PrimeWire, formerly known as LetMeWatchThis and 1Channel, has undergone a number of changes in the last several years. As a free streaming site that somehow offers premium titles unavailable anywhere else, we can only speculate as to why, but we’d guess it’s content related.
For example, as of this writing, films like Nope (which my girlfriend and I just watched last weekend in theaters) and new Netflix releases like Ludik were available at no cost on PrimeWire. Now, we’re not saying PrimeWire is doing anything illegal, but those titles are pretty fresh – almost too fresh. Whether or not this is a violation of US law and what it means to you, we’ll defer to the attorneys, though our research should not be substituted for legal advice.
What that said, PrimeWire states that it actually does attempt to address potential DCMA violations. The streamer styles itself as a service for creators to share their content on the internet (meaning they are not technically the providers). The argument they make here is essentially that, because they do not make copies of content and cannot control what their users do, they are not in violation of the DMCA.
Here’s PrimeWire’s take on this:
This website is an online service provider as defined by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. We provide legal copyright owners with the ability to self-publish on the internet by uploading, storing, and displaying various types of media. We do not actively monitor, screen or otherwise review the media which is uploaded to our servers by users of the service.
We take copyright violations very seriously and will vigorously protect the rights of legal copyright owners. If you are the copyright owner of content which appears on this website and you did not authorize the use of the content you must notify us in writing in order for us to identify the allegedly infringing content and take action.
You can read their full policy on DMCA here.
All questions of morality and legality aside, we’re only concerned with talking about and printing information about the streaming industry. So is PrimeWire worth checking out? We review!
The PrimeWire content library
According to PrivacySavvy, PrimeWire boasts over 200 thousand viewers monthly. The content collection on the site isn’t the largest, but PrimeWire stocks some of the newest and hottest titles. And while we will not say they are streaming unlicensed content because we have no way of proving it either way, we’re operating under the assumption that it’s possible. Honestly, is there any way that PrimeWire gets Nope before Peacock? Nope. At least, not in the US.
Ads on PrimeWire
Unfortunately, PrimeWire comes with ads. There are times you’ll have the ability to just click play and the stream begins, and others where you feel like you’d spend more time clicking through ads than you would streaming the content itself. And when there are ads, you simply can’t ignore them. The ads are very repetitive, and they continue to pop up throughout the stream. It’s just hit or miss here.
HD content
If you can tolerate the interruptive ads on PrimeWire, there’s a chance you’ll get an HD stream, depending on the content. This website offers a great 1080p collection of movies for free.
Neat interface
The interface of this website is very clean and organized. You don’t get the impression that it is just thrown together. When you land on content that doesn’t come with ads, the service and interface work really well.
The wireframe and interface isn’t Netflix quality, but it gets the job done.
Pros
- Impressive collection
- HD content
Cons
- Content is supposedly uploaded by content creators, which may be a dodgy way of saying “we have no idea where this came from”
Summary
PrimeWire operates in a space that is certainly questionable, though we can’t actually say whether or not they are breaking a law. Copyright infringement requires that copies are made and shared illegally. PrimeWire advertises itself as a sharing site in which they have no control over what their viewers do.
PrimeWire says that they address DMCA complaints vigorously and we can only take them at their word. But you should know, if you’re streaming content on this site, there’s a good chance it didn’t come from the original creator. With titles like She-Hulk and House of the Dragon, no matter how much care we put into not making accusations about other companies, its hard to imagine Disney and HBO have given the site their blessing to “share” their content on a platform that isn’t Disney+ or HBO Max.
But the site provides HD content at no cost, and for this reason, we felt it would be a disservice not to report what we know about the streamer. If you can deal with ads and the feeling that you may be streaming content without permission, PrimeWire may be worth a click.
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