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Movies Media The Almighty Buck The Internet

Disney to Make Movies Available Online 355

Posted by CowboyNeal from the pay-to-play dept.
musiholic writes "Disney has cut a deal with Movielink to make various Disney (and Disney subsidary) films available for 30-day paid downloads. Users can watch the film an unlimited amount of times before the movie expires. The movies requre Real Player or WMP."
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Disney to Make Movies Available Online More

Disney to Make Movies Available Online

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  • a new hell (Score:5, Funny)

    by gokubi ( 413425 ) * on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:08PM (#6526747) Homepage
    Ah, a new hell for us parents:

    "IS THE DOWNLOAD DONE YET?"

    "No, 63% to go."

    "IS THE DOWNLOAD DONE YET?"

    "No, 62% to go."

    "IS THE DOWNLOAD DONE YET?"

    "No, 61% to go."

    "IS THE DOWNLOAD DONE YET?"

    "sigh"

    • and so on until.... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Hogwash McFly ( 678207 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:24PM (#6526936)
      "IS THE DOWNLOAD DONE YET?"

      "No, 1% to go."

      "IS THE DOWNLOAD DONE YET?"

      "Yes! You can watch Monsters Inc 2 now!"

      "I DON'T WANT MONSTERS INC ANYMORE I WANNA PLAY PLAYSTATION"

      *twitches, vein in forehead pops*

    • Re:a new hell (Score:5, Funny)

      by Tenebrious1 ( 530949 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @09:20PM (#6528167) Homepage
      {After waiting two hours for the movie to download}

      OK kids! {hits play}
      "Now available from Disney on DVD..."
      {FastForward}
      "Coming soon from Disney Home Theater..."
      {FastForward}
      "Now playing in theaters from the creators of..."
      {FastForward}
      "Walt Disney World presents..."
      "Coming..."{FastForward}"From..."{FastForward}"Now available..."{FastForward}"Kids..."{FastForward}"M aw..."{FastForward}"Angels..."{FastForward}"After. .."{FastForward}
      "Now the Feature Presentation... please wait while your movie downloads..."

      99.99% to go...

  • Good (Score:5, Interesting)

    by digital bath ( 650895 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:09PM (#6526748) Homepage
    Now if only the RIAA could follow this lead. I don't seen anyone hating disney - oh wait, they're not suing the youth of America.

    • Re:Good (Score:4, Funny)

      by grennis ( 344262 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:13PM (#6526797)
      I don't seen anyone hating disney

      I guess you are new here?

    • Re:Good (Score:3, Funny)

      by David Hume ( 200499 )

      Now if only the RIAA could follow this lead. I don't seen anyone hating disney - oh wait, they're not suing the youth of America.


      I suspect it will not be enough for the majority on Slashdot. Why? Because the movies expire within 30 days, and many may find that to be unacceptable. I mean, why should Disney be allowed to offer its movies only on terms it deems to be acceptable?

    • oh wait, they're not suing the youth of America.

      Of course not, they're too busy extending copyrights from here to eternity.

    • Oh? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by DesScorp ( 410532 )
      " Now if only the RIAA could follow this lead. I don't seen anyone hating disney - oh wait, they're not suing the youth of America."

      Rest assured that if movie downloading ever matches the level of music downloading, they will. Disney aggressively protects their copyrights and properties, and was one of the prime movers in getting copyright terms extended.

    • Cops suck too (Score:3, Insightful)

      by KalvinB ( 205500 )
      ...because they arrest the youth of America. And judges because they put the youth of America in jail. And our peers too because they form the jury that convicts the youth of America.

      How dare we punish kids who do illegal things.

      Ben

    • Disney is suing the youth of America (Score:5, Informative)

      by Tenebrious1 ( 530949 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @08:49PM (#6527991) Homepage
      Now if only the RIAA could follow this lead. I don't seen anyone hating disney - oh wait, they're not suing the youth of America.

      Disney has a music branch, Walt Disney Records that is a member [216.239.37.104] of the RIAA, so yes, they are suing the youth of America.

  • Wow! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by WuWarrior ( 628294 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:09PM (#6526751)
    I can't believe Disney actually came up with this. But what prevents the people who pay for the movie to share it?

    • Re:Wow! (Score:5, Informative)

      by RatBastard ( 949 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:20PM (#6526866) Homepage
      DRM. You did notice that the files are available in RM and WMV formats only, right? I'm not positive abiout Real files, but I know that WMV files (especially Media Player 9, which I'm sure you will need) can phone home to get permission to actually play.
      • Yeah, I've actually played WMV files that did the "phone home" bit. Back in the heady dotcom days, there was a company peddling an online movie technology that was meant to work with file sharing. They didn't care who copied the file, because in order to play the file on a new computer, you had to pay a license fee. Also, you couldn't start playback unless the system was online long enough to verify that you had paid for it. Don't know how it verified that it was on an "authorized" computer, though. Perhaps
      • They actually make you use their proprietary WMV player. It doesn't have to phone home, but you have to use the player. That way you could watch the movies on a plane sans 'net connection

  • They Don't Get It! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by blackmonday ( 607916 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:09PM (#6526752) Homepage
    I don't watch movies on my computer screen. I watch them on my TV.
    • I don't watch movies on my computer screen either, but I have a video card with TV-out, so I just hook up my computer to the TV, and watch away. Most laptops these days have an S-Video jack.
    • I don't watch movies on my computer screen. I watch them on my TV.

      Then don't get them via internet download, get them at your local video rental store. Disney's gotten that distribution medium for a few decades now.

    • Re:They Don't Get It! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by moncyb ( 456490 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @09:50PM (#6528354) Journal

      Are you saying you don't want to watch movies on your computer screen? Don't you realize just about any computer's display is far better than analog TV? According to my communications book, NTSC analog TV is 428x339 60 Hz interlaced. Unless you're using an Atari 130XE, that's quite bad.

      As to "they don't get it", they don't. I'm not paying money to a company who wants to take control of my computer. I don't want to pay money to a company who is trying to extend their copyrights forever, yet they will wait until the copyrights of others expire so they don't have to pay royalties. There are plenty of other nasty things they do.

  • Screen captures? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by GuyMannDude ( 574364 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:10PM (#6526759) Journal

    Users can watch the film an unlimited amount of times before the movie expires.

    What's to stop me from using a screen capture program while I'm playing it to make an unexpiring copy for myself?

    GMD

    • Guilt? :P

    • Re:Screen captures? (Score:5, Funny)

      by jared_hanson ( 514797 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:15PM (#6526827) Homepage Journal
      I made a LEGO MindStorms robot that would hit "Print Screen" at exactly 29.97 frames per second to do just this. A small utility program I wrote then writes a bitmap of a screen out to a file on disc. A little splicing and encoding, and *ta-da*, a never expiring movie.

      I nearly shot myself when I found out I could pipe the screen to my VCR through S-Video.
      • Wait.. you used LEGOs to do this? I think you need to put the 50mb movies on your cable/DSL server and then submit it as a story to Slashdot. That would be in the true Slashdot spirit.

    • Re:Screen captures? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by rgoer ( 521471 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:18PM (#6526851)
      What's to stop me from using a screen capture program...

      Nothing, probably.

      But, assuming they are going to treat this like a thirty day "rental," my guess would be that copyright law would be applicable and such a screen-capture duplication would be illegal--since you don't own the thing you rent, it is not yours to duplicate.

      Then again, I could be wrong about this (among other things).
      • such a screen-capture duplication would be illegal--since you don't own the thing you rent, it is not yours to duplicate.

        And that matters to us how....oh wait, you're new here, my mistake. Welcome.

    • What's to stop you from training a video camera at your tv screen? (Ok, so it probably requires a GenLock to sync the camera to the tv to get a decent picture.)

    • Re:Screen captures? (Score:4, Funny)

      by Alton_Brown ( 577453 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:26PM (#6526957)
      Um, you're not a parent are you? ;) Not being able to watch the movie after 30 days is a GOOD thing! Trust me! Added bonus - kids won't be tying up the home theater either! I think *I* know all the lines to Monster's Inc. now :)

    • Re:Screen captures? (Score:3, Informative)

      by afidel ( 530433 )
      Macrovision on the tv-out and overlay mode for VGA that makes it near impossible to get a screen capture of the actual movie (you just get a grey box that is underneath the overlay). So other than defeating Macrovision (easy), or hacking the video driver to record the overlay (almost as easy), there isn't currently a lot to stop you if you REALLY want to, in the future they will have Palladium and encrypted HDTV firewire tunnels.

    • b. Premium Content License. Upon payment of the License Fee, Movielink will grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited right and license to download, use and privately display in your Residence or for Permitted Non-Residential Use, the Premium Content purchased by you, by way of one (1) computer connected to the Services over the Internet, provided that you comply fully with this Agreement. Movielink will save the Premium Content to your hard drive. You shall not be permitted to copy or move the P

    • That stops you from going to a video store renting a movie(on DVD or Tape, if you thought of using screen captures I know you can figure out DeCSS and Macrovision) and making a copy.

      I think you're being sarcastic but of course you got an Interesting modifier which makes me laugh.
    • There's the fact that you can buy a DVD of the movie for around $15.

  • So . . . (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    . . . How much less is this going to cost than a brick and mortar rental, because of the reduced expenses involved and the use of the customer's bandwidth for transfer?

    Or is this going to be just as expensive, but require the introduction of DRM crap into the holy of holies that is my machine. (Which implies that it's DOA, as far as I'm concerned.)

    That, and I wouldn't give the jackbooted DMCA-wielding, CTEA bribing thugs at Disney a cent, anyway. Mickey Mouse can suck my cock.

    ~~~

  • Here we go again: (Score:5, Informative)

    by oscast ( 653817 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:10PM (#6526769) Homepage
    "Thank you for your interest in Movielink. We want you to take part in the powerful Internet movie rental experience that Movielink delivers; however, you currently do not meet our minimum system requirements. You will need to adjust the following: You Need Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP"

    • Re:Here we go again: (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Trelane ( 16124 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:22PM (#6526901) Journal
      What's really dumb is that (so far as I can tell), there isn't anything that is Internet Explorer-, let alone Windows-specific there. If they do both Windows Media Format and Real Player 8, it should work on most all desktop OSes, since there is a Real Player 8 client for most desktop OSes (either through Real or through one of their "community" versions).

      Quite assinine requirements, imho.
    • I remember reading an article on news.com.com.com.com few days ago about how movielink locked out everyone but Windows/IE users. It was written in a pretty tough stance towards such practices and nailed the point in the head.

      Strangely enough, I can't seem to find the article anymore, rather if I search news.com.com on movielink, I get only positive news (read PR and ads) and a sponsored link to the movielink website.

      Good job selling out guys! I'll adjust my "trust level" accordingly.
  • who swore they'd never let their IP be put on the new fangled VCR.

    On the other hand you can bet your ass there will be DRM out the wazoo on these files. It will be interesting seeing how quickly they can be removed.

    I bet the FIRST trick is make it too big to be burned to a CDR.

    • I bet the FIRST trick is make it too big to be burned to a CDR.

      Nah, they are going to put it into M$ Word format. Let's see anyone figure that one out.

    • On the other hand you can bet your ass there will be DRM out the wazoo on these files.

      And let me tell you, when you've got DRM coming out your wazoo, it doesn't do a thing for your complexion.

    • I bet the FIRST trick is make it too big to be burned to a CDR.

      Put it on DVD-R, then...they're getting cheap enough now.

      On the other hand you can bet your ass there will be DRM out the wazoo on these files. It will be interesting seeing how quickly they can be removed.

      Having never run across a DRM'd file, it's hard to say...maybe it'd be possible to cobble something together between GraphEdit and the Windows Media Format SDK that would at least strip out the DRM. As for converting to other for

    • DVD-R drives are about as cheap as cdrw drives were about 2 years ago so that isn't much of a barrier.

    • ...Hell residents brace for blizzard conditions.

      Seriously, you're right. I'm highly surprised that they of all companies would be doing this. Strange world.

  • Linux version of Real support? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Realistic_Dragon ( 655151 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:11PM (#6526783) Homepage
    I was trying to find out if the Linux version of Real player was supported, but it blocks anyone not in the US.

    Guess they haven't quite got the hang of the fact that the biggest advantage of the internet is it's worldwide reach yet.
    • Nope. I'm using OS X and it requires IE 5.0+ and Windows just to enter their site!
    • Guess they haven't quite got the hang of the fact that the biggest advantage of the internet is it's worldwide reach yet.

      As nice as it would be for them to release the movies to a worldwide audience all at once, there are probably legal reasons (copyright law, international distribution rights, etc.) that they haven't got them in other countries yet. Apple's facing the same problem with their iTunes Music Store, but they're working out those issues as quickly as they can.

      While the Internet is worldwide,
    • Also would be nice if they supported Mozilla ... or anything besides just IE5.0 or higher (Gee... and I thought Mozilla 1.4.1 WAS higher :) )

  • should be fun... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BFedRec ( 257522 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:11PM (#6526784) Homepage
    Should be fun, but I don't think the disney rental world is the best for downloaded time stamped movies. I know as a parent, the KID movies are the ones you end up BUYING, as they are most likely to be watched over and over and over again for the next several years... and disney is the most common of that genre. Though if it's not TOO expensive I would probably try it... and if they tied it into a discount if you purchase the DVD... hmmmmmm

  • Not unlimited viewings for 30 days, but 24 hours (Score:5, Informative)

    by Cancel ( 596312 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:12PM (#6526795)

    This is closer to renting a movie than anything else, aside from the 30-day storage option. From the story: Customers will be able to store movies for up to 30 days. Over that span, they can watch a movie as many times as they wish in a 24-hour period.

    Another article [yahoo.com] is more detailed: The movie files can be viewed on a PC or on a television connected to a computer, but customers have a maximum of 30 days to begin watching their downloaded movie. Once they begin to do so, the movie can be viewed only over the next 24 hours.
  • This is exactly I want and therefore I assume arrogantly that it's what everyone else wants. 30 days is enough to get bored of a movie, and downloading is so much easier than going to the DVD store.
    Now, perhaps a collaboration with some P2P distribution system so that I can actually profit from that fat line I have.
    Excellent work, oh Disney. Now perhaps you can go and review that thing about stealing the world's folk histories but trying to copyright Mickey Mouse for infinity. Share and share, it's good

  • Why RM or WMA? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dethl ( 626353 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:13PM (#6526807)
    If this is going to be targeting the broadband users, then why don't they use a better codec? I know I'm burning karma here, but I'd rather see the movies in mpeg4 or divx form.
    • Do mpeg4 and divx have easily-enforced DRM?

    • DRM (Score:2)

      by Omega ( 1602 )
      The reason they only support rm or wma is because they want to enforce digital restrictions management [fsf.org]. This is also the same reason they only support Windows. They put a self-destruct in the movies you d/l so you don't get to keep it or make backup copies.
    • Think about this for a minute. What's to stop an MPEG4 or DivX file from being sent on to another computer or even to Kazaa? Nothing. Real and Windows Media Player 9 both have DRM built in.

    • Re:Why RM or WMA? (Score:2, Informative)

      by XSforMe ( 446716 )

      ... why don't they use a better codec?
      wmv9 is up there along with divx4/mpeg4. Take a look here [doom9.org]

      But I doubt that is the reason why they are using wmv, more probably it is due to its DRM capabilities more than anything and its ability to self destroy past its expiration date.

      Still, it would be interesting to see if you can still convert it using TMPGEnc [tmpgenc.net] to any of your preferred DRM free formats.

  • Mmmm.. minimum requirements.. (Score:5, Informative)

    by cK-Gunslinger ( 443452 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:17PM (#6526834) Journal
    Movielink Minimum Requirements

    You need Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP
    You need Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher - Upgrade Now
    You need RealPlayer 8.0 or higher - Upgrade Now OR
    Windows Media Player 7.1 or higher - Upgrade Now
    You need a Connection Speed of 128 kbps or higher - Retake Connection Speed
    Scripting must be enabled

    To enable jscript, follow these steps:
    Internet Explorer 5
    1. Select "Internet Options" from the "Tools" menu on your browser
    2. Click on the "Security" tab
    3. Set the security to Medium on "Trusted Sites" and click "Apply"
    If jscript still doesn't function:
    1. Highlight the "Internet" icon and click "Custom Level..."
    2. Select "Enable" on all 3 radio buttons under "Scripting"
    3. Click "OK"
    Internet Explorer 6
    1. Select "Internet Options" from the "Tools" menu on your browser
    2. Click on the "Security" tab
    3. Highlight the "Internet" icon and click "Custom Level..."
    4. Select "Enable" on all 3 radio buttons under "Scripting"
    Cookies must be enabled

    To enable cookies, follow these steps:
    Internet Explorer 5
    1. Select "Internet Options" from the "Tools" menu on your browser
    2. Click on the "Security" tab
    3. Highlight the "Internet" icon and click "Custom Level..."
    4. Select "Enable" on all radio buttons under "Cookies"
    5. Click "OK"
    Internet Explorer 6
    1. Select "Internet Options" from the "Tools" menu on your browser
    2. Click on the "Privacy" tab and press "Advanced..."
    3. Check "Override automatic cookie handling"
    4. Accept both cookie options and check "Always allow session cookies"
    5. Click "OK"
  • I would think that this sort of thing would work out as well or better for mainstream films than for kids movies.

    Pros:
    Same price as a VHS/DVD rental
    Don't have to leave the house
    Don't have to be worried about availability
    Unlimited viewings for 30 days
    Nothing to return

    Cons:
    Requires a computer
    Requires a reasonable internet connection
    Have to have the proper software installed
    Have to have a credit card
    Have to watch on computer monitor
    Have to wait for download
    • Pros:

      Unlimited viewings for 30 days


      No, you have 30 days to start watching it, but once you do, only 24 hours to watch it.

      • No, you have 30 days to start watching it, but once you do, only 24 hours to watch it.

        I am just curious, what would it take to give it the wrong time?

        Does it check for a system time? That would be pretty easy, you could even have a daemon/service running that would set the system time accrodingly, depending on what movie you'd like to watch and tracking when you downloaded it.

        Does it access some server on the Internet to get time? As long as the protocol is not encrypted, you could re-route those reque

  • I wonder if they will have the 1959 animated short Donald Duck in Mathemagic Land [teemings.com]?

  • Disney and risks (Score:2, Interesting)

    by thule ( 9041 )
    Disney seems to get a lot of grief, but it does seem that they are able to take some risks every once in a while. Disney said they'd never release their animated classics on DVD, but they did (and they've made a lot of money on them). Disney feared VHS/DVD, now they embrace it. Disney fears the Internet, but now it seems they are trying to embrace it.

    Do a search on "Moviebeam" and check out what else they're up to. Moviebeam is a TiVo like service that beams digital movies over the broadcast airwaves (
  • Dear Disney, I have two children. They are demanding. What the hell makes you think they are going to wait for a goddamn movie to download? My two year old son throws a fit if I can't put the Ice Age DVD in quick enough!
    • Ick!!! Do the kid a favor -- buy him the Monsters Inc. DVD. Unlike most movies, it's only mildly annoying to have to watch Monsters over and over again. I beleive my daughter has memorized at least half of the dialogue by now...

  • Sweet! (Score:2)

    by El ( 94934 )
    Users can watch the film an unlimited amount of times before the movie expires.

    For my daughter, that would be at least 60 times!

  • Miramax included? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Equuleus42 ( 723 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:25PM (#6526943) Homepage
    The last I heard, Disney owned Miramax -- does that mean that titles like Clerks and Pulp Fiction will be released? Don't get me wrong -- I like both movies, but I'm not sure that Disney would want people to associate them with movies that use the word "fuck" more than the word "the"... :^)

  • Why would _Disney_ do this? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jdbo ( 35629 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:27PM (#6526976)
    While I may have a misunderstanding of Disney's market, I am under the impression that they primarily sell family entertainment, esp. movies for children.

    Now, children's entertainment is a special category, in that kids watch movies OVER and OVER and OVER again - more often on VHS format than DVD, due to the relative durability of the former (though this may be changing). because of this, families tend to BUY disney movies (vs. renting); if they rent, it's to check something out before buying it.

    Now what aspect of the above market does Disney hope to satisfy with downloadable movies?
    - these movies will have to be accessed on the computer (not as easy as VCR/VHS, let alone half as childproof)
    - these movies expires after 30 days
    (not as permanent - and kids will obsess over their shows for far longer than 30 days...)
    - the cost is $3-$5 dollars per download (cheaper than rental for the amount of time, but even considering an optimistic 1-hour download time, it's still going to be faster to drive to the store and back (for most US citizens) than to download - and (I believe) that there's still not much coverage for broadband in most rural areas...
    d) Also, for those who don't mind waiting (or lack broadband), Netflix (and its competitors) offer a similarly-priced, keep-as-long-as-you-feel rental system.

    Now I realize that Disney is not just a kids' movie company, but I still don't see how this system makes much sense.

    OTOH, I am pleasantly surprised to see (even this much) innovation from a company with such a draconian distribution history.

  • A pointless service (Score:2, Informative)

    by shamino0 ( 551710 )
    Let's see here....

    For $3-5, you get to spend all evening downloading a file. When you get it, you have 30 days to play it before it self-destructs. And it self-destructs 24 hours after you start playing it. And you have to watch it on your computer, and the computer must be a PC running Windows.

    On the other hand, video rental stores charge you the same $3-5, and you usually have at least three days to watch it.

    Or pay-per-view cable which costs the same $3-5 for 24 hours, but doesn't involve any dow

    • It's a new paradigm shift! It's revolutionary! It harnesses the radical power or the global economy and bottles it in an easy to use-powerful form avaliable to anybody with an internet connection! It'll make us billions! MUHAHAHAHAHA!

      (cough) shit, I just slipped into "jaded movie exec mode" there...

  • An opportunity for Apple... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Chief Typist ( 110285 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:44PM (#6527123) Homepage
    This is lame, for the many reasons pointed out in this thread (too short expiration, buy vs. rent for kids, etc.) The interesting thing, at least in my mind, is that Disney is opening their intellectual property up a bit (granted, it's got DRM up the wazoo.)

    What would happen if Apple/Jobs did a movie service like they've done with the iTunes Music Store?

    They've got the inside connections in Hollywood (Pixar, editing suites, etc.)

    They've got the technology (QuickTime, delivery mechanisms & bandwidth)

    And they could make it easy enough for my Mom to use...

    -ch

  • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • This is nothing new... (Score:4, Funny)

    by EverDense ( 575518 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @06:52PM (#6527187) Homepage
    This is nothing new...

    How is this possibly news?

    Disney and ShareReactor have partnered up for quite a few years now.
  • I like this, but what's the best way to show this on my TV. I much prefer the TV to the computer screen for movie viewing. In fact, that is probably the one thing stopping me from downloading my first movie tonight.

    Hope Disney will include everything they have that is over 2 years old.

    • Connect your TV to your computer. Just use a VGA to component adapter [google.com]. If you have a fairly new TV and a fairly new video card, you can probably just use a DVI cable to connect the two.
      • Connect your TV to your computer.

        Duh. Like many people, my computer is in my study, not my living room. The distance between them is non-trival. In fact, it's a distinct advantage to have my study far from the chaos of the living room.

        Even if I ran a wire the distance (assuming that's possible), I won't have any remote control functionality over the viewing functions. Not the recipe for a satisfactory viewing experience.

        I guess what they really need to do is be able to download this to an Internet

  • Yawn (Score:2)

    by geomon ( 78680 )
    Great. Now I can watch "The Apple Dumpling Gang IX - Clovis' Revenge!".

    Seriously though, ever since Disney began the ruinous process of serializing every one of its classics, I can do without their fare.

    They will probably pressure Congress to *force* us to subscribe.

  • "Thank you for your interest in Movielink. We want you to take part in the powerful Internet movie rental experience that Movielink delivers, but it is presently unavailable to users outside of the United States."

  • DRM Alternative? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by randallman ( 605329 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @07:32PM (#6527508)
    On topic, I tried the service and the video quality was quite poor. Off topic (slightly on), since DRM is bad, what would be a good alternative? I don't think online rentals will ever work without some restrictions. There has to be an opportunity for profit. I would like to be able to download a DVD quality movie and watch it.

    I think the answer should be open (not proprietary). Like SSL encryption. How about some time of key encryption system. Your system uploads unique data which is used to encrypt the movie and generate a decryption key that will only work on your system.

    There is no perfect solution, because of our lack of integrity. If everyone was honest, we wouldn't need locks on our doors.

  • Not going to work! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by The Master Control P ( 655590 ) <ejkeever@nerdshacFREEBSDk.com minus bsd> on Thursday July 24, 2003 @10:47PM (#6528719)
    * I will not use Windows to do anything, and you're not going to make me.
    * I don't want to wait an hour to download it and then get to view for 24 hours, when I could get it for the same price in 10 minutes from Blockbuster.
    * The rental will have far superior video and audio quality.
    * My computer is upstairs, and the TV with a real sound system is downstairs.
    * DRM. Although at any rate, I could simply connect my video cards' S-Video out to my capture cards' S-Video in :)

    So, in short, the quality necessary to shove it down even a broadband connection sucks, it's DRMed, and I don't like watching movies on my computer.

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