could do it from anywhere or any NZB search site.

The more I look at it, the more I hate paid for TV. Why can't one of the big players make a system that just works so damn well? I would pay for this service happily, I'm scrapping sky as its not worth the cost but if they offered me a legal system like this I'd be like a rat up a drainpipe.

 

[Admin]

Also, it goes without saying that no-one should post any links to anything illegal. We are not a torrent site, we are not a tracker, we are not an aggregator. The exchange of information is fine, explaining how to do something is fine, but please no links to copyrighted media.

Thanks.

 

[tek-monkey]

No probs, we'll keep it clean. You never know who is watching

 

[tek-monkey]

Forgot to mention security.

Do you want your ISP to be able to see what you are downloading? If not, and I strongly suggest you do this, always use a newsgroup server that provides encryption. Most offer SSL servers nowadays, but also a standard one. Be sure its the SSL server you connect to, that way while your ISP may know where you are downloading from they cannot see what it is you are downloading. This means you cannot be prosecuted as such, because nobody knows whose film you have downloaded (or even if it was a film at all). Unless your newsgroup provider hand over your details, you are pretty safe.

 

[My Name is URL]

Does this cost $$$ at all?

I have been wanting to get into this for a while (rather than torrents) but it always looked complex plus i'm a tight arse and don't want to pay for it if I don't have to.

Cheers

 

[tek-monkey]

I pay for my newsgroup server, $25 lasts me a few months (180Gb). There may be cheaper options available?

Who is your ISP?

EDIT: These seem cheap - http://www.thundernews.com/?GTSE=guk&GTKW=newsgroup%20server+13&gclid=CJGsroit86QCFaP92AodZVC2hg

Also several offer free trials

 

[John Marwood]

I cannot condone piracy

It costs money to produce films and albums and by not paying for the product you ruin the lives of several wealthy producers - one very famous one what I have just been drinking with in a boozer in Upper Gornal only bought three rounds - Times is ard - dunna spoil the free Bathams chaps.. It hurts your fellow Staffordians where it matters - at the bar

This has been a public information film

 

[tek-monkey]

If they showed things like Dexter the same year as in the states maybe there would be less piracy? Global synchronised cinema releases have proved this countless times.

 

[Withnail]

I cannot condone piracy

It costs money to produce films and albums...

Wealthy producers aside, i must admit i rather agree with the above. Nobody likes paying for things, sure, but if people won't pay for things don't they run the risk of ensuring that all the things left for their entertainment are shite?

 

[John Marwood]

Its funny how people feel its less of a crime when they do it from the comfort of their home..

Farewell Limewire - Hello Lime Cordial

 

[tek-monkey]

I cannot condone piracy

It costs money to produce films and albums...

Wealthy producers aside, i must admit i rather agree with the above. Nobody likes paying for things, sure, but if people won't pay for things don't they run the risk of ensuring that all the things left for their entertainment are shite?

We are forced to fund the BBC, and we still get shite! If I could give that money to the US TV companies instead I would.

 

[Colossal]

I’m certainly no fan of piracy, and in fact I’d say I’ve been a victim of it in the past. I used to do some work for a computer game developer and was once told that for every genuine legitimate copy of the game that is sold, there are ten pirate copies. So if there were no piracy, and all of the people with pirate copies had to go and buy a real one, I’d probably have been getting paid more!

But in this case I don’t feel I’d be doing anything wrong. I’ll continue to subscribe to the TV channels I already subscribe to, parting with the same amount of money each month as I always do, and I certainly shan’t be doing this because it’s cheap/free. On the contrary, as tek-monkey points out, it’s going to cost me money to do this.

It’s quite simply a way of seeing this fine TV series before someone spoils it for me by giving away the ending! Not that you can’t still enjoy it if you know how it ends. But I usually find I enjoy things more when I don’t know what’s going to happen...

 

[tek-monkey]

I have to say the end of S4 really suprised me, so glad it wasn't spoilt! In a global world we should be able to watch global TV, but companies are very protective of their markets and won't change their business patterns just to please the customers. As I said if I could hand my money that funds the beeb to someone else, I would. I would be happy for that money to sit in an account, and money for every show I watched went to the creators of that show.

Mind you, I watch maybe 5 TV series a year so its not like they'd get much!

 

[Withnail]

We are forced to fund the BBC, and we still get shite!

I tried and i tried but
I couldn't let it lie.

Considering the entire output of the BBC i think £145.50 is staggeringly good value for money.