Ironically, too many video streaming choices may drive users back to piracy

Karl Bode at Techdirt: But we've also noted that, ironically, the glut of video choices-more specifically the glut of streaming exclusivity silos-risks driving users back to piracy. Studies predict that every broadcaster and their uncle will have launched their own direct-to-consumer streaming platform by 2022. Most of these companies are understandably keen on locking their own content behind exclusivity paywalls, whether that's HBO Now's Game of Thrones, or CBS All Access's Stark Trek: Discovery. But as consumers are forced to pay for more and more subscriptions to get all of the content they're looking for, they're not only getting frustrated by the growing costs (defeating the whole point of cutting the cord), they're frustrated by the experience of having to hunt and peck through an endlessly shifting sea of exclusivity arrangements and licensing deals that make it difficult to track where your favorite show or film resides this month. With all kinds of series and IPs moving around from company to company these days, it's getting impossible to keep track of where and how to watch both new and old series. It used to be quite simple - Netflix and your local streaming service for us Europeans - and you'd be pretty well set. Maybe add in HBO for Game of Thrones - usually one person in your group of friends had HBO here in Europe - and everything was covered. Now, though, things are rapidly falling apart in countless different silos, each at anywhere between a5-10/month, which is becoming unjustifiable. Piracy is definitely going to make a major comeback if this continues.