It's official, most of the major movie studios are getting behind digital download . Yes you read correctly...but of course, only because they have a vested interest in Movielink and CinemaNow. What does this mean? They make the rules!
Guess what? These movies can be burned to DVD but not playable on just any DVD player no, only on the PC it was originally downloaded to. Oh and maybe it can be copied over to another PC or two or...Man this is confusing. Gee, I wonder why. Too many rules and of course, the two services are offering different studio releases with different rules attached to them.
In addition to downloading and renting titles for a 24-hour period, the Download-To-Own service from Movielink will allow customers to keep titles permanently. The digital rights management (DRM) system will allow customers to watch purchased films on up to three PCs, to burn them to a DVD (in Windows Media format) for "backup," and stream downloaded titles around the home via home networking.
As I do applaud the studios for taking this step, it's really not that big of one considering the high cost and the inconvenience of not being able to play it in your home theater, unless of course you downloaded the movie to your HTPC to start with. Anyway, Movielink will charge an estimated $20-30 for new releases, $10-20 for old movies. Doesn't sound like a good deal to me but who am I to say...
Of course, if you believe as I believe and many other consumers are quickly realizing, whether you purchase a DVD copy or download copy, you own that and can do with it whatever you want. If that means cracking the DRM, so be it. Take Mark Cuban's advice!
Technorati Tags: cinemanow, digital downloads, drm, mark cuban, movielink, movies, dvd
