Thanks Hulu, I'll be returning to bitTorrent

Update: Here is a LifeHacker link that explains how to put Hulu back into Boxee: Hackers FTW!!


I have been using an application named Boxee for quite some time now, and it has completely changed the way I consume TV. It allows me to watch streaming content from my computer on my TV with a super slick interface. Because of this, I've stopped downloading shows (that are in HD with no commercials) from bitTorrent and now watch almost all my shows in lower quality with commercials. Yeah I can't believe what I just wrote either.

The point I'm trying to make is, people will, if given the chance, use legal means to watch TV/movies and listen to music even if the legal alternative isn't as high quality as what they could steal. I want content creators to get paid. I understand the circle of life and by no means do I expect people to make content for free. What I do expect, and I don't think it's unreasonable, is to get my media for a reasonable price with reasonable limitations. Amazonmp3.com is a perfect example of what I'm talking about: fair priced music that doesn't have DRM on it so I can listen to it on the many media devices I own or will own in the future.

So to come full circle, I point you to a recent Boxee blog post that says they will be removing Hulu.com from Boxee because Hulu's content providers don't want Boxee to stream the content. So let me get this strait, Hulu (or the powers that be) want to stop 100k plus streams of publicly available content that has all the original commercials/content because people aren't going to Hulu.com? I don't get advertisements when I visit Hulu, so what source of revenue is getting bypassed? Well if this isn't the most short sighted move I've seen in a long time, I don't know what is.

All I have to say is now I won't be using Hulu at all. In fact, I'll discourage people from doing so by explaining to them the bad they are doing (much like I do with iTunes), and I'll probably go back to getting shows that are commercial free. So I see this as a lose-lose situation. Hulu doesn't get to advertise to me any more (and Boxee doesn't allow you to fast forward), and I have to starting waiting a few days to get my shows.