Content is king so they say and for some sinister reason, you can’t get all the content you want unless you do this illegally. This has been the case for fan of TV series and Movies from the US as you can’t buy anything legally unless its on a DVD. The iTunes store and Google Play store is no different. The latest stuff on TV never makes it here. Movies do of course provided you have a Playtstore or Appstore account.

Where I live, I have Google hasn’t yet given me the freedom to buy TV programs or Movies. Bummer. Instead, Google themselves expects you to consume movies by ripping your own DVD, which is a pain of course. I am not going to tackle the question of copyright. That’s a minefield as leasing to own a copy versus owning a copy is two different things. Hollywood prefers the leasing model. You don’t own the movie when you buy it offline.

The question of copyright and a right to copy is as old as prostitution itself. If you have seen a movie, does it mean it is against the law to keep a copy? After all, what is this about the rental and ownership thing? Just coz you bought a legal DVD of the movie, doesn’t mean you can’t rip it and load it onto your device. The question goes on and on.

Chinese Connection

China for some reason, streams movies via the Internet to some of its mobile app like Sohu, LeTV and PPTV. Problem is, some of the streams are blocked but some Hollywood, China, Taiwan and HK movies are available.

The next problem is, it is all in Chinese. The navigation and titles are all in Chinese but that should not stop you from browsing content as there are thumbnails of the moves on display. These apps are totally legit, and I have not heard of anyone trying to take them down.

Getting Hulu or Going for Netflix

I have explored this on a previous post on VPN, and you can of course spoof your IP address just to watch the latest TV shows on Hulu or Netflix. There are apps that do this but with limited bandwidth. I streamed a program called BBC Top Gear and the 45 min took up roughly 400MB of data. You need to download the BBC TV streaming app to do this.  So if you are addicted to the latest Sherlock Holmes series, you are better off with a VPN subscription to spoof you location and watch all the content you want till the cows come home. Or if you wish, you could also install a little known plug-in for Firefox and Chrome browsers called “proxmate”. It helps to spoof your IP and lets you consume all the TV and Movies you want on Hulu, HBO or Netflix (some may need a paid subscription)

UPDATE: 30 April. 2014 Hulu has actively blocked VPS. Viewers from overseas cannot use a VPN to watch movies.

Russian Movie Connection

I am not allowed to tell you where but you can drop by to showbox.me to find out where to get this app. I must say that it rocks. It is the best streaming movie/TV app found on the Internet and it is free. I first discovered this app on the Playstore and since then it was yanked out of the list. I remained faithful so I downloaded it again later whenever it got updated.

The Russians have no use for Hollywood and they have made this app just to get Hollywood all riled up. I must say they are doing a damn good job because I found the app to be formidable vitriol as several DMCA orders were sent to get them to take it down. So they did. But that doesn’t mean you can install in on your Android.

Within the app, you’ll find a treasure trove of all the latest TV shows from Hollywood. I watched the whole season of Sleepy Hallow while taking a peek at Breaking Bad. The site allows you to stream directly to your device or store the file for watching later. Due to bandwidth limitation, each login is only allowed one slot for either downloading or streaming.

Make Sure you have a Malware Scanner

As with all apps installed via an independent source, make sure you have a malware scanner in place before you do so. The reason is simple. Every APK can be taken apart and reassembled without you ever knowing loaded with malware code.

Aside from this, you should be quite safe. ShowBox is an app that thrives on advertising. So if you happen to like the app, all you have to do is click the link.

Apple iOS users will be the biggest losers as the only way to get illegal apps onto a device is to jailbreak the device. But there is an option, that is to get a proxy server in China and install the Sohu, PPTV Chinese apps from the Appstore.

Morally, what you are doing is wrong as you are depriving the movie and TV moguls from making money from your TV station or movie cineplex however if censorship is your main problem from where you are living, then be prepared to be blown away with this app. It simply rocks.