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Universal to Offer its Movies Online

Posted by samzenpus on from the download-them-all dept.

JoseAugusto writes "From IMDB: 'Universal expects to be able to offer movies online by the end of the year or early next year, company chairman and CEO Bob Wright said Tuesday. Speaking at a conference on piracy in London, Wright described the studio's entry into online movie services as 'something we have to do.' However, he cautioned, the studio's entry into the Internet sphere must be accompanied by fail-safe methods to prevent the films from being copied and redistributed. 'These movies are so expensive, we have to be careful,' he said.'"

5 of 308 comments (clear)

  1. Failsafe way... by jmcmunn · · Score: 4, Interesting


    A failsafe way to prevent piracy? Try never putting it on any form of media readable on a PC then. Or better yet, never put it on any media. Spoken word, live performances for a naked audience (so they can't smuggle in audio recorders of course). And still...not even close.

    Come on, they just need to embrace the internet and trust that most of us will pay for it when it is easy to get. I know I will. Same with tv, when I miss my favorite show, rather than download it, I would pay a few bucks to get the commercial free version online...

  2. I, for one, welcome our new gossiping overloards.. by Petey_Alchemist · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...as further pieces of the viPod puzzle fall into place, perhaps?

    Interesting.

    --Petey

  3. "Something we have to do" by Max+Nugget · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Speaking at a conference on piracy in London, Wright described the studio's entry into online movie services as "something we have to do."

    Wow, way to be enthusiastic about it. What were we talking about, getting a root canal?

  4. fail-safe methods by quintesson · · Score: 4, Interesting

    it's kinda weird how people in these positions still don't realize that's not going to happen.

  5. About time. by Grey+Ninja · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I actually might consider buying some downloadable movies if the price was right. If they are thinking about charging $10 or more for them, I will just download them for free if they aren't anything special (and if they are, I would buy the pressed DVD). If the price point was around $5, it would make a whole lot more sense than renting the DVD, and would likely be quicker to acquire. Throw in the cost of a DVD-R, and you have the movie for a fairly good price. The movie studios do not have to go through a middleman (video store), and neither do we, and we get the movie for about the same price. Everyone wins.

    I've never been that interested in paying for songs, as downloading the music is about the same price, or more than actually buying the CD. And you have to be out of your mind if you think I am paying $20 for a music CD. So I just download all the music I want for free (I'm Canadian). I would rather spend the money on going to see a live concert.