Disney looking to block content from Netflix Streaming

[jaw04005]

Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co. is in talks with Liberty Media Corp.’s Starz that may limit the movie channel’s ability to provide films online to Netflix Inc., two people with knowledge of the talks said.

Starz seeks access to Disney films for as many as five years on its cable channel, as well as continued digital rights, said the people, who asked not to be named because the talks are private. Disney wants viewers watching Starz movies online through companies such as Netflix to pay more for what the studio considers a premium channel.

The digital rights are part of contract talks that may also determine how much Starz pays Disney and whether films from director Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios will be included, one of the people said. Netflix depends on Starz for access to movies including “Wall-E” from Disney’s Pixar, and without it the video-rental service would have to reach an agreement directly with the studio, the world’s biggest media company.

“Netflix may be challenged to retain some of its most appealing content when Starz renews its Disney distribution deal, which expires in 2012,” Barton Crockett, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets in New York, wrote in a note today.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ambhiom2WFro

 

[robotartfashion]

I saw this on engadget.

So lame.

I love how rather than move towards the future the corporations always want to wait until the land grab is over and then cry about royalties.

If it wasn't for the iTunes revolution I shudder to think about how much money the record companies would have lost on digital music.

Now they're walking that same road with digital video media. The writing is on the wall, digital is the future and they need to figure out a new business model. All they're doing now by continuing to attempt to limit access to media is encouraging piracy.