> some countries consider open broadcast to be public domain so once its broadcast its public

I can still legally record cable TV (or is that also illegal in the US?), even though I probably need to pay a lot more for it than I would for both Netflix and open broadcasts.

> when a server downloads data to you,

*Uploads.

> the server is creating a copy on your hardware right out of the gate.

As opposed to what?

> a stream is a download. a central server, is pushing bits into your hardware, and making a copy on your hardware.

The same way a TV broadcast is (barring implementation details). What's the difference between me displaying that data instantly and it then going to /dev/null, and me sending that to copy.mkv? I can do the latter legally with TV, why not everything else?

tv-stream.ts > /dev/dri/card0 = Legal

tv-Stream.ts > copy.mkv = Legal

netflix-stream.ts > /dev/dri/card0 = Legal

netflix-stream.ts > copy.mkv = Illegal (why?)

> restricting any copying at all means your hardware cant use what you were legally given, because by a split hair definition, the bits are being copied when they move from memory address to register address vice versa.

Yes.

> the real problem unilaterally, is when you are not a legal distributor, and you provide a copy to someone else.

Obviously. But I'm not doing that when recording TV, radio, Netflix, a blu-ray, your mum, you name it. I'm only making a copy for myself. Yet it's legal in some cases but not in others, just because the implementation is different.