Universal Charges for Free Service

[Brendan Goetz]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/03/23/movie.download/index.html?section=cnn_tech' target='_blank'>http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/03/23/movie.download/index.html?section=cnn_tech</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Universal Pictures and the online rental firm Lovefilm are launching what they say is the world's first download-to-own movie service in Britain next month. Starting with "King Kong" on April 10, the companies say the new service will let people watch the latest movies on their laptops, home computers or hand-held devices while on the move. Films will be available to download the same day the DVD is released. Consumers will get the film in three formats: two digital files available for instant download -- one for a PC or laptop and one for a portable device -- and a DVD copy sent by mail."</i><br /><br />How is this easier or better than just ripping the movie yourself? If you bought it, then you can rip and watch it on as many devices as you want. There is nothing stopping a person who owns a movie/CD from watching or listening to that media on whatever device they own. This is another example of charging people for something they already get for free. How about just regular old legal movie downloads like they do with music over at iTunes? If people are lining up to buy movies on line, why not just sell them? If you are worried about people swapping them on the Internet, well, guess what? They already are doing that. You’re just not getting paid.

[makicr]

[i]There is nothing stopping a person who owns a movie/CD from watching or listening to that media on whatever device they own.

The MPAA would say that ripping a DVD violates the DMCA as you have to decode and recode the digital content.

Notwithstanding, potential legal issues, while those that read the forumns on this site may be able to reencode the video so that it is playable on hand-held devices and their computers, many consumers will not. If there is an easy way to DL the file without having the encoding issues, I forsee many chosing that alternative.

[i]How about just regular old legal movie downloads like they do with music over at iTunes?

Isn't that what Universal is offering to do here? There is nothing that says that you have to have to pay for this service, everytime you buy a DVD. All I read this to do is provide you with three methods to view the content that you pay for.

[Jason Dunn]

How is this easier or better than just ripping the movie yourself?

I'd say that ripping a DVD is not something most people can, or would want, to do. This is a mainstream solution...