MPAA makes it easier to find places to legally stream movies

In an effort to steer viewers away from torrents, the MPAA has just launched Where to Watch, a site to help you find legit streaming TV shows and movies. To distinguish itself from services like Flixster, the group is offering the site ad-free in the US only. It searches options from major streaming services like Amazon, Netflix and iTunes, as well as smaller players, but there are a few notable omissions like HBO Go. And though it lists theater showings, Where to Watch doesn’t point out when certain films are on cable or free-to-air TV, making it a poor substitute for, say, TV.com.

There are so many places to find movies and TV shows. They’re on TV! They’re on the Internet! Wouldn’t it be great if there were services that told you where you could find all that stuff? There are! Several of them, actually. But the problem is that none of them have everything you want. Now, here’s another one: Wheretowatch.com, which does what it sounds like — you type in the name of a movie or a TV show, it tells you some places you can stream them online, via download stores like iTunes and subscription services like Netflix. Just like Canistream.it, and Flixster, and NextGuide and TV.com. Wheretowatch does have two distinguishing factors, though. It doesn’t have ads, and it’s built by the Motion Picture Association of America, Hollywood’s trade group. For the record, the MPAA thinks that building this site gives you even more incentive not to steal its studios’ product, since it demonstrates how easy it is get this stuff legally. But I doubt anyone who’s getting free stuff from Popcorn Time is going to rethink their actions because of this one.