Popcorn Time, the popular entertainment platform that makes watching torrented movies and series a seamless experience has finally launched on iOS, making the so-called, Netflix of torrents, available to all major platforms. For markets like South Africa, such a service could pose a concern for media giants as it meets the high demands of consumers.
No ad to show here.
For the uninitiated, the piracy app streams torrented content from the web which means that the viewers never holds the movies or series. Technically, this means its legal for the user, but perhaps more unethical.
Of course, it’s not available on Apple’s official store and therefore requires you to jailbreak your device. It is, however, available on Windows and Android.
Popcorn Time has a roller coaster history. The concept first took form when it launched at the beginning of this year in March, and was soon forced to close up shop by industry giants who shan’t be named (they won’t say who).
Since then, it’s been having its very own Napster moment. Its popularity (or notoriety) kicked open a whole can of worms, with a whole bunch of alternatives popping up across the web.
The service’s heroic biographical video sums its tale up best:
Needless to say, its disruptive nature probably violates a couple of copyright laws, but it’s been powering on ever since launch in an awkward grey, legal area and dodging authorities.
For emerging markets that don’t have access to inexpensive entertainment alternatives like Netflix, Hulu and the like, online services like Popcorn Time is a force to be reckoned with.
A suspected US$75-billion goes down the throats of hungry consumers every year because they opt for unoriginal copies of music, videos, games, software and books. Africa is one of piracy’s biggest consumers as pricey alternatives fall short of meeting high local demands.
Though, in South Africa, we’ve started seeing an array of interesting media alternatives that might help sway pirates to the commercial stream. These include services like DSTV’s BoxOffice, Times Media Group’s Vidi and the Altech Node.
But are these enough to sway people away from a free up-to-date service?
