After reading that Techcrunch article… how will this scenario play out?
We’re a few months into the future and Plex has signed a deal to stream HBO shows. I have Game of Thrones in my library.
A friend wants to watch GoT and searches for it. Plex’s new media portal presents my friend with a link to spend $1.99 to watch a single episode via HBO but my friend knows I have that show in my library. Will they see my FREE version in the search results? Will HBO demand Plex curtail remote streaming to prevent THEM from losing out on a sale?
That would be the only way.
BUT that would mean PLEX Inc knows what content you have… but that’s one thing PLEX Inc says they don’t know about. So who gonna be lying here ?
Only time will tell.
Not sure how they WON’T know. I mean, if my friend searches for a show, Plex has to know what they’re searching for to offer them choices. All of this is plain text. Won’t be hard to match up plain text on my server with plain text from HBO’s catalog. Even if they’re browsing and clicking on an episode from some TV show, I’m sure Plex knows what they are clicking on. We know they collect “fuzzy” metadata (if you opt in) on your media. Did they ever fess up to capturing the names (or tvdb/imdb ID number) of a streamed file?
Plex will be forced to disable remote streaming of the local library so media companies will be the only choice if my friends want to stream media from me. Back to a basic point, how does Plex compete with free? My friends can stream GoT from me, why would they follow a link to purchase it from HBO via the future Plex client?
Elan, I have thousands of movies and hundreds of TV shows. As you work to add media companies in your vision of the future, how will they make money and why would they agree to any deals with Plex?
You sign a deal with Disney. My friend wants to watch a Marvel movie. Will they see a link to rent the movie from Disney along with the FREE version they can just stream from me? Disney going to be cool with that?
