Wal-Mart, the worlds biggest retailer and corporate behemoth, has announced plans to begin testing a video digital download service beginning next year.
Though don’t get too excited just yet, as it is part of a dual approach that ties digital downloads to the purchase of an actual DVD in the store. “We feel like it is really important that the DVD business stays healthy and stays quite central to consumers’ lives,” said Kevin Swint, a divisional merchandising manager at Wal-Mart..
Though not officially opening until next year, it is currently allowing customers who buy the DVD of “Superman Returns” to also download a copy to a portable video device for $1.97, to a PC for $2.97, or both for $3.97.
Ironically though, the movie studios are already arguing over the prices charged to customers as they are afraid that these low prices will become ingrained as the going rate for online movie download purchases.They feel that it would be better to provide the downloads free to DVD buyers, making them clearly a promotional item.
What’s oddly lacking in the whole affair is that it still seems to ignore the fact that DVD sales are on the decline and digital distribution is the future of movie content. So why does Wal-Mart make require you to purchase the DVD of the very movie you wish to download? Why in fact, would you even bother paying to download it in the first place when you could just rip a copy of it to your PC? It makes no sense and appears to be an odd and feeble 
attempt to make an extra buck.
This news from Wal-Mart marks another big shakeup in the way that Hollywood studios distribute movies to consumers.
Yesterday, BitTorrent Inc announced agreements with Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures, News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Palm Pictures and Kadokawa Pictures USA, to offer digital distribution using the fast and effective BitTorrent file-sharing protocol.
Now, with this move by Wal-Mart, the landscape of the video distribution model may forever be changed.
Wal-Mart currently accounts for 37% of the video sales in the United States.
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I've been interested in P2P since the early, high-flying days of Napster and KaZaA. I believe that analog copyright laws are ill-suited to the digital age, and that art and culture shouldn't be subject to the whims of international entertainment industry conglomerates. Twitter | Google Plus
37% buy their DVD's from WallMart. That's about the same percentage of people who still approve of Bush's performance as President. A coincidence? Fools will support WallMart and Bush's "free trade." Cheap products produced some where else by underpaid workers bought by foolish Americans who are barely scraping by themselves. No thanks. It's still rent and rip for me!
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