Does Legal Online Video Content Delivery Exist?

RingDev asks: "I'm working on a system integration project for my CIS capstone. One of the systems we are integrating is a Windows MCE PVR. One of the topics that came up implementing a movie on demand or rental system using an existing online content provider. But the question we have run into is, are there any? Is the only option for online video content (TV shows, movies) P2P and BT clients? Is there no company out there that handles licensing and provides DRM'd content?"

Comments

here's two that i use

[putch]

movielink allows you to 'rent' movies for anywhere from .$99 to $5. quality is decent though certainly not DVD. speed is good. selection is sparse.
http://www.movielink.com/

you can also get "starz on demand" through realplayer for approx $13 a month. you're limited to the current line up of STARZ movies--and they often suck. but it's better than paying $70 for premium cable. quality is ok, but still not DVD.
http://starz.real.com/

but i dont know if those are the kind of things the poster wants. his question was amorphous at best.

Re:Counterintuitive

[sl956]

A seemless open standard DRM could open up huge markets

Yes, and so could a magic carpet...
Please stop dreaming about "seemless open standard DRM": DRM systems don't work.
For a non-technical explanation, you should probably read Bruce Schneier or Microsofts Darknet paper.

Re:Counterintuitive

[RingDev]

I disagree. Papers have shown that illegal file sharing has little effect on profit margines. And as such, can be assumed to be a mitigated loss. There will always be people who break DRMs. Look at DeCCS, by your logic, every signle DVD released should have been immediately pirated and made as available as public domain. But they weren't. Why? because it's too much of a hassle. Why deal with multiple clients, crappy searchs, fake files, and days worth of waiting to get a movie that you could drive down to the video store and picked up for $2?

I'm not dreaming about a PERFECT system, I'm dreaming about a system that is good enough to provide a simple way for the majority of consumers to legally obtain content online.

Look at iTunes. Personally, I think their specific DRM sucks donkey balls. BUT, all they did was provide a way for consumers to easily and legally aquire content online. And now it is a multi-million dollar revenue source for Apple. This should be a screaming fireball of a wake up call for veture capitalist to invest in DRMs and content delivery. Because if Apple can wrap content in a crap sandwich, offer it up on a silver platter and make millions, what do you think a GOOD solution could do?

Imagine an international open standard DRM. One that has a simple API for authenticating the user, and determining the date. That API could be availible to Windows, Linux, Apple, what ever. No more of this iPod/Tunes only crap. No more DMCA violations to watch DVDs on Linux. Just one open standard DRM. You could even advance the DRM technology and maintain the standard API. So if someone ever cracks the DRM, you can patch it with out having to re-write all of the readers and delivery system.

-Rick