Pirating TV shows and movies used to be a major problem that cost the industry huge amounts of money. Nothing seemed to be able to stop its rise until Netflix came along. Piracy declined sharply, but it's becoming increasingly popular again.
Unauthorized downloading, streaming, or sharing of copyrighted movies and TV shows can have legal consequences under copyright law. The penalties and enforcement approaches vary by country, and can include civil claims, fines, or criminal penalties in some cases.
Piracy was rife before Netflix came along
You would download a car
At the start of the century, piracy was blowing up. The launch of Napster back in 1999 allowed millions of people to share MP3s with the world. When Napster died, services such as LimeWire and Kazaa stepped into the void. These tools didn't just let you share music; they also made it easy to share TV shows and movies.
There were several reasons why piracy became so popular. The first was obvious: you had to pay a lot for cable and satellite packages, whereas torrenting cost nothing. This wasn't the only driver, however.
Another major factor was ease of access; a movie might come out in the cinema, and then you'd have to wait until it appeared on DVD, then wait again for it to be broadcast on TV. Depending on where you lived, shows could air weeks or months…