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Rent A Downloadable Movie

Posted by timothy on from the like-divx-without-the-joy dept.

Syn Ack writes: "The New York Times is reporting (free account, blah blah blah) that five (5) major Hollywood studios (MGM, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers and Universal Pictures) are going to begin offering downloadable time restricted movies. The video will remain watchable for 30 days but will become unplayable 24 hours after it has been viewed at all. Sounds like if you start the movie at all, the clock starts ticking so no peaking until you're ready to watch it ALL. Downloads are expected to be in the 500MB range. However downloads will only be available well after the DVD release of the same movie so as to not cut into DVD sales. Expect to see something late this year or early next. Perhaps the Music People can get some tips from the movie people?" What a bargain.

1 of 361 comments (clear)

  1. Re:[Flash Quiz!] Ladies and Gentlemen... by shut_up_man · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I don't think it will be long until whatever security they use is cracked - since one of the parties in the secure transaction is the enemy, it makes it pretty easy. What remains to be seen is if the companies involved can balance the difficulty of cracking the system against the following:
    • Ease of use - AOL Joe isn't l33t. No codes, no dongles, no Captain Crunch decoder wheels. Quick initial registration, download and double-click, get billed monthly.
    • Speed of download - Downloading DivX movies still costs TIME. The corps need to have monster servers, monster pipe, and redundant, distributed infrastructure (kinda like a P2P network ;). This is something a DSL user cannot compete with.
    • Film quality - It's pretty irritating to spend all day downloading a movie, only to find the aspect ratio all wrong, the soundtrack in some unheard-of codec or the video stream corrupt. If the companies guarantee quality, that's a big advantage.
    • Quality of catalog - Underground sites only host movies the operator likes, or have managed to get hold of. Having a broad catalog gives more choice, which makes the service more attractive. The catalog should also be as current as DVD, or else people will grab the DivX instead.
    • Cost - The companies ARE competing against a free service, but they can charge a small fee for the aforementioned enhancements. Small. As in, not large. As in, "Oh pfffft, I'll get it off MovieCorp, that's nothing."

    That's the recipe for a winning net movie delivery system. From the article, it sounds like they are screwing up cost (pay per view? ewww!) and quality of catalog (post-DVD releases only). Still, it's a start...

    shut up man