Free video capture software?

[Geek-9pm]

Video capture hardware is out there. But if you have a laptop the choices are less. Besides, it costs money. My laptop is a dual-core, so one would think there would be a software solution.So far as I have found,   the only good ones you have to buy. And not cheap. The must be a good free or trail video capture software.
Is there?
The few I  found do not work well with Netflix.
Any recommendations?

[Salmon Trout]

I don't know if you have seen this...

http://wiki.robotz.com/index.php/Netflix_Video_Stream_Capture

[Geek-9pm]

I don't know if you have seen this...

http://wiki.robotz.com/index.php/Netflix_Video_Stream_Capture

No, I had not.
That is very informative. I had no idea.
Again, Thanks. That is a great find.

[mroilfield]

The few I  found do not work well with Netflix.
Any recommendations?

Since Netflix isn't free and you only pay to watch their content not down load it what you are asking is a way to pirate their movies. I do believe this is against the forum rules.

[Geek-9pm]

Since Netflix isn't free and you only pay to watch their content not down load it what you are asking is a way to pirate their movies. I do believe this is against the forum rules.

No, during daytime and early evening my internet is too slow for good viewing. If I record the movies at 2AM in the morning I can watch them later. It is not piracy.

[Salmon Trout]

No, during daytime and early evening my internet is too slow for good viewing. If I record the movies at 2AM in the morning I can watch them later. It is not piracy.

I personally think this counts as fair use if you don't distribute it but I am not a lawyer. Just because the owners of a web site don't want you to do something doesn't automatically make it "illegal". It's the courts that decide that, and at least in my country (the UK, part of the European Union) courts have been very ready to strike down parts, or all, of EULAs that have no basis in contract law.

[mroilfield]

No, during daytime and early evening my internet is too slow for good viewing. If I record the movies at 2AM in the morning I can watch them later. It is not piracy.

That is the same as going to a video store and renting a dvd but since you know you won't have time to watch it before you have to return it you will just make a copy of it so you can watch it later.

I personally think this counts as fair use if you don't distribute it but I am not a lawyer. Just because the owners of a web site don't want you to do something doesn't automatically make it "illegal". It's the courts that decide that, and at least in my country (the UK, part of the European Union) courts have been very ready to strike down parts, or all, of EULAs that have no basis in contract law.

So would downloading movies from torrent sites also be considered fair use if you don't distribute them?

[Geek-9pm]

...
So would downloading movies from torrent sites also be considered fair use if you don't distribute them?

Many Torrent sites are scams. they want you to pay for their service and the price is more that what Netflix asks. Many do not work, quality varies and sometimes you get the wrong movie with sub titles in Ukrainian.

It is easier and safer to record a movie off Netflix.  Read over the Ntflix stuff and you can see thee is a provision for recording their material under special conditions. You have to use some device other than a PC. But the software programs that claim to do it on a PC are, as far as I have found, never free. Very pricey.
Ntflix allows streaming to a Wii, which has output that can be reordered on  a standard VCR. I may end up doing something like that.

[Salmon Trout]

So would downloading movies from torrent sites also be considered fair use if you don't distribute them?

Depends where you live. I think I could have put it better. Ripping a DVD to a non-encrypted format by defeating the DeCSS encryption is in itself "illegal" in the USA under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and many other countries who have signed up to the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty of 1996. It is not illegal to make such a copy of a DVD you own, for personal backup, in some countries (e.g. Canada, France) In Spain and Sweden, anyone is allowed to make a private copy of a copyrighted material for oneself and the source copy does not even have to be legal. Making copies for other people, however, is forbidden if done for profit. In most countries, distributing a ripped copy e.g. by sharing it via Torrent or (don't mention!) Usenet would be illegal. It is possible that courts in some countries might decide that locally caching/recording a streamed movie of the Netflix type was no more than enabling an extended "rewind" capability and that such a thing was permissible to uphold equity between the provider and the customer, especially since the profitabilty of the provider's business model is leveraged on the PC and bandwidth paid for by the customer.

[Salmon Trout]

Ntflix allows streaming to a Wii, which has output that can be reordered on  a standard VCR. I may end up doing something like that.

Exactly. You have the analog loophole. If you have a DVD recorder with SCART or component input and a Wii or a suitable display card on your PC, you're home and dry!

[mroilfield]

Considering that Netflix is only available in the U.S. we need to go with U.S. law.

This is from Netflix "Terms of Use"

Limitations on Use

You must be 18 years of age or older to become a member of the Netflix service. While individuals under the age of 18 may utilize the service, they may do so only with the involvement of a parent or legal guardian, under such person's account and otherwise subject to these Terms of Use. While Netflix does distribute products that may be watched by children, we do not intentionally seek to collect information from individuals 13 years of age and younger (see also "Parental Controls"). Unless otherwise specified, the Netflix service, and any content viewed through our service, are for your personal and non-commercial use only and we grant you a limited, non exclusive, non transferable, license to access the Netflix service for that purpose. Except for the foregoing limited license, no right, title or interest shall be transferred to you. You may not download (other than through page caching necessary for personal use, or as otherwise expressly permitted by these Terms of Use), modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, duplicate, publish, license, create derivative works from, or offer for sale any information contained on, or obtained from or through, the Netflix website, including but not limited to information contained within a member or members' Queue, without our express written consent. Netflix does not promote, foster or condone the copying of movies and TV shows, digitally delivered content, or any other infringing activity. You may not circumvent, remove, alter, deactivate, degrade or thwart any of the content protections in the Netflix service. You may not frame or utilize any framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo, or other proprietary information (including images, text, page layout, or form) of Netflix without our express written consent. You may not purchase search terms or use any meta tags or any other "hidden text" utilizing the Netflix name or trademarks without our express written consent. Any unauthorized use of the Netflix service or its contents will terminate the limited license granted by us and will result in the cancellation of your membership.

If you are downloading in any other way then thru "Page Caching" it is not allowed.

[Salmon Trout]

Considering that Netflix is only available in the U.S. we need to go with U.S. law.

Well, I guess that pretty much ties that up. I see Tennessee has made, or is about to make, sharing a Netflix password illegal. For those of us lucky/unlucky* enough to live outside the USA, this particular issue is somewhat academic, although here in Europe we have a similar product available, LoveFilm, and the legal restrictions appear similar to Netflix. LoveFilm have had a number of customer-satisfaction issues to do with throttling frequent users, etc, and some commentators have said that this only drives people into the arms of Torrent etc.

* take your pick!

[BC_Programmer]

Considering that Netflix is only available in the U.S. we need to go with U.S. law.

it's not only available in the US. Presumably however that is where Geek-PM is anyway, so it's a moot point regardless.

If you are downloading in any other way then thru "Page Caching" it is not allowed.

Not allowed by the terms of use. Warranted you never said it was illegal, but your previous posts seem to implicate that you feel there is a legal issue.
There may be some overlap with breaking laws, but a Terms of Service is hardly something that can say what is and is not illegal, it just states the terms that the customer is required to abide by to continue to receive the service- no more, and no less. It would appear that some locations (the aforementioned Tenessee netflix password sharing law) are making parts of the service contract laws, which I personally think is just ridiculous. A Terms of Service should be between the customer and the service provider, it doesn't, and shouldn't, involve any judiciary system. Either way though, I'm fairly certain assisting somebody to break the Terms of Service contract  that they already agreed to (but in this case obviously didn't read) would be against the forum rules.

[Geek-9pm]

I give up.   
For just $2 more per month Netflix will mails aDVD with the movie on it. The member may watch the DVD at his pleasure and return it when done. Then when received, Netflix sends out another. This feature reduces any issue about watching the movie over again for nay reason. He can view often as he wants while the DVD is in his hand.

How the make money doing that?

[patio]

NetFlix is eliminating the DVD service shortly and will only be an online provider...

[Geek-9pm]

NetFlix is eliminating the DVD service shortly and will only be an online provider...

Bait-and-switch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait_and_switch
Bait-and-switch is ...  most commonly used in retail sales but also applicable to other contexts. First, customers are "baited" by advertising for a product or service at a low price; second, the customers discover that the advertised good is not available and are "switched" to a costlier product.
...
no cause of action will exist if the purveyor is capable of actually selling the goods advertised, but aggressively pushes a competing product.
Likewise, advertising a sale while intending to stock a limited amount of, and thereby sell out, a loss-leading item advertised is legal in the United States. The purveyor can escape liability if they make clear in their advertisements that quantities of items for which a sale is offered are limited,  ...

Another conspiracy!    

[BC_Programmer]

Bait-and-switchAnother conspiracy!    

OK, that's it! let's go talk to the king of the Potato people!

[Salmon Trout]

OK, that's it! let's go talk to the king of the Potato people!

Here he is. He says "Kids, don't rip Netflix streams. It's bad and communist."

[patio]

Bait-and-switchAnother conspiracy!    

Please stop already...