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Blockbuster Throws Hat into Movie Download Business

Posted by samzenpus on from the no-more-late-charges dept.

jtroutman writes "Stepping into the ring to compete with entities such as Amazon, CinemaNow and, of course, NetFlix, Blockbuster announced today the acquisition of Movielink, LLC. The deal had been scheduled to take place earlier this year, but was quashed amid trouble between the then CEO, John Antioco, and the Board of Directors."

9 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. I wonder if late fees by jschroering · · Score: 5, Funny

    will be downloadable, too..

    Jimmy

  2. Re:Oh, the Irony! by Professor_UNIX · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I subscribe to Netflix and I'd just be happy if they supported Macs instead of just Windows. As it is now I can't make any use of their service that I am apparently entitled to. I'm probably one of their model customers though since I've had the same set of 3 movies for 3 or 4 months now and I just forget to return them.

  3. Blockbuster throws in hat... by thanatos_x · · Score: 5, Funny

    towel soon to follow.

    --
    I am not an expert. If I am misled in something, please correct me.
  4. Doomed to failure... by sdo1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Once again, I'm sure this will be doomed to failure. It will be riddled with DRM and have all sorts of technological (if not outright legal) hurdles to get the movies I buy to play when and where I want them.

    The first company that manages to convince studios to release simple file downloads in common formats that are either/both a) ready to burn to DVD or b) ready to play on an ipod or appleTV and completely unencumbered by any manner of DRM will clean up.

    But for now, the only way for me to get DRM-free movies is to buy the DVD and rip the content using quasi legal (or illegal depending on your perspective) methods. How else am I to get them loaded on my media server or transcoded for viewing on my ipod?

    It's the same for music. Right now, I either get them at emusic.com where I have a subscription, or the itunes plus store, or I rip CDs. It's silly and wasteful to buy a physical CD, rip it once, and put it on the shelf. As storage capacity increases, this too will happen for movies/DVDs as it has for music/CDs.

    -S

    --
    --- What parts of "shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", and "shall not be violated" don't you understand?
    1. Re:Doomed to failure... by MC+Negro · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Once again, I'm sure this will be doomed to failure. It will be riddled with DRM and have all sorts of technological (if not outright legal) hurdles to get the movies I buy to play when and where I want them.
      ...
      It's the same for music.
      I agree with the sentiment, but not the reasoning. DRM didn't hinder the adoption of iTMS (I think, in part, because most people didn't really notice it.)

      I think it will fail because :
      1. Most people don't watch movies on their computer, and most people don't have media center PCs.
      2. Those that do probably already use something like iTunes, Amazon's Unbox, Vongo or CinemaNow or one of the many other services out there.
      And since it doesn't appear that the movies can be burned to DVD, I don't see it becoming a bit hit with the mainstream. At no point do I see the consumer avoiding the service because of copy restrictions.

      Of course, I could be wrong.
      --
      "You and your third dimension."
    2. Re:Doomed to failure... by Nipok+Nek · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Unless they do what Amazon did and partner with TiVo. Then suddenly LOTS of people have access.

      --
      Why choose white shoes?
  5. rebound by SolusSD · · Score: 4, Funny

    blockbuster has really rebounded from their near bankrupt late 90s days... but they're starting to feel like the "best buy" of movie/game rental. maybe its the colors.

    1. Re:rebound by Joe+Tie. · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And those closed stores mean closed online accounts as well. The online experience with them was always subpar for me compared to netflix, with their only advantage the onsite extra rentals. We don't have a blockbuster in town anymore, so tossed our online account as well.

      --
      Everything will be taken away from you.
    2. Re:rebound by hansamurai · · Score: 4, Informative

      I would agree that if it wasn't for the free in-store rentals, my wife and I would have Netflix, but it's something we simply can't pass up. Basically now you just bring in your finished mailed DVD and get a free rental from the store. I'm too lazy to do that on my own but my wife is more than happy to pick something up, so more power to us I guess.

      I wouldn't mind having multiple queues though like Netflix has. It's really kind of annoying getting 10 chick flicks in a row.

      --
      Reviewing just the first hour of video games.