Netflix may have gotten one more reason or, we can say, competition, to worry about. Pirate Bay, the notorious torrent site, has now come up with a feature that allows users to stream movies like those on Netflix, says a report from Torrent Freak.
Piracy a rising problem for Netflix
For the past several years, copyright holders have been trying to put a stop to online piracy, but nothing substantial has happened in this direction. This is going on like a cat-and-mouse game and has reached new heights now, and Pirate Bay is the latest challenge.
This torrent site not only offers users access to a large number of titles which can be readily downloaded; it even allows them to stream videos directly from the site to a web browser. This means there won’t be any need for people to download a movie; rather, they will be able to stream it from the site like on Netflix.
Pirate Bay is in the process of transforming itself into the world’s biggest streaming site, according to Torrent Freak.
Powered by Torrents Time
Torrents Time, which was revealed last week, is a new plug-in for browsers which allows users to stream any type of video available on torrent sites. Several torrent services, including Pirate Bay, have partnered with Torrents Time. Pirate Bay’s “Stream it!” button, which is listed as “in beta,” works with the Chrome and Firefox web browsers and plays any video file.
This type of online service has been seen before. Popcorn Time is a very familiar app and is popularly known as “Netflix for pirates.” This app offers direct streams of new movies and TV shows to pirates. Pirate Bay suggests the use of a VPN service so users can hide their location, and streaming will start only when there are enough peer users to support the download.
After Pirate Bay, many other torrent sites are expected to join the race, such as Torrentproject.se, Online.porntime.ws, Kickass Torrents, and Videomax.is.
In premarket trading, Netflix shares were down by over 1%. Year to date, the stock is down by over 27%, while in the last year, it is up by over 31%.
