@DBDukes
I don’t want us to go back and fourth leading down rabbit holes. You seem to have more free time than I do, you like to argue while I find it draining, and I think we might be related. Thanksgiving is going to get more awkward than normal if we continue.
However, no one is pointing this out, so I will. VidAngel did lose the suit. The core debate was whether the actions of VidAngel were altering others’ intellectual property. The court found them guilty, not for the activity, but for failing to ask permission. That was all resolved back in 2020. The Bankruptcy was a corporate law tactic to protect assets and better prepare a defense. That happened in the middle of the case, not after. The bankruptcy is why the case took 4 years. There are different types of bankruptcy. In the case of VidAngel they filed a Chapter 11: re-organization. It's a very common practice in corporate law. Bankruptcy in itself doesn't mean that someone is bad or wrong.
VidAngel actually took everything down until they could get authorization from companies to comply with the Court’s decision. They have been operating on this new standard ever since the suit and all the companies viewable through VidAngel (Netflix, Amazon, HBO, Showtime, Apple TV+, etc) have given permission. There are exceptions; some movies and shows have not given permission, so when you try to put filters, the app will not allow it for this reason.
Taking action in court is a very normal process in this country and losing a suit doesn’t make one an Al Capone in every situation. Going through court proceedings and having the ruling motion against a party doesn’t necessarily make them evil. This was a civil case, not criminal.
All of this aside, I do not wish to deviate off course from my original purpose and intent. I am not here on this forum to have lengthy debates about the court case. I will not discuss this further. My purpose for being here is the petition. The purpose of the petition isn’t to strong-arm Roku or make them do anything. I believe that would be against American values.
I have Roku and Apple devices. I could easily just go to Apple exclusively, but I prefer Roku. I don’t know if they keep metrics to show how many users use VidAngel, or if they think that VidAngel subscribers will simply drop the matter and continue using Roku without it. Therefore, I am hoping to present signatures to let them know this: we (VidAngel users) love using Roku devices, but we also greatly value the service VidAngel offers. We value that service enough that we will move on to another device that does offer said service.
On a personal note, I think filtering should be a normal option offered along with every movie and show without the use of some third party app. Why wouldn’t you want to capture a larger audience. Hollywood debates on whether to aim for a PG-13 or R rating all the time. Imagine being able to have multiple versions. We already do this with directors cuts, re-releases that go up from one rating to another, and movies that are edited for cable television.
VidAngel users want filtering options for different reasons, but all of them have taken a deliberate step to filter daily content and they aren’t going to give that up when there are other options that support filtering.
Roku is not responding to VidAngel, according to VidAngel. Roku is not responding to customers who ask about the matter. Roku can choose to decline or accept any applications as they wish, but as far as we know, there is nothing wrong with the coding or the adherence to the conditions and standards. No one but Roku knows why VidAngel has not yet or may not ever be made an official channel, and any statement that purports to know the reason is speculation only.
If Roku doesn’t want VidAngel as a channel, then so be it. Their company, their rules. It would be nice to know why they made the decision though. I personally am not angry at anyone. I'm not angry at Roku, and i'm not angry at DBDukes. Just making that statement because tone and delivery can be misinterpreted through written word, more so than spoken word.
