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Businesses Cloud Movies The Almighty Buck The Internet

Hollywood Studios Join Disney To Launch Movies Anywhere Digital Locker Service (theverge.com) 48

Posted by msmash from the 73672th-is-the-charm dept.
There may be a grand unifying service to make accumulating a large digital cinematic library feasible, or so is the hope anyway. From a report: For several years now, Disney has been the only Hollywood studio with a digital movie locker worth using, but a host of other industry heavyweights have now jumped on board to launch an expanded version of the service called Movies Anywhere. It's both a cloud-based digital locker and a one-stop-shop app: customers connect Movies Anywhere to their iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play, or Vudu accounts, and all of the eligible movies they've purchased through those retailers appear as part of their Movies Anywhere library. Given that the Movies Anywhere app works across a number of platforms, it basically allows them to take their digital film library with them no matter what device or operating system they're using. [...] The launch of Movies Anywhere should be the merciful, final blow that puts an end to UltraViolet, one of the entertainment industry's first attempts at putting together a comprehensive digital locker service. That service flailed due to a poor customer experience and lack of adoption on the part of big digital retailers like Apple. The team behind Movies Anywhere seems to have learned from UltraViolet's mistakes, however, as well as Disney's previous successes.
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Hollywood Studios Join Disney To Launch Movies Anywhere Digital Locker Service More

Hollywood Studios Join Disney To Launch Movies Anywhere Digital Locker Service

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  • I'm not sure... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by JohnFen ( 1641097 ) on Thursday October 12, 2017 @02:27PM (#55357441)

    make accumulating a large digital cinematic library feasible

    If you don't have the video in your possession, I don't think it counts as "accumulating a library".

    • Re:I'm not sure... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by vanyel ( 28049 ) on Thursday October 12, 2017 @02:30PM (#55357481) Journal

      Even if it's in my possession, if it requires someone else to approve my watching it every time I want to, or it's not playable by standard software so I can be sure that as platforms are updated I'll still be able to watch it, then it's just a rental, not a purchase. No thanks.

      • True, I was simplifying. From my perspective, if you can't watch the video on your own terms, then you aren't in possession of it even if you do possess the bits.

        A bit like how if you have encrypted email that you can't read, you aren't really in possession of the message the email contains.

        • A bit like how if you have encrypted email that you can't read, you aren't really in possession of the message the email contains.

          Unless a court wants the contents of that email. Then they'll hold you in contempt until you magically remember the key.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by torkus ( 1133985 )

        Oh come on! It's not like any kind of media storage/DRM/C&C platform EVER went out of business and locked their customers out of the content.

        Right? Oh...right.

    • You may not have children who watch Disney movies, so I'll explain: It comes as a code with the Blu Ray and you enter it in, a la Steam, and now you can stream that movie anywhere just like Netflix. Just like with (some of) Netflix, you can download titles to local storage. It works well for locked down tablets for children, since you can give them access to the Disney app rather than needing to give them folder access to wherever you put the MP4s. With older children it'd work just as well either way.

      • Yes, I understood all that perfectly well.

        Note that I wasn't saying that the service was bad or useless. I was just taking issue with the "accumulating a library" description.

        • Fair enough! I share your skepticism about the long term viability of these services, but it isn't really any more inherently vulnerable than physical media and I was shocked at how user friendly it is versus pervious attempts by the industry to embrace digital content.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by torkus ( 1133985 )

      I'm pretty sure a 3TB portable drive already makes 'accumulating a large digital cinem.....fuck it's an easy place to store all my movies.

      Why hollywood insists on complicating this (in name AND practice) is beyond me...other than the usual "for profits and evil" of course.

      And if you want to get fancy, there's plenty of solutions out there to convert/stream on your own. Some of them are easier than trying to figure out the necessary apps for 17 difference services across your 4 or 5 different devices. And

      • who is complicating it again? Oh...you are....yeah...the average joe (six-pack...yes It is 1999 again) isn't going to think buying, ripping, and storing movies is simple....now add in the Plex server requirements for streaming his movies in his house, and then the added complications involved in remote access..... Yeah, you're right, entering a code for a blue-ray disk into a fucking app is way more complicated....

    • make accumulating a large digital cinematic library feasible

      If you don't have the video in your possession, I don't think it counts as "accumulating a library".

      You might not believe how many women disagree with you. It's always the women who force their men ti rip their discs and then get rid of the discs permanently.

  • sales much? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Could have used an actual article with in depth review of what works and what doesn't. The whole thing just reads like it was published by the sales department.
    I am no defender of Ultraviolet, in fact I'm quite annoyed by it, but show me in the article where it poitns out any business model differences or important ways that the consumer benefits by this new service.

    • Ditto. Did Disney write this press release? The only notable difference between UV and Movies Anywhere is that they didn't have Disney's library.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I think the terms are more agreeable to the vendor store fronts so it has wider adoption. It might also be easier to integrate into those store fronts.

  • What Hollywood really wants... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by sehlat ( 180760 ) on Thursday October 12, 2017 @02:29PM (#55357475)

    Everything on their servers. Nothing anywhere else.

    Next step after that, buying a law making it illegal to have movies, music, etc. etc. on your own hardware, with government-mandated spyware, sorry, MSFT calls it "telemetry," to make sure the law is enforced.

    And, of course, if the network goes down...

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      > And, of course, if the network goes down...

      At this point in human history, the network going down is equivalent to the power going out. Next time the internet goes out, just play board games or go out or something. It's really a meaningless statement nowadays.

    • There is a scene in the TV show Continuum where Kiera's (the main character of the show) home is searched. Books and DVDs are found and seized because there are illegal in the future.

      Could not find the clip of this.

  • also we harvest ur viewing habits (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 12, 2017 @02:31PM (#55357485)

    Our system does not respond to Do Not Track requests or headers from some or all browsers. We may use cookies or other technologies to deliver more relevant advertising and to link data collected across other computers or devices that you may use. To understand your choices for receiving more relevant advertising or to manage your online tracking or advertising preferences, please review the information below:

    Movies Anywhere adheres to the DAA's Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising. You may choose not to receive targeted advertising from many ad networks, data exchanges, marketing analytics and other service providers, by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance's (DAA) opt-out page at http://www.aboutads.info/choices, or the DAA's AppChoices tool at http://youradchoices.com/appchoices.

    On your mobile device, you may also adjust your privacy and advertising settings to control whether you want to receive more relevant advertising.

    this is just the beginning of the lol and i suggest u read the whole page

    • adheres to the DAA's Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising

      Ugh.

      Could there be a less meaningful thing that that?

      • “Online behavioural advertising” (as opposed to behaviour in online advertising) doesn’t sound meaningless but downright ominous. What is that, something like the Two Minutes Hate in “1984”?

    • OMG, someone might find out that my wife makes me watch chick flix

  • Wow (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Utgard-xyz ( 1365881 ) on Thursday October 12, 2017 @02:32PM (#55357495)

    Another change to re-buy your collection (and pay a storage fee) so you can get hammered by your cable company for excessive bandwidth fees (provided you in a spot that has enough bandwidth to stream a movie) until they close up shop and you have to re-buy your collection again when you move to the next service.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mcl630 ( 1839996 )

      While I don't disagree in a general sense, are you really expecting Google, Apple, Amazon, Disney, and Vudu to close their doors all at once?

  • got one already (Score:5, Funny)

    by nospam007 ( 722110 ) * on Thursday October 12, 2017 @02:35PM (#55357523)

    It's called a seedbox.

  • With movies using the Disney system, you could actually download a DRM-protected copy of the movie to your Mac.

    I joined the Disney program when it first started - they were offering a free copy of "The Incredibles" for signing up. It's still the only movie in my Disney-run vault.

  • it's called a DVD ripper. And I don't have to worry about slow 4G.
  • "Digital Locker" because it may require an individual to keep paying a subscription fee for access to what they have purchased?
    I took a quick look and don't see anything related to a subscription fee so I could be off base.
    Or this is just a lure to get individuals in before they go subscription.

    Not really sure at this point, But as a rule, I don't like having anything I purchased kept in someone else s hands.
    The other item is anytime you link things it sets you up for complex issues that could come up
  • So that means a big fuck you to everyone on Ultraviolet or other industry efforts. And who's to say the same won't happen in a few years time again?

    And that's the thing. You don't own your movies. You own a licence to watch a movie that's only as good as the platform it was issued on. Don't expect to donate, sell or loan your movies. Don't expect your family to have access to them if you die. Don't expect to watch movies at all if some legal fubar means the rights expire or whatever. Don't expect to play

  • For those people with a lot of movies in their UV locker, I hope they let you transfer the movies (maybe for a small fee)

  • Theatre tickets? (Score:3)

    by RhettLivingston ( 544140 ) on Thursday October 12, 2017 @05:07PM (#55358829) Journal
    If this service allowed one to "own" a movie after having paid to see it at the theater, I might actually start visiting theaters again.
  • Cool idea Disney, but you really don't have to worry about digital piracy. Pirates only 'steal' good movies, so you are quite safe.....

  • Like I lost ones that were redeemed with iTunes and not transferrable.

    Like all the licenses I bought for ringtone songs that were lost when my phone died under warranty.

    It would be really really really nice if content providers, who claim they aren't selling products and that we are only licensed to view the content...

    WOULD GIVE US THE DAMN LICENSES

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