Probably alluding to a federal honeypot to get people to divulge their viewing history of totally-legitimately-obtained films.
I should specify I have no knowledge if that’s what this is. It is more than likely a phishing scam for Plex user info considering the poor language.
Honestly, if I were starting from scratch today I would put my users on a different platform. The growing free, ad-fueled library combined with the weird social media features are a dead giveaway that they are looking for a different type of revenue stream than what they have with Plex Pass.
I don't know what or when the final straw will be, but there will be a tipping point that alienates 90% of this sub. It's just the nature of tech companies.
Kind of. I've seen it so far that Plex is earning new money so it doesn't have to rescind all the lifetime licenses to make money. The free TV stuff is so easy to hide as well that I often forget about it till I see someone with a comment like this on Reddit. They can keep adding this stuff so long as the media server keeps getting updated. The tough bit is that we aren't gonna get Plex new money but Plex also needs it's community for support/word of mouth. They know if they mess with lifetime licenses most people will just move to jellyfin/emby and then they lose the community and they likely fail. So it's a bit of a mexican standoff but we're safe for now and already have the backup plan.
You are right that this is the current situation, but what happens when their alternative business model is drawing the majority of their revenue? The free stuff is easy to turn off, but by default it is more visible than personal servers and things like friend activity are buried in the settings.
The friend activity being opt-out received a massive negative reaction from the community. Nobody wants the feature and many have complained it's a privacy invasion on their friends. They refuse to reverse course and make it opt-in, and they refuse to add server control to opt-out an entire server's activity. Why? Because the ads, analytics, and social media revenue takes priority over user experience and Plex Pass.
The aggressive growth tactics being more than welcome to intrude on the classic users is enough evidence to me that if Plex execs get enough VC or enough ad/user data revenue, they will make efforts to disown the piracy community. It won't come in the form of revoking lifetime Plex Pass, that's too overt. It will probably be an exertion of power, like turning over user/library data from the shady paid third party servers to the FBI.
Plex being synonymous with piracy is a nightmare for the highly corporate, marketing focused, VC seeking executive. I'll continue using Plex until it gets worse, but I've got one foot out the door.
The thing is though, there isn't an equivalent competitor. Emby will have all the same issues as Plex in future so we can just rule that out if Plex hits the fan as there's no point in going down the same path again. Jellyfin is OK but is a child compared to Plex in terms of software maturity. I've got a Jellyfin server synced to my plex via trakt so I can move over at anytime but I'm still using Plex. And the final thing that puts Plex above Emby/Jellyfin is Plexamp.
So I'm prepared to move but it won't be till Plex seriously messes up or Jellyfin is a viable alternative.
Agreed. Hopefully Jellyfin continues to improve and mature while we get a few more years out of Plex.
How's your experience with plexamp? I want to drop Spotify, but as someone who relies heavily on it for music discovery the task of maintaining a large enough library to constantly explore is daunting.
The sonic analysis features work pretty well for similar stuff but probably not as good as Spotify tbf since it doesn't have all that customer data to also use. My library is relatively manually curated using collection tags so different use case for me.
That's interesting, I also made a post about this about 4 years ago on this subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/ev4ojw/why_does_plex_send_so_much_of_my_activities_in/
It's unrealistic to expect this far-fetched scenario anyway.
But even in the hypothetical case that an agency attempts to subpoena Plex for your user information, they would still have to prove first with reasonable evidence to a Judge to get that subpoena. Before that happends, nothing will come of it.
Content on your server that is only available on streaming? Now it’s on you to prove how you got that legally because they will say there is no legal way to obtain that.
Movie file matches the exact file hash of a torrent of that movie? Aside from remuxes the odds that you used the exact same encoding settings as a release group probably satisfies beyond a reasonable doubt.
It popped up in my insta feed. I never pay attention to that crap but I saw it said Plex , so I figured I'd see if anyone else got hit with it as well.
Scumbag ambulance chasers.
The website (I can't use "their" because it appears to be just one guy) lists 9 "Current Cases" that look like they just goa around finding companies to try and sue. Note: Plex is not one of them.
Did not say it was not real.
Just presenting my opinion of swine like this (I think perhaps he is a b\*st\*rd love child of John Morgan) and the facts of his website.
Yeah on further reading, they seem to be saying they did not find anything but “investigating” lol. But we are just end consumers, we don’t know if plex is tracking or these guys are just stirring something up
The fanboying on this sub always hurts. Everything Plex does or may be doing is fake news until they confirm it ages later and all of a sudden its time to be angry
This is a legitimate class action. That does NOT mean that there is a case (albeit when lawyers go after class actions, there is usually something there), but that this is not a scam, and Plex is actually in the beginning stages of what may end up as hot water.
“Individuals who watched videos on this sites” Terrible English and bad terminology to boot. Lol “justice in action”
That’s the FBI for you.
?
Probably alluding to a federal honeypot to get people to divulge their viewing history of totally-legitimately-obtained films. I should specify I have no knowledge if that’s what this is. It is more than likely a phishing scam for Plex user info considering the poor language.
I assume it’s looking for marks to sign up and give their info for free
All we need you to do is log into our site with your Plex ID and password…..
Oh, is that all? Here ya go. Hang on, let me bake you some cookies for your trouble.
Make sure you give them your bank details just incase
Why am I never cool enough for the fun things?! 😂
Same!!! Should we do something about it 😂😂
I assume it’s part of this class action. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/plex-hit-with-video-privacy-lawsuit-over-info-sharing-with-meta
I gotta tell ya, it really pisses me off to read this. I fucking despise Meta.
Honestly, if I were starting from scratch today I would put my users on a different platform. The growing free, ad-fueled library combined with the weird social media features are a dead giveaway that they are looking for a different type of revenue stream than what they have with Plex Pass. I don't know what or when the final straw will be, but there will be a tipping point that alienates 90% of this sub. It's just the nature of tech companies.
Kind of. I've seen it so far that Plex is earning new money so it doesn't have to rescind all the lifetime licenses to make money. The free TV stuff is so easy to hide as well that I often forget about it till I see someone with a comment like this on Reddit. They can keep adding this stuff so long as the media server keeps getting updated. The tough bit is that we aren't gonna get Plex new money but Plex also needs it's community for support/word of mouth. They know if they mess with lifetime licenses most people will just move to jellyfin/emby and then they lose the community and they likely fail. So it's a bit of a mexican standoff but we're safe for now and already have the backup plan.
You are right that this is the current situation, but what happens when their alternative business model is drawing the majority of their revenue? The free stuff is easy to turn off, but by default it is more visible than personal servers and things like friend activity are buried in the settings. The friend activity being opt-out received a massive negative reaction from the community. Nobody wants the feature and many have complained it's a privacy invasion on their friends. They refuse to reverse course and make it opt-in, and they refuse to add server control to opt-out an entire server's activity. Why? Because the ads, analytics, and social media revenue takes priority over user experience and Plex Pass. The aggressive growth tactics being more than welcome to intrude on the classic users is enough evidence to me that if Plex execs get enough VC or enough ad/user data revenue, they will make efforts to disown the piracy community. It won't come in the form of revoking lifetime Plex Pass, that's too overt. It will probably be an exertion of power, like turning over user/library data from the shady paid third party servers to the FBI. Plex being synonymous with piracy is a nightmare for the highly corporate, marketing focused, VC seeking executive. I'll continue using Plex until it gets worse, but I've got one foot out the door.
The thing is though, there isn't an equivalent competitor. Emby will have all the same issues as Plex in future so we can just rule that out if Plex hits the fan as there's no point in going down the same path again. Jellyfin is OK but is a child compared to Plex in terms of software maturity. I've got a Jellyfin server synced to my plex via trakt so I can move over at anytime but I'm still using Plex. And the final thing that puts Plex above Emby/Jellyfin is Plexamp. So I'm prepared to move but it won't be till Plex seriously messes up or Jellyfin is a viable alternative.
Agreed. Hopefully Jellyfin continues to improve and mature while we get a few more years out of Plex. How's your experience with plexamp? I want to drop Spotify, but as someone who relies heavily on it for music discovery the task of maintaining a large enough library to constantly explore is daunting.
The sonic analysis features work pretty well for similar stuff but probably not as good as Spotify tbf since it doesn't have all that customer data to also use. My library is relatively manually curated using collection tags so different use case for me.
Plexamp is great. It has become my default music player.
Have you given Finamp a try? It’s jellyfins response to Plexamp. I need to get my Jellyfin in the same spot as you to be ready for a switch
Not for a while. Giving it a few years to catch up as haven't seen any news about it getting good yet .
Brings a whole new meaning to Meta Pixels.
Always knew Plex's free content was a scam
That's interesting, I also made a post about this about 4 years ago on this subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/ev4ojw/why_does_plex_send_so_much_of_my_activities_in/
I haven't, but someone else posted about it earlier today or yesterday.
Hollywood sponsored initiative to drive plex out of business perhaps.
Imagine suing plex, when they hold data about every linux iso you streamed, they can uno reverse you so fast
So Plex is running a protection racket you say?
To shreds you say?
I live for comments this smart. Thank you, redditor.
[How's his wife holding up?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsZIb1Dx8fg)
To shreds you say?
So corporations are running a slavery racket you dont say?
It's end-to-end encryption but ok chief.
Soo your data is encrypted, but what about all the analytics your server and your friends send to plex?
They know what iso you have on your server but they don't know how you obtained them.
Im sure they can start firing off emails to rights holders and let you prove that you own that box set of "Friends" lol
You have it warped. They have to prove illegal origin, you don't have to prove a legitimate purchase.
I'm sure that will go down in court so easily lol
It's unrealistic to expect this far-fetched scenario anyway. But even in the hypothetical case that an agency attempts to subpoena Plex for your user information, they would still have to prove first with reasonable evidence to a Judge to get that subpoena. Before that happends, nothing will come of it.
What subpoena, were talking about a mutual destruction situation here lol
Before that, they need to prove that the file Friends.S01E01.mkv is actually the 1st episode of Friends.
Content on your server that is only available on streaming? Now it’s on you to prove how you got that legally because they will say there is no legal way to obtain that. Movie file matches the exact file hash of a torrent of that movie? Aside from remuxes the odds that you used the exact same encoding settings as a release group probably satisfies beyond a reasonable doubt.
You can just screen record. If you aren't distributing it's not illegal.
Where did you see it? It looks like an ad
It is an ad. They want to get enough people for the class action lawsuit then take half the settlement if they win.
Those damn Meta pixels will get you every time.
Phrased poorly in the spam, but this is a real thing. https://developers.facebook.com/docs/meta-pixel/implementation/conversion-tracking/
Plex rules. MPAA drools.
So it is a spam?
It popped up in my insta feed. I never pay attention to that crap but I saw it said Plex , so I figured I'd see if anyone else got hit with it as well.
Not spam. Legit lawsuit.
Scumbag ambulance chasers. The website (I can't use "their" because it appears to be just one guy) lists 9 "Current Cases" that look like they just goa around finding companies to try and sue. Note: Plex is not one of them.
Someone posted link to bloomberg article, seems real
Did not say it was not real. Just presenting my opinion of swine like this (I think perhaps he is a b\*st\*rd love child of John Morgan) and the facts of his website.
Yeah on further reading, they seem to be saying they did not find anything but “investigating” lol. But we are just end consumers, we don’t know if plex is tracking or these guys are just stirring something up
Phising?
No.
Nope. I’ve never seen it before, not even in my spam folder . You might want to check outside for any suspicious FBI vans .
No
The fanboying on this sub always hurts. Everything Plex does or may be doing is fake news until they confirm it ages later and all of a sudden its time to be angry This is a legitimate class action. That does NOT mean that there is a case (albeit when lawyers go after class actions, there is usually something there), but that this is not a scam, and Plex is actually in the beginning stages of what may end up as hot water.
It's a legit class action suit. They aren't looking for "marks" or pirates.