By Brett Larson, Tech Live
Anyone who has stayed in a hotel knows the pleasure of movies-on-demand.
However, bringing that experience home has been anything but successful. Pay-per-view still requires that you keep a schedule, and movies-on-demand available to consumers are few and far between. Now, with the support of MGM, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, and Warner Bros., Movielink rents movies via the Internet.
Of piracy and profits
Hoping to cash in on the growing popularity of broadband Internet, Movielink will provide titles you can download at prices ranging from a reasonable $1.99 to $4.95 — the newer movies cost more. The service also comes with VCR-like functions on its Movielink Manager media player that allows for fast-forwarding, rewinding, and pausing. Movielink recently partnered with Microsoft and RealNetworks to allow movies to be played through Windows Media Player and RealPlayer, too.
However, the caveat to the entire process — and the part that will, hopefully, avoid piracy — is the length of time you can keep the video file on your hard drive: 30 days. After that point, it will be deleted (a process which begs for hackers to circumvent). And the piracy-avoidance technology goes a step further. Once a film is played, viewers have 24 hours to watch the full movie before it’s deleted. You can watch the film as many times as you’d like within that period.
All this is done in the hope that those movie files won’t be circulated on the Internet, where they become free to anyone who can grab them. The idea of time-dated viewing stinks of DivX, the DVD format offered by Circuit City until recently. DivX failed because, among other reasons, viewers didn’t like the idea of paying to watch movies on their set-top DVD players.
Another downside to downloading movies is where you’ll view them — on your computer. With the exception of your backseat guests on long road trips, and perhaps college students lacking televisions, not many people will enjoy gathering around their computer monitor to watch movies. Certainly, extra hardware can be attached to your computer to hook it up to your TV, but the process seems a bit time-consuming just for cutting out the process of getting videos. Certainly a product such as Netflix, which lets you order DVDs online and have them delivered via regular mail for a monthly fee, will remain popular.
Got a fast modem?
Due to their large file sizes, Movielink movies require a broadband connection. Without broadband, the download time becomes restrictive. Broadband connections are in some 25 million homes, and Movielink sees that as a relatively large potential market.
In short, Movielink’s idea is excellent, given the logistics of playing movies on computer screens. However, perhaps the prospect of hooking up your PC to your TV makes this idea one that’s slightly ahead of its time.
Pros: Easy-to-acquire movies; reasonable price.
Cons: Computer playback; time requirements.
Company: Movielink
Price: $1.99 to $4.95
Available: Now
Category: Downloadable movies
Specs: Requires Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, or the Movielink Manager to watch movies.
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