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GOG Introduces DRM-Free Movie Store
Via Engadget comes news that GOG, the DRM-free game store platform, has launched a DRM-free movie store. The initial set of movies are gamer oriented, and you won't find major studio releases (yet, and not for a lack of trying on the part of GOG). From GOG: Our goal is to offer you cinema classics as well as some all-time favorite TV series with no DRM whatsoever, for you to download and keep on your hard drive or stream online whenever you feel like it. We talked to most of the big players in the movie industry and we often got a similar answer: "We love your ideas, but we do not want to be the first ones. We will gladly follow, but until somebody else does it first, we do not want to take the risk". DRM-Free distribution is not a concept their lawyers would accept without hesitation.
We kind of felt that would be the case and that it's gonna take patience and time to do it, to do it, to do it right. That's quite a journey ahead of us, but every gamer knows very well that great adventures start with one small step. So why not start with something that feels very familiar? We offer you a number of gaming and Internet culture documentaries - all of them DRM-Free, very reasonably priced, and presenting some fascinating insight into topics close to a gamer's heart. Videos are mostly 1080p (~8GB for a 90 minute film) and can be acquired for about $6. They're using h.264/mp4 and not VP9/Matroska, but you can't have everything ;). If you don't want to download that much data, it looks like all of the videos are also available in 720p and 576p.
We kind of felt that would be the case and that it's gonna take patience and time to do it, to do it, to do it right. That's quite a journey ahead of us, but every gamer knows very well that great adventures start with one small step. So why not start with something that feels very familiar? We offer you a number of gaming and Internet culture documentaries - all of them DRM-Free, very reasonably priced, and presenting some fascinating insight into topics close to a gamer's heart. Videos are mostly 1080p (~8GB for a 90 minute film) and can be acquired for about $6. They're using h.264/mp4 and not VP9/Matroska, but you can't have everything ;). If you don't want to download that much data, it looks like all of the videos are also available in 720p and 576p.
Gaming and culture documentaries. So, hackers, right?
Off to hack the gibson. BRB.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
And I'm glad they do, because that's what people use in the real world.
90 minutes of 1080p @ 8G with h.264? That seems large for streaming/distribution. Even my high-motion archives are 4G with pass-thru audio; the stuff I want to stream gets crunched down to 2G with zero discernible loss of audio/video fidelity.
my DRM-free movie store is my local indie record store...they have a nice DVD section...
library works too...but not technically a store
Thank you Dave Raggett
"it's gonna take patience and time to do it, to do it, to do it right." That's kind of catchy... pretty sure I'll write a song with that as the chorus :-)
Why wouldn't they choose h.264/mp4? It's playable just about anywhere these days.
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
GCC Introduces DRM-Free Movie Store
Something else for Linus Torvalds to complain about after GCC 4.9.0. :/
Most DVDs aren't DRM-free, either. They may well be restrictions you can live with, but they are encumbered.
It's been a while since we had a proper Slashdotting, especially of a professionally run website, but right now GOG is down, overwhelmed by the attention. They deserve the attention. Let's hope they sell a lot and get the message across to the movie industry.
99 cents might sway me, but as it is none of these are worth the price
The problem with slashdot is that most of its users were bullied and stuffed into lockers as kids!
Where is GET LAMP (2010), where is Going Cardboard (2012), where is BBS: The Documentary (2005), where is The King of Kong (2007)?
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
Why don't they see about getting some really old movies that have passed into the public domain and cleaning them up. The first one that comes to mind is Nosferatu but there are a number of other old films that would qualify as well.
Time to offend someone
I prefer dollar free than DRM-free because DRM can be circumvented.
Well, I guess this changes nothing except more stuff on BitTorrent..
Well, boys and girls, doesn't this finally solve all your complaints regarding movies being peppered with DRM by the request of MAFIAA? ;)
As GOG's collection grows, and if you find content that you actually are interested in, would you prefer this movie service over pirating?
While they have been true to their word about no DRM, I've always wondered if GOG games (and now movies) have some sort of digital watermark embedded in them so they can track any piracy of their sales back to the source. While this wouldn't be a foolproof method, it probably would catch the more common sort of file-sharing. It doesn't really seem to have any drawbacks for the customer either. If such a watermark does exist, it might make the major studios more willing to consider GOG as a distribution partner.
Too Bad you weren't fast enough, ya slug.
To Steam's credit, they too provide Indie Game: The Movie without DRM. You can just pull out the file after it's downloaded.
I had pretty much given up all hopes of DRM-free video via legitimate channels, even as music is pretty much DRM-free exclusively.
I'm not getting my hopes too much, but like DRM-free music before it, I'll be very eager to give them my money instead of buying DVDs with it.
I'm however fully expecting like eBooks, the DRM-free selection will remain sad and pathetic.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
I'm everywhere
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWi5jdgTUJs
I was planning on filling that 8TB drive with documentaries on the female body but I guess DRM-free 1080p will work too.
hey, jnik, judging by your UID# & the text of your comment you've been away from the internet since about 1996...
there are many free/shareware DVD rippers that circumvent that DRM
Thank you Dave Raggett
GOG is not competing with video retailers, they're competing with streaming services like Netflix. GOG, meet Netflix. They get my $8.55 a month and will continue to do so for as long as I can stream videos from them without a price restriction. When you can do this count me in.
I'd love to see if they can acquire a ton of the 60s/70s Italian Cinema (eurocrime, spaghetti westerns, horror).
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
You should send your Roku in to be repaired, seriously. I've used two different generations of Roku with my Amazon account and never had a single problem watching video from it or Netflix or anything else.
Or, of course, triple check that you are making the connection properly.
well, YIFY means: whY Is Film Yucky? Remember that.
Also remember that if you want great quality 720p, go 3gb+, 1080p 4gb+ (if you go stereo, better audio makes those files bigger).
While DVD movies can fit onto a CD and still look great, HD movies can NOT.
Be seeing you...
haha i'm invoking the Stallman rule and hereby claim your 4 digit UID as my pwn...** jnik (1733) claimed**...i will now add it to my collection that I wear as charms on my necklace
ripping a DVD you either purchased legally (new or used) OR you legally borrowed from a library is LEGAL
it's fair use under the DMCA
now, if you put the DVD rip file on a filesharing network, maybe that's unethical, and if you charged money for it somehow that's illegal
ripping a DVD is fair use...selling or mass distributing is illegal...really if you don't understand these things you don't really belong here...i can't *actually* take your UID but you took it yourself, by posing as an AC instead of as 'jnik'...if you actually believed what you were saying you wouldn't need to post as AC...UID claimed in spirit
Thank you Dave Raggett