entertainment
Movies are a cultural heritage from the past and have undergone many forms; drama, theatre, and finally, with the development of cameras, films on the silver screen. For centuries, the act of bringing stories to life from books and imagination has entertained and educated the masses. They reflect on society and its improvement. In the present day, movies play a huge role in the lives of any generation.
From massive fanbases to celebrating the release of a much-awaited movie is a different experience in every fan’s heart. But unfortunately, not every admirer of movies has the idea of waiting for their favorite actor or actress’s film. Some choose the traditional way — buy a ticket and enjoy the theatre experience—and others choose another option rather than being patient: illegal websites, aka, online piracy. And one of the leading streaming services that comes under the domain of ‘illegal usage’ is hdhub4u.com, a website of questionable origins, and its advantages attract users far more than its disadvantages, keeping them at bay.
- Origin of the website:
The website does not have an exact date of creation, but rumours say that it was published somewhere around 2017. It only rose to fame due to all its perks and the increasing demand for streaming services, which are easy to obtain, and most importantly, free of cost.
- What it offers:
Surprisingly, the people using this ‘legal’ gray website are increasing as the days pass. It is because of what it has to offer to the audiences, all free of charge. The platform has a wide range of content spanning from genres like action, adventure, thriller, romance, regional films, all with subtitles or dubbed options. It also has a good array of picture quality,one can download a movie in, like compressed file format,480p, 720p, and even 1080p resolutions. It sounds like the best deal to get good movies all for no price—if one ignores the security and legal implications of it.
- How it works:
hdhub4u does not host content on its servers but uses links to take users to Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks where the real files for movies are kept. Every movie has several links leading to different websites like Zippyshare or Google Drive. This creates an almost untraceable network that helps the platform evade cybersecurity and other agencies within the government. It also operates under many domains like hdhub4u.in, hdhub4u.Itd and hdhub4u.wiki.
- Revenue model:
Since the website doesn’t charge its users, it has to look for alternatives for revenue generation, which it does by utilising pop-up ads and redirect ads, most of them being harmful to devices and personal information. They often lead users to gambling and even inappropriate websites. Hdhub4u also uses cryptocurrency to fund its website.
- Motive of the website:
In the words of the website itself, it wishes to provide enjoyable and high-quality content for anyone to watch. Though it is known for housing movies and TV shows without the permission of the original creators. Many are aware of online piracy—a serious crime in India—the website commits it, but they ignore it as long as it doesn’t affect them.
- Safety:
As stated above, the platform functions in a gray area, where the activities are neither allowed nor discouraged. To earn revenue, the website utilises pop-ups, with almost no quality control. If users are not careful enough, they may click on links that can allow computer viruses or malware into devices, which can lead to digital theft or scams.
- Impact of such websites:
Websites like HDHub4uhavemore negative effects than positive. They have legal, security, and moral issues, and people still risk imprisonment for the sake of entertainment for a few hours. To elaborate:
- Legal consequences:
Hdhub4u provides movies and TV shows without the permission of the related personnel, which comes under the violation of the Copyright Act, 1957, the Cinematograph Act, 1952, and the Information Technology Act, 2000in India. If caught, one could be imprisoned or fined severely for distributing and downloading content from unauthorised websites. or example, in 2015, police arrested a piracy syndicate that pirated Bahubali: The Beginning, one of the highest-grossing movies of that year.
- Security concerns:
The biggest defect of unauthorised websites is that, along with the desired content, they also bring digital dangers. Hackers lurk in such gray websites and wait for a moment to strike. Malware or viruses can be disguised as a pop-up ad or videoadvertisement for a product, and if the person is not cautious enough, it creates the risk of hacking, identity theft, financial theft, and personal data misappropriation.
- Ethical and creative issues:
It takes years for an idea to manifest into something visible and tangible. If such work is stolen in mere minutes to cater to audiences, it ruins its essence of the work itself, but also the joy that theatre experiences bring. Imagine writing a screenplay, only for it to be stolen and made into a movie without your permission. Currently, the laws around plagiarism and copyright infringement are not taken that seriously unless it has a great impact on the citizens and artists concerned. It is an insult to creators, whose hard work is not legally protected and undermined.
- Industry-related problems:
The global movie industry’s value only skyrockets with the passing day. In 2023, it is estimated to have a market value of $100billion(10,000 crore in Indian currency). And in India, combining the main forces of all regional industries, the market size is over 197 crores. It is an enormous economic factor in this country and contributes to India’s GDP (0.13%). Every year, due to online piracy, India faces a loss of22 crore, a deficit which ismade up by legal streaming services and OTT platforms.
- Other websites like hdhub4u:
- Tamilrockers:
Initially, it used to pirate only movies from Kollywood, but expanded its targets to Bollywood and Hollywood movies later.
- Moviesda:
This website focuses on releasing Telugu and Tamil movies hours before their release.
- UwatchFree:
This site is primarily known for housing various TV shows, but unlike HDHub4u, it has poor quality.
- Alternatives for streaming:
All legal sites like Disney+, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video operate on subscription-based services, which is not much of a hurdle. Out of desperation and impatience, people turn their heads towards unofficial sites. Here are some alternatives to watching and streaming movies and TV shows:
- Theatre:
It is the best option to go to a theatre to watch a movie on the day it is released. Though it has its own disadvantages like noisy people, improper seating, and the inability to pause the movie due to any emergencies, at least one doesn’t get arrested for it. It is also a sign of appreciation of the director or the actors in the film.
- Registered streaming services:
It will create more suspense and room for imagination and anticipation if a person waits for the movie to be available on a preferred streaming platform, and this time, pausing content is possible. Netflix, Disney Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, ZEE5, and Jio Cinema are a few examples where a variety of content is available, including sports.
- Why is it not taken down?
After all this, a question can arise in some minds: why is a site popular for displaying pirated content not taken down yet? Why does it still exist, like a slap in the face of Cybersecurity? Some of the reasons are:
- Constant change in domain address (domain hopping)
- No identification of ownership
- No fixed, physical location of the ones who made it
- Hosted in countries with weak legal systems for pirated content
- Anonymous creators who use a VPN to hide their identities
- High in demand for streaming content
In conclusion, although it is public knowledge that sites like hdhub4u come under the illegal domainon the internet, people still use them for several reasons, as mentioned before.Though HDhub4u provides everything a movie lover would want, a true admirer of films would not insult the art form by streaming it illegally or downloading from sites that promote such actions. People can look for other methods for watching movies, even if it demands a fee, because one would only appreciate something if they spend wealth on it.
It gives a sense of intimate resonance, which is not present in unregistered sites, where everything is free. Free, but with the cost of watching your own shadow, hoping that whenever a pop-up ad takes you to another website, it won’t cause your device any harm. As they say, “prevention is better than cure” — it is for the best to avoid the risk of malware than to risk losing all valuable data and sometimes, finances. As technology evolves, so do the ways to hide digital tracks and hide irregularities.
However, it is necessary to know that such sites undermine and act against creative liberty, and people must avoid them for further development of many aspects in individuals and a country, when it comes to morality and decreasing crimes of any form.
—K.K.Sri Hamsa
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