You can pay $8 for Netflix because they pay movie studios the prices they ask for the content. You can't watch those same new movies on Netflix because the market value of that content is higher. The DRM allows companies to exploit the price difference between "early adopter" customers and those that will get it later on Netflix.
Same price strategy occurred with hard and softcover books and their release schedules.
Studios should be allowed to charge more for their content when it's new - they'll keep doing this until it's proven the streaming model works out to more money over time. Popcorn Time only hurts that argument as it stands, but could be an interesting Netflix competitor in the pay for play space (peer to peer would save on infrastructure costs)
I agree with the pricing differential stuff, but I'm suspicious about the DRM claim. Is there any evidence that DRM allows companies to exploit the price difference? I always thought it was studios' better marketing and distribution. E.g., people buy real copies of The Incredibles not because DRM keeps it out of the hands of criminals, but because criminals can't sell movies on Amazon or at Walmart.
Same price strategy occurred with hard and softcover books and their release schedules.
Studios should be allowed to charge more for their content when it's new - they'll keep doing this until it's proven the streaming model works out to more money over time. Popcorn Time only hurts that argument as it stands, but could be an interesting Netflix competitor in the pay for play space (peer to peer would save on infrastructure costs)