Netflix On Piracy: It's Still One Of The "Biggest Competitors"

Piracy. Despite the near endless efforts to battle it, the Internet has always won out in the end and illegal downloads show no signs of going away. The ease of access that video streaming services and similar products offer has given consumers attractive (legal) alternatives, and many have embraced them. Still, if it is legal it will cost money (or it will end up being like Crackle), and some refuse to pay up, instead turning to torrents and unauthorized streaming sites.

On Tuesday, Netflix sent a letter to its shareholders discussing business matters, and nestled between the revenue numbers, quarterly results, forecasts, and other topics was this tidbit of information: "Piracy continues to be one of our biggest competitors."

The letter goes on to point toward Popcorn Time specifically, an illegal and slick-looking front for nabbing torrents of shows and movies. With Popcorn Time, users are given the same simple and attractive access to content that they get with Netflix and similar services, sans the price tag.

Says the letter, "This graph of Popcorn Time's sharp rise relative to Netflix and HBO in the Netherlands, for example, is sobering." It points toward the graph below, with yellow representing Popcorn Time and the blue line representing Netflix.

VIA: The Verge