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(Almost) Free Movies On-Line... Sorta

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the not-sure-if-I-trust-them-with-my-visa dept.

Snaller writes "See the latest movies on the net? Its possible - apparently the law in Taiwan says that for a movie to be protected by copyright law one has to apply for such protection within a month after the opening in the theaters. This rarely happens and as a consequence movie88 has opened a virtual movieplex: See any of their films for 1 dollar. The movie is streamed in a format that doesn't allow you to save it on the harddrive, but for that 1 dollar you can view it anytime and as much as you like for 3 days. The selection includes movies like "Shrek", "Legally Blonde","American Pie 2","Gone with the wind", James Bond and Batman." Yeah this'll last. Right. But it really demonstrates what TV will be like in the future when you have access to thousands of movies. And the buck a film rate strikes me as awesome. I'd watch a lot more movies if they were only a buck.

3 of 293 comments (clear)

  1. Re:US Law vs. Taiwanese Law by tlk+nnr · · Score: 5, Informative
    I wonder how much sway MPAA has in Taiwan. Certainly in the US this little "problem" would be fixed quickly...

    Better mark Taiwan up on the Axis of Evil list too..
    That's due to being too friendly with China:
    According to the Bern convention, you don't need to register for copyright protection.
    But Taiwan was thrown out of the UN and most international bodies, in order to please China.
    And thus Taiwan couldn't take part in the negotiations, didn't modify it's national laws.
    Nice sideeffect.
  2. Re:Balls by karmma · · Score: 3, Informative
    These guys definitely have gonads. Not only are they throwing a big "up yours" to the MPAA. but they are also charging for access to hit TV shows like "Friends."

    Umm... there are places in the world that have access to the internet and *don't* have access to NBC broadcasts. Think globally.
  3. Re:O well by Calle+Ballz · · Score: 4, Informative

    They use Real (sucky)...

    You don't really have to crack it. I've noticed they technique they use to make it difficult to change around links. they open up a no permission browser window and then from there redirect to the link of the actual .rm or .ram file that you are streaming off of. If you have any sort of network monitor you'll be able to see the exact URL where you can download the file and save it to your hard disk.