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YouTube To Allow Video Rentals

Posted by samzenpus on from the viral-rentals dept.

poopdeville writes "Starting Friday, Google and YouTube will allow movie rentals. The first five films available to rent through YouTube will cost $3.99 for a 48-hour viewing period. Movie studios will be able to set their own prices, with rental viewing windows ranging from one to 90 days. YouTube will get an unspecified commission from each rental. Barclays Capital analyst Douglas Anmuch expects YouTube to generate about $700 million in revenue this year, an estimated 55 percent increase from 2009. If YouTube hits that target, it likely will turn profitable, helping to justify the $1.76 billion in stock that Google paid for the site more than three years ago."

6 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. Re:International Viewing? by Tanuki64 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't hate it. I just read 'This service is not available in your country' as 'Please use Bittorrent'.

  2. Re:No thanks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    A proper comparison of going to a video rental store vs. online rental would be: he delivered pizza cost 50-100% more, you have to pay the delivery car+fuel on top of that and it would only come with 50% of the toppings.

  3. Re:International Viewing? by Yetihehe · · Score: 2, Funny

    This may be THE reason for muslim terrorism. Maybe US can fix the situation by dropping some porn over Iraq and Afghanistan?

    --
    Extreme Programming - Redundant Array of Inexpensive Developers
  4. They have plenty of porn by tjstork · · Score: 2, Funny

    My brother in law, while on patrol, found that the universal constant of Islam is that every devout terrorist has a giant porn collection, and then will stand there and deny that it is his.

    --
    This is my sig.
  5. Re:Piracy, the better choice by slim · · Score: 2, Funny

    I said it before a million times (even to the IFPI and other organisations, but they refuse to listen): Legal merchandise has to have a higher customer value than counterfeit or stolen goods.

    But they do. Pirated movies are all fuzzy and unclear, have bad sound, and frequently include footage of someone a few rows in front getting up to go to the toilet.

    I know this is true, because they told me in the unskippable advert at the start of the last DVD I rented. Why would they lie?

  6. Re:No thanks by biryokumaru · · Score: 1, Funny

    I believe the phrase you're looking for is:

    "A soda can full of MicroSD cards."

    - XKCD

    --
    When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!