i'm begging you guys to start pirating shit from streaming platforms. there are so many websites where you can stream that shit for free, here's a quick HOW TO:

1) Search for: watch TITLE OF WORK free online

2) Scroll to the bottom of results. Click any of the "Complaint" links

3) You will be taken to a long list of links that were removed for copyright infringement. Use the 'find' function to search for the name of the show/movie you were originally searching for. You will get something like this (specifics removed because if you love an illegal streaming site you don't post its url on social media)

4) each of these links is to a website where you can stream shit for free. go to the individual websites and search for your show/movie. you might have to copy-paste a few before you find exactly what you're looking, but the whole process only takes a minute. the speed/quality is usually the same as on netflix/whatever, and they even have subtitles! (make sure to use an adblocker though, these sites are funded by annoying popups)

In conclusion, if you do this often enough you will start recognizing the most dependable websites, and you can just bookmark those instead. (note: this is completely separate from torrenting, which is also a beautiful thing but requires different software and a vpn)

you can also download the media in question (look for a "download" button built into the video window, or use a browser extension such as Video DownloadHelper.)

Net neutrality isn’t enough

So. Net neutrality. I’ve been reblogging a lot of stuff about it ‘cause I think it’s important—but I haven’t seen much at all about how it’s basically a stop-gap measure and nowhere near sufficient to preserve the communication abilities we’ve all grown used to or grew up with.

As a lot of other people on here are reminding us, the fight isn’t over. The repeal has to get through Congress and the courts. Pester the fuck out of your congresspeople, etc. etc.

It may also be helpful to remind people that Title II net neutrality was a thing that happened in 2015. All the development of the internet into what we use today up to that point happened WITHOUT the net neutrality laws that were repealed. Even WITH those laws in place, ISPs were still pulling illegal shenanigans. The internet has survived a long time without net neutrality laws. It’ll keep doing that for a little while. (Because the ISPs want to lull us into a false sense of security, if nothing else.)

Ultimately, I think it’s also important to remember that development of the internet we use today was funded by the U.S. government—especially by the military. Awfully convenient how the internet now functions as the most invasive tool of mass surveillance in the history of ever, right? Especially considering we all semi-voluntarily use it.

It’s also important to remember that the servers that power all your favorite services and websites all consume lots of energy (and that’s not even getting into the mining process of the rare earth minerals necessary to build the devices. Or the factories they’re made in.) It’s probably not sustainable as is. If ISPs or the government don’t wreck it first, eventually sheer economic adversity/collapse will.

ALSO a lot of apps/social networks/websites we use were built with venture capitalist funding. They fund a bunch of things, expect to lose most of their money, and accept that loss as the cost of seeing what’s actually profitable—then ditch whatever doesn’t turn a profit. That’s going to be pretty much any platform that doesn’t generate massive ad revenue or user fees (or valuable private information they can sell to third parties =D) at this point. It’s why a lot of stuff we use is going away/putting up adblocker blockers/desperately begging us to disable our adblockers.

In short, the internet as we know it is basically doomed in the long term, with or without net neutrality.

(Doesn’t mean efforts to push the things that will kill it back a little further are worthless, though. It’s still a useful tool for as long as we can hang on to it, as long as we’re also careful to manage our use wisely. Keep fighting.)

In addition to pestering your lawmakers, here are some long-term strategies to replace the internet in your life: -BUILD ALTERNATIVES. Look into local mesh networks and be part of them if you can (see the end of this for more info. Whole thing is worth a read). The internet is essentially a shit ton of connected computers. Learn how to connect your computer to your local friends’ computers without going through an ISP. Build your own mini networks, if you have the time and ability and interested local friends. -Use the internet now to find analogue resources. Find local support/action groups. Network with people who you have stuff in common with who live near you but haven’t physically crossed your path yet. Discover local music, or just bands in general that you like and can find stuff by in local music stores (if you have those.) Find books—write a massive to-read list if you don’t already have one. Hoard PDFs and MP3s and video files and pleasing images like there’s no tomorrow (maybe you’ll be able to put them all on a mesh network for your friends 10-20 years down the road and they’ll all be super happy to see them again =D). If you like it, SAVE IT. (But… like… don’t repost it to the internet without crediting the originator? That would be super rude =/. )   -Look into how web dwellers did shit in the 90s and early 00s. Build e-mail networks and newsletters and shift your reliance to those rather than social networks; e-mail seems pretty firmly entrenched and if one company fucks up, you can make new address with a different one and import your contacts/sign up for your newsletters again. I know it’s hard and most of your family and friends won’t be into it, but do your best and be patient? (Also I suspect there are a lot of people out there who would grouch about lack of internet but more or less happily adapt to life without the kind of social networking we have now. Think how many people bothered to socialize online before social networks made it easy. If you can’t remember that far back—it wasn’t that many. Certainly not a majority.) -I know this is a challenge for a lot of you, but actually go out of your way to converse with your internet friends specifically/privately on a regular basis. If you like someone, don’t just passively consume their posts and reblogs. Build an actual relationship with them. -After doing the above (if you’re not already there), develop backup communication plans. Start sending each other postcards and letters, or get in the habit of calling them regularly on the phone (if you’re into that, I guess?) Make sure you can still reach them even if your preferred social network (or the web, or internet service in general) becomes inaccessible. -Back up your shit on hardware you actually own, not just on the cloud (someone else’s hardware sitting miles away from where you live, potentially in another country or on an entirely different continent o__o).

(I don’t actually do all of the above. I know some of them are kind of onerous, and we’re all already super stressed/busy anyway. But keep it in mind and look for opportunities to build these kinds of communication resources anyway, if you want to keep any of what you already get from the internet in the long term.)

(Also you’ll notice there are no sources here except for that Crimethinc link. I wrote most of this off the top of my head after being inspired by a couple articles and can’t be arsed to solidify/double-check shit, so do your own research if you don’t believe me. Maybe I’m wrong. This is a jumping-off point and is in no way intended to be a comprehensive resource. Also check this Rune Soup post out for some great insights.)

(And yeah, I know a lot of us use the internet the way other people use TV—effortless distraction to numb all the shit and stress in our lives. If you have to put much actual effort into it, that defeats the entire purpose. … good luck and sorry in advance for your loss? There are probably analogue coping mechanisms you could develop for your shit to replace the internet, too, but that is a subject for another post. Maybe you could write one if you’re feeling unusually energetic today?)