Yeah, it’s silly. It’s an entire industry built on “frivolous”, optional consumption. They are making a killing even WITH piracy. They (the studios, etc.) make so much money that they can afford to selectively offer their product only to certain streaming services, region locked, and some of them have even paid to develop their own streaming platforms just for fun.
All they have to do is put their product on the real market, let any platform stream it for a licensing fee, and offer things that people actually want to buy: physical media and silly trinkets.
They’re trying to squeeze blood from a stone. If they were struggling, they’d just let me buy their product for a reasonable fee instead of making me jump through hoops and watch commercials.
I perused the comments and didn’t see anyone mention this. The term “engineer” is regulated by every state in the US. I doubt they had Tinder in mind, but calling yourself an “engineer” without having a Professional Engineer license is illegal, at least when it comes to offering professional engineering services. It’s a protected title so that schools and bridges don’t get built by scammers–at least that was the intention. I can legally call myself an Engineer!
Just go get your license, and you should be golden lol.