Tvmama

1 Comment Written by Atila on April 22, 2008 – 9:10 am

We have received a communication from the mysterious folks at Free Tube, which somehow provides hundreds of TV channels (not all of them legal – shush) to your computer). Qulaity is spotty – as you might expect, but some of it is mind-blowing.

“Hi, we are a group, for now not really anonymous but more so undisclosed, that are syndicating live streams that are available from broadcasters. We have many independent broadcasters who have already expressed interest in sharing their content with viewers, while other broadcasters have unknowingly made streams available to viewers of one country, not realizing that these very streams could be made accessible elsewhere.

“Basically we’re trying to offer IPTV or synchronous streaming video in similarity to regular television, only we’re offering it for free. We are working with a few publishers and broadcasters, who are readily offering their content in order to reach a greater audience (they can monetize from this, and the end user can benefit from the free service). Our system still has a few small problems in compatability, but we’re actively working with users to try and increase the overall functionality of our site – and we appreciate all coverage and suggestions that users provide us with.”

The site’s FAQ has more information, and it offers a technical section, as well. But that doesn’t interest me. What interests me is that someone is doing this, that people are turning to it, and they are (still) (somehow) getting away with it.

So, what to do? Do we watch? Well, last night I tried to watch a free episode of “Who Wants To Be A Superhero” on SciFi. (Hysterically stupid show, by the way. Stan Lee is a kick.) But the download/stream was pokey at best and it crapped out after three segments.

I flicked on Free Tube and began getting a live stream of the station’s broadcast. I don’t really (want to) know how they do it. But it’s quite amazing (when it works). It leaves images and weird things across my screen – but it’s free, it’s untethered to cable, and it brings in TV from all over the world and in countries where the stations are not available in any form.

Flame me for copyright infringements, or worse. This is worth watching.