Amazon Unbox with DRM
p2pnet.net News:- Guess what? It’s the Internet Age. And that’s official.
Who says so? Hollywood. And Forbes. Oh, and Amazon which, amidst the usual mainstream media hype and hoopla, has opened its Windows XP-reliant, DRM-loaded Unbox online store peddling old movies such as Office Space (1999) for $13.45, or newer movies such as last year’s Rumor Has It for $19.62.
Yesterday, an Ipsos study revealed US punters haven’t been falling over themselves to spend their hard-earned money on Hollywood downloads, old or new, and at those kinds of prices, and given that the movies come loaded with Digital Restrictions, that’s hardly surprising.
Only 3% of Americans have gone for full-length downloads, said the report, and there’s no reason to believe movie lovers in other parts of the world will be any different.
Punters can also rent movies for $4, and TV shows for $2, but all those pricey downloads have to be watched within 30 days, or they self-destruct, and rentals have to be viewed within 24 hours. Or else.
But as Forbes puts it, “Hollywood finally lifted the curtain on the Internet Age Thursday afternoon, when online retail giant Amazon.com opened a store that sells digital movies consumers can download onto their computers. And on Tuesday, Apple Computer is expected to follow suit with its own online movie store.”
p2pnet’s most recent Movies File Share Top Ten has the flics below as the most DLd in the US:
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (not on Amazon)
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (not on Amazon)
- RV ($13.87)
- The Benchwarmers ($17.87)
- Scary Movie 4 (not on Amazon)
- V For Vendetta ($13.87)
- Silent Hill ($16.87)
- Inside Man ($14.87)
- Final Destination 3 (not on Amazon)
- Poseidon ($14.87)
Amazon prices include a “DVD-quality video” for PC or TV, and a video file optimized for compatible portable video players which, it says, include Creative Zen Vision: M; Creative Zen Vision; Toshiba Gigabeat S; Archos AV 500; Archos AV 700; and, iRiver PMC (Portable Media Center).
Conspicuous by its absence is, of course, Apple’s iPod, with Apple is planning its own online movie download venture.
Will players running Micosoft playsforsure be OK? Not for sure. Amazon says, “we cannot guarantee performance on untested devices”.
The company says US customers only can keep purchased videos on two PCs and two portable video players at the same time.
It doesn’t say what’ll happen if someone tries to play a movie they’ve paid through the nose for on three PCs, say, or three mobiles.
Stay tuned.
Also See:
Forbes – Hollywood Heads Online, September 8, 2006
Hollywood downloads – Online movies are a flop, September 7, 2006
follow-up post – New Zealand redefines open source as “code you can’t modify”, September 7, 2006
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September 8th, 2006 at 1:41 pm
Hollywood surely has enough money to run some sort of trial selling DRM-free downloads, just to see what happens. If they do end up losing loads of money through people misusing the files, then I guess they’ll just have to try something else. But one thing is clear: CONSUMERS DON’T LIKE DRM.
September 8th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
“It doesn’t say what’ll happen if someone tries to play a movie they’ve paid through the nose for on three PCs, say, or three mobiles.”
In this event the Digital Restrictions Malware bundled with the .wmv Video will automaticly phone home to the MAFIAA and 30 minutes later the trusted computer rapid reaction force will ring your doorbell like in this Public Service Announcement:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=888749182269965261
__
kdsde
September 8th, 2006 at 4:04 pm
I don’t know why everyone isn’t happy,
250M average, 600M peak encoding
One free download per account
One click DRM removal with FairUse4WM (Supplied seperately)
Sure, the selection is lacking and the bandwidth isn’t as good as some torrent sites, but still, it’s a very worthy first effort.
September 8th, 2006 at 4:14 pm
$19.62. yep its awesome
September 8th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
As long as DRM is included in the product, it isn’t worth more than 50ยข at best. That might be too high a price for what I would be willing to pay for DRM infected material.
Limited time “values” are just that. At some point they will attempt to charge the real price after they have enough suckers.
This DRM prevents resale or transferring said product to how I would use it in my lifestyle. The idea that they want paid for every reuse in application form is just beyond my comprehension. I ceased to purchase any cd, dvd, movie, song, from the major cartels with the start of sue’em all. I will continue that as long as I am not satisfied with the product. I don’t buy what I don’t like nor do I support those whose business practices I disagree with.
No matter how it is painted into the “great deal” with hype doesn’t change that a pig’s ear is still not a silk purse. There is extremely little that I care for anymore in TV and movies. I no longer buy premium cable, nor have cable, same for satellite. The garbage that is passing for entertainment often leaves me dumbfounded as to where the entertainment value is. Sticoms hold no appeal, reality shows are anything but reality and far less than entertaining, and the majority of the movies aren’t worth the time it wastes to view them. Replay 3/4 of the month doesn’t turn it into a value either. If I am not getting my money’s worth, I won’t spend it for that product and that’s where the entertainment industry is today.
September 8th, 2006 at 11:57 pm
September 10th, 2006 at 1:52 am
It has now been discovered that the Amazon program used to get these movies with is loaded with phone-homes that call home far more than is necessary. This makes this no bargain whatever and further lowers my opinion of this type of offer.
So much for “AWESOME”…