^ It sounds like Digital Rights Management, but I didn't think anyone was still doing that. I'm not very tech-minded, but I suspect it is possible to embed some information in a file so that if it doesn't "phone home" after a set time that it becomes unplayable.
I haven't had memberships at Digital Playground or Bang Bros in a while, mostly because I find both to be a bit "scammy." I've been burned by both in the past. If anyone was going to do this, it'd likely be them.
You're best to get some confirmation from current members and people who have more tech knowledge before making a decision though.
I can't definitively speak to the OP's first question, but based on my experience once I've downloaded a scene from the family of Aylo sites it seems to be mine in perpetuity. I've never had a scene "expire" once downloaded.
As for the Admiral's comment about the Aylo sites being 'scammy," I have noticed a marked impprovement in their business practices now that Mindgeek is no longer the umbrella compay for what are now Aylo sites. I shared the Admiral's opinion for many years with specific issues concerning lack of transparency regarding costs and Probiller's business practices. However, in the last six months I've had memberships with Brazzers, Metro-HD and Lets Doe It. With all these sites the pricing was upfront (streaming versus downloads) before joining and you no longer have to deal with Probiller directly to cancel. You are able to cancel the sub on the site itself and get a confirmation when canceling.
While all of this could change tomorrow, my sense is that Aylo has made several changes to significantly reduce the scam factor and provide a much better customer experience.
^ Thanks for that additional information. I don't usually keep track of the business side of the adult industry and I had no idea who or what Aylo was until you mentioned them. I have had some bad experiences with Mindgeek but a recent experience with Brazzers was much better than I was used to, and the Aylo affiliation likely is the reason. I've avoided Reality Kings for a while now, and knowing that they are under new management might change that.
As with you, I haven't encountered a site that uses digital rights management that requires an ongoing membership in decades. My experience is that when I sign up for downloads, those downloads remain playable in perpetuity.
once something is downloaded and saved locally its yours forever. the website does not have access to your locally saved files. that is a common security feature that all operating systems employ. if you are playing it off your hard drive or external drive while you are a member there is no way for the website to know you are accessing the file to allow or disallow playback. also what if you saved it to a removable device then watch it on an offline computer or television? there would be no way for them to "pull the plug" on the file if the device you are viewing it on is offline. they simply mean you wont be able to access the members area and continue downloading files after membership is cancelled.
To avoid any misunderstandings it would be best if you could cite the exact terms and conditions you are refering to.
From my experience these days downloaded files are yours "forever". And "downloads included" should of course exclude any extra charge. But if one want to be sure it's best to read through all the terms and conditions carefully, and ask site support if anything seems unclear. Terms are often written in a way that can be deceptive.
I'm not a current member on DigitalPlayground or BangBros, for any specific site it would be best to get advise from a current member, as @rearadmiral already wrote.
i still dont understand how they could even do that to a locally downloaded file. there would need to be some type of "active x" control embedded into the mp4 which i am not sure is possible and your antivirus would go absolutely ape shit when you would try and download such a file. maybe some tech savy person could weigh in if this is even possible as all the other users in this thread seem to think a website in theory could do this if they chose to. also both companies listed are 2 of the largest and most frequent dvd producers in porn today. i dont think they block peoples already purchased dvds if they do not purchase a minimum number of new titles per month lmao.
Pretty sure that this message corresponds to the (now extra charge) downloads option on your membership, rather than to files that you've already downloaded. I am not an expert in video file formats, but I am a software developer; I would be very, very surprised if that could be done in a standard .mp4 file, apart from literal malware that exploits a security vulnerability in a particular player. In a format that requires a special player, like the .dcv encrypted format that some JAV sites use, I could certainly see it -- the site owners write the app, so they can set it up to behave however they please. In fact, I do own some JAV videos that use a site-specific player, and will not play unless you log into the site. In an .mp4, though, I just don't see how it would work.
BTW -- I have memberships to both Bangbros and Digital Playground, with downloads. As a test, I just tried downloading the latest scene from each, and didn't see any kind of message. So, I suspect that this is really just a notification that the downloads option on your account will expire at some point.
I sent a message to Reality Kings support because this is the exact message below the membership options "Access to Downloads expires when Reality Kings expires." I guess this could mean if you pay extra for download and then cancel that option but keep your membership, you would not be able to download. The plans I would buy are listed as "downloads" included. There was a time when MP3 file could be made to expire.
I think to make a file 'expire' you would need to have it playable by a specific program only. A bit like Apples old DRM music files from years ago. AFAIK if you download an mp4 and can play it on VLC or similar, its yours forever. If in doubt - re-encode it! :)
I'm not aware of any site that still uses some kind of DRM so as long as a member downloads a video to his/her system then that video can be always be played. One reason why someone might get that kind of message is if maybe they have those so called lifetime memberships but it's not really full download and streaming access for life so much as streaming for life but downloads cost more and they have to be renewed if the member wants to download videos. In that case it would make sense to warn the member that he/she is about to lose the download option.
It's a great way to screw customers because overtime the member may forget when he/she last payed for full access and pay again even though they still had weeks before their download option was due to expire. That's basically how many magazine screwed people over by sending renewals long before the subscription was due to expire and then the customer discovers that his/her subscription is good for 5 plus years.
MILF Quest (Brazzers) - review by NobleRemy
Posted - Nov 26 2024 : 6:01PM
