BANGALORE (Reuters) - India's film makers are offering Internet movie downloads on web site Kazaa in a move that could lower costs and boost revenues in Bollywood, the world's most prolific film production center.
Some 35 producers will be able to sell movies using Kazaa, a file-sharing program owned by Australia's Sharman Networks Ltd., according to company statement.
"In a distribution deal struck between Sharman's partner Altnet, Inc...and IndiaFM.com, one of the most popular Bollywood entertainment sites, Kazaa's estimated 60 million global users will gain access to previously unavailable content," the statement said.
The industry started its first download last month when Kazaa's users were offered "Supari" (A Contract for Killing), a slick thriller, for $2.99. The file was programmed to self destruct after being viewed and could not be copied.
"It was a thrill for me to become the first to do it, in an industry which had ignored the Internet, or did not pay enough attention," said Meenu Kumar, the film's executive producer.
Bombay's Hindi cinema dominates India's movie industry, which churns out about 1,000 films every year.
Only about 10 million of India's one billion people are Internet users. But with another 20 million Indians overseas, the Internet could become a worldwide box office for Bollywood.
IndiaFM's customers include Mukta Arts, controlled by director Subhash Ghai, and Tata Infomedia Ltd..
"The deal means that Bollywood producers can now distribute movies, music and other large, rich media files online that would be too large and expensive to host on a traditional Web site," the statement said.
LONG-TERM GAME
"We are starting with promotional content but we are in the process which will allow movies and songs on a pay-per-view mode in the new year," Saleem Mobhani, co-founder of IndiaFM, which is run by Virtual Marketing India Pvt Ltd., told Reuters.
Industry officials do not expect quick revenue, but see long-term potential in India, where movie distribution deals are sold via territory rights, roughly for each state, and DVD and television broadcast rights are sold separately. "There will come a time soon when it (the Internet) will become a solo territory on its own," but could be at the expense of video disk sellers, said Kumar.
"More than cost efficiency, it is very convenient for non-resident Indians," Kumar said. "And I sincerely think it curbs piracy."
Hollywood has been slow to embrace downloads, seeing the medium as a threat to existing revenues. Kazaa has faced criticism and opposition in the industry, but is confident that secure Internet distribution can be safe and legal.
A survey by Britain's Informa Media Group said this year that Internet movie sales could be worth more than $800 million a year by 2010, but said illegal downloads were already costing as much as $92 million in lost revenue.
I believe if the Bubble and Anti-Bubbles were to mix, they would annihialte each other, producing a massive headache!
- or -
You could produce some sort of beer warp field from the reaction. I am sure commander Scott would approve...just pour some Guiness into the Warp Core! Saves us from having to pay for all those expensive di-lithium crystals!
Judging by the success of companies like Barnes & Noble and Amazon, I'd have to say that he is wrong.
Plus my own personal experience...my wife and I spend more on books than almost any other media!
I have to admit that I thought it was one of the best SciFi movies/miniseries I have seen in a while, and I really enjoyed the way it was done.
I thought it was a great idea to use the same concepts but in a very different way, so it could stand on it's own. I especially enjoyed the military-like feel and the camera work that made you feel like you were right in the action. It was very well executed.
I also thought that it was great the way that they made the Cylons very dangerous and threatening....unlike the OS where they were almost a joke. you really felt scared for those people!
I feel the same way about this that I felt about Star Trek:TNG vs. TOS...it took something good and made it even cooler!
Movie trailers practically tell the whole readers'-digest version of the story. The worst offender recently was Matrix: Revolutions, where I didn't see a single thing that wasn't alluded to in the trailer. Especially bad was the scene where Neo meets with the machine god, and the only word he says which isn't in the trailer is "peace"!
I don't mean to imply that it is age-specific at all. I am 37 and an IT guy, and I didn't know the term "ripping" as it applied to MP3s until 2 years ago.
My point is that you have to have experience either doing the task yourself, or conversing with someone who did (like having a teenager).
I think that *most* people have not had the experience of converting their CDs to MP3s, and therefore I believe that if you conducted a poll, most people would not give you that definition.
I would never sell people short because of age. My grandfather was on the internet at 80, but he has no idea what ripping is.
to not understand what Ripping is they have to be 100+ and never used a computer in their life.
"Ripping" is a pretty specific term, and you have to have performed the task yourself and have some knowledge of what is going on. Most user-friendly software that converts CDs to MP3s do not call it "ripping".
I don't think that most people over the age of 30 would be able to tell you what "ripping" means.
And even a lot of those people that are computer literate are not necessary to the level where they know all of the "lingo".
Wouldn't you just wait until this guy was done with his missile, and then just steal it from him? Why bother mucking around with building one yourself, when he can do it for you, and then let you know when it is done.
This is exactly what they do in the Red Mars - Green Mars - Blue Mars book series, and it makes the most sense. Everything is already there by the time you send people there.
It also makes sense to have the cargo ships in a continuously-returning route between Mars and Earth, only using gravitational braking to slow down and drop off cargo into orbit.
I have also seen it suggested where they use shuttle fuel tanks as a cheap way to construct the cargo ships.
This just proves his point. These guys were very unique and gifted, and had patrons to support their work, while they did it full-time. If these guys had to work a separate job to support themselves, they might not have been able to devote the time necessary to achieve the things they did.
This has been a very bad day for me. Today, Slashdot discovered my fricken "laser", and now they've also discovered my plan to drown the earth in motlen, hot "magma"!
Given the rapidly increasing obesity of the American public, Microsft will make quite a bit of money by charging for fat.
I wonder if I can have liposuction and send my extra 20lbs back for a refund and get myself a copy of Lindows?
Isn't this simply the music industry grasping at straws to save itself?
The simple fact is that no legislation can force individuals to buy their music from any specific source, and if people start getting their music some other way, there's very little the music industry can do to stop it.
When some other music distribution system finally takes away most of the RIAA's customers, an exemption from anti-trust lawsuits will be useless to them. Noone will be suing them for anti-trust when they are no longer a monopoly!
I think that part of the reason no one will do anything about this is that the media is giving 24/7 coverage to Michael Jackson, and almost no coverage to issues like this.
If I check a box in my Yahoo profile which asks me to state that I don't want to receive any communication from Yahoo, and then they go ahead and send me a communication, they are essentially violating their own agreement, and I would say that automatically qualifies this communication as spam.
In which case Yahoo would be violating the law on a grand scale by sending out millions of UNSOLICITED emails.
Oce could even argue that it is somehow worse than unsolicited, if there is such a thing, because I EXPLICITLY told them that I did not want to recieve any communication from them!
How much clearer can you be?
Slashdot Mirror
TEXT OF ARTICLE:
.
BANGALORE (Reuters) - India's film makers are offering Internet movie downloads on web site Kazaa in a move that could lower costs and boost revenues in Bollywood, the world's most prolific film production center.
Some 35 producers will be able to sell movies using Kazaa, a file-sharing program owned by Australia's Sharman Networks Ltd., according to company statement.
"In a distribution deal struck between Sharman's partner Altnet, Inc...and IndiaFM.com, one of the most popular Bollywood entertainment sites, Kazaa's estimated 60 million global users will gain access to previously unavailable content," the statement said.
The industry started its first download last month when Kazaa's users were offered "Supari" (A Contract for Killing), a slick thriller, for $2.99. The file was programmed to self destruct after being viewed and could not be copied.
"It was a thrill for me to become the first to do it, in an industry which had ignored the Internet, or did not pay enough attention," said Meenu Kumar, the film's executive producer.
Bombay's Hindi cinema dominates India's movie industry, which churns out about 1,000 films every year.
Only about 10 million of India's one billion people are Internet users. But with another 20 million Indians overseas, the Internet could become a worldwide box office for Bollywood.
IndiaFM's customers include Mukta Arts, controlled by director Subhash Ghai, and Tata Infomedia Ltd.
"The deal means that Bollywood producers can now distribute movies, music and other large, rich media files online that would be too large and expensive to host on a traditional Web site," the statement said.
LONG-TERM GAME
"We are starting with promotional content but we are in the process which will allow movies and songs on a pay-per-view mode in the new year," Saleem Mobhani, co-founder of IndiaFM, which is run by Virtual Marketing India Pvt Ltd., told Reuters.
Industry officials do not expect quick revenue, but see long-term potential in India, where movie distribution deals are sold via territory rights, roughly for each state, and DVD and television broadcast rights are sold separately.
"There will come a time soon when it (the Internet) will become a solo territory on its own," but could be at the expense of video disk sellers, said Kumar.
"More than cost efficiency, it is very convenient for non-resident Indians," Kumar said. "And I sincerely think it curbs piracy."
Hollywood has been slow to embrace downloads, seeing the medium as a threat to existing revenues. Kazaa has faced criticism and opposition in the industry, but is confident that secure Internet distribution can be safe and legal.
A survey by Britain's Informa Media Group said this year that Internet movie sales could be worth more than $800 million a year by 2010, but said illegal downloads were already costing as much as $92 million in lost revenue.
Didn't Robin Williams do this already in Bicentennial Man? There was even a scene where they talked abou the three laws of robotics.
Windows Security. That's like... Military Intelligence? Jumbo Shrimp? Microsoft Works?
I believe if the Bubble and Anti-Bubbles were to mix, they would annihialte each other, producing a massive headache!
- or -
You could produce some sort of beer warp field from the reaction. I am sure commander Scott would approve...just pour some Guiness into the Warp Core! Saves us from having to pay for all those expensive di-lithium crystals!
- Captain Kirk
Judging by the success of companies like Barnes & Noble and Amazon, I'd have to say that he is wrong. Plus my own personal experience...my wife and I spend more on books than almost any other media!
Now we know where New Zealand's Bruce Simpson has hidden his cruise missle!
All I need to do is send Frodo to drop the Spam Ring into the pit of Mount Doom, thereby releasing us from this evil.
Then I can go back to the Shire and light off my fireworks...
- Gandalf the Grey
You can't name it the "puma" because I am "thepuma"!
- Steve Puma
I have to admit that I thought it was one of the best SciFi movies/miniseries I have seen in a while, and I really enjoyed the way it was done.
I thought it was a great idea to use the same concepts but in a very different way, so it could stand on it's own. I especially enjoyed the military-like feel and the camera work that made you feel like you were right in the action. It was very well executed.
I also thought that it was great the way that they made the Cylons very dangerous and threatening....unlike the OS where they were almost a joke. you really felt scared for those people!
I feel the same way about this that I felt about Star Trek:TNG vs. TOS...it took something good and made it even cooler!
How about my design for Dolphins with Frikken Laser Beams Attached to Their Fins?
D. Evil
Movie trailers practically tell the whole readers'-digest version of the story. The worst offender recently was Matrix: Revolutions, where I didn't see a single thing that wasn't alluded to in the trailer. Especially bad was the scene where Neo meets with the machine god, and the only word he says which isn't in the trailer is "peace"!
That darn smartass NRC is always spoiling the curve for everyone!
I don't mean to imply that it is age-specific at all. I am 37 and an IT guy, and I didn't know the term "ripping" as it applied to MP3s until 2 years ago.
My point is that you have to have experience either doing the task yourself, or conversing with someone who did (like having a teenager).
I think that *most* people have not had the experience of converting their CDs to MP3s, and therefore I believe that if you conducted a poll, most people would not give you that definition.
I would never sell people short because of age. My grandfather was on the internet at 80, but he has no idea what ripping is.
"Ripping" is a pretty specific term, and you have to have performed the task yourself and have some knowledge of what is going on. Most user-friendly software that converts CDs to MP3s do not call it "ripping".
I don't think that most people over the age of 30 would be able to tell you what "ripping" means.
And even a lot of those people that are computer literate are not necessary to the level where they know all of the "lingo".
Wouldn't you just wait until this guy was done with his missile, and then just steal it from him? Why bother mucking around with building one yourself, when he can do it for you, and then let you know when it is done.
It also makes sense to have the cargo ships in a continuously-returning route between Mars and Earth, only using gravitational braking to slow down and drop off cargo into orbit.
I have also seen it suggested where they use shuttle fuel tanks as a cheap way to construct the cargo ships.
And then fly up to it. Duh.
ACK-ACK!
This just proves his point. These guys were very unique and gifted, and had patrons to support their work, while they did it full-time. If these guys had to work a separate job to support themselves, they might not have been able to devote the time necessary to achieve the things they did.
- Dr. Evil
right, MiniMe?
Given the rapidly increasing obesity of the American public, Microsft will make quite a bit of money by charging for fat. I wonder if I can have liposuction and send my extra 20lbs back for a refund and get myself a copy of Lindows?
Isn't this simply the music industry grasping at straws to save itself?
The simple fact is that no legislation can force individuals to buy their music from any specific source, and if people start getting their music some other way, there's very little the music industry can do to stop it.
When some other music distribution system finally takes away most of the RIAA's customers, an exemption from anti-trust lawsuits will be useless to them. Noone will be suing them for anti-trust when they are no longer a monopoly!
I think that part of the reason no one will do anything about this is that the media is giving 24/7 coverage to Michael Jackson, and almost no coverage to issues like this.
If I check a box in my Yahoo profile which asks me to state that I don't want to receive any communication from Yahoo, and then they go ahead and send me a communication, they are essentially violating their own agreement, and I would say that automatically qualifies this communication as spam. In which case Yahoo would be violating the law on a grand scale by sending out millions of UNSOLICITED emails. Oce could even argue that it is somehow worse than unsolicited, if there is such a thing, because I EXPLICITLY told them that I did not want to recieve any communication from them! How much clearer can you be?