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YouTube To Allow Video Rentals
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."
I think streaming free video to every last person in every last 3rd world hellhole without any discrimination to socio and/or economic status etc... wasn't such a great thing to pay billions of dollars for. Would anything actually be worse for them if they blocked YT access to gutter economies that don't generate them any pennies? Having said that, this help keeps their name everywhere and familiar with people since this is one of the most used sites in teh world so maybe it does have some value.
Better yet, do we euros get 29.97 FPS or lame 24.947 like usual.
I don't understand. What do you mean by states? We don't really have those in Europe. Do you mean countries? If that's the case it seems obvious that one country can't issue licenses for another. It's like asking why Australia would issue licenses for the USA. Or have I misunderstood what you meant?
Making a two-hour film takes a significant amount of time out of many peoples' lives.
Perhaps, instead of turning "story telling" into a profession and telling everybody what may and may not be copied, while manipulating public opinion, these people should find real jobs like the rest of us.
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.