'iTunes Replay' to Allow Movie Redownloads and Streaming?

[MacRumors]

Back in 2009, AppleInsider reported that Apple was developing an on-demand video service that would allow users to stream their purchased iTunes movies and TV shows from Apple's servers for playback on personal devices. The service was called "iTunes Replay", and would eliminate the need to store large media files on your iPod or iPhone.

AppAdvice now claims that they have been able to confirm that Apple is about to finally launch this "iTunes Replay" service to customers.

In a nutshell, iTunes Replay is an extension to what Apple is already doing with iCloud and free re-downloads of previously purchased music. As Apple secures the remaining rights, TV Shows as well as Movies in iTunes will be given little arrow indicating whether they're "iTunes Replay eligible", that is, available to be downloaded subsequent times.

Apple has just recently started allowing users to re-download television shows to their Mac and iOS devices, and allowing Apple TV owners to stream previously purchased content. So, it's no stretch to believe that Apple might start allowing the same for movies.

AppAdvice indicates that there may be a re-download limit of 5 times for some content and they seem uncertain how streaming counts against this limit. Apple would certainly have had to renegotiate with content providers for this change in service, and may explain why it is only launching now.

In the weeks prior to WWDC, countless reports had suggested that Apple was in deep negotiations with Movie providers about offering a "digital locker" of streaming content. From May:

In the past several weeks, Apple executives have stepped up their attempts to convince some of the major Hollywood film studios to issue licenses that would enable Apple to store its customers' movies on the company's servers, two sources close to the negotiations told CNET. Apple began discussing a cloud service with the studios over a year ago.

When iCloud was officially announced, there was no mention of this sort of "digital locker" streaming service that had been so heavily rumored. It seems perhaps the negotiations for the service had not yet completed in time for a WWDC launch.

Article Link: 'iTunes Replay' to Allow Movie Redownloads and Streaming?

 

[Tastydirt]

I wonder if this going to be US only like iTunes Match.

 

[firestarter]

Good news.

This will certainly save money on iPad/iPhone purchases. I see much less reason to pay the extra for a larger-storage device if I can just stream my big media wherever I have access to WiFi.

 

[Becordial]

Not good if its separating your media into eligible and non-eligible content. Makes it just like the problems of dealing with DRM as users are expected to know what is and isn't going to work on that device.

 

[Superken7]

Why would I deal with such limits and nonsense when I can just download a movie off torrents?

iTunes' DRM free music downloads are excellent, I think Apple should fight to have this on TV Shows, too.

Today I was tempted to do my first TV shows purchase: Full season pass for Breaking Bad Season 4. In the end I was put away by the DRM (and the fact that many users are reporting that full season pass results in episodes not being available for downloads days and weeks after they are released on iTunes)

 

[fabianjj]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; sv-se) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Could someone please explain to me why apple would need to negotiate with content providers for this, if it is just for the content you've already paid for downloading? This should just be a matter of how much bandwidth apple would be willing to spend on individual purchases.

Or am I missing the point? Is this more than redownloading and streaming of already purchased content?

 

[thedessie]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; sv-se) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Could someone please explain to me why apple would need to negotiate with content providers for this, if it is just for the content you've already paid for downloading? This should just be a matter of how much bandwidth apple would be willing to spend on individual purchases.

Or am I missing the point? Is this more than redownloading and streaming of already purchased content?

I *think* it might be about the streaming. If I remember properly, the content providers think of streaming as being different from downloading. It's the old, if you want it in a different format, you have to pay again thing they have been doing for years. It makes sense to me that they would have to renegotiate based on streaming, but I'm not certain about the redownloading.

 

[tigres]

So, at what point do we "Own It" after we buy it? Sounds like it follows in the footsteps of "Unlimited".

Websters better get busy updating it's dictionary.

 

[FriarNurgle]

It's a step in the right direction. I'll stick with Netflix for the time being though.

 

[psuguy384]

So, at what point do we "Own It" after we buy it? Sounds like it follows in the footsteps of "Unlimited".

Websters better get busy updating it's dictionary.

You can still download it to your devices, and you still "Own" the TV show in question. This just gives you the option to re-download it to any of your devices (or in the case of the Apple TV, stream directly to the device.)

 

[tigres]

You can still download it to your devices, and you still "Own" the TV show in question. This just gives you the option to re-download it to any of your devices (or in the case of the Apple TV, stream directly to the device.)

5 times.

 

[marksman]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_4 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8K2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Why would I deal with such limits and nonsense when I can just download a movie off torrents?

iTunes' DRM free music downloads are excellent, I think Apple should fight to have this on TV Shows, too.

Today I was tempted to do my first TV shows purchase: Full season pass for Breaking Bad Season 4. In the end I was put away by the DRM (and the fact that many users are reporting that full season pass results in episodes not being available for downloads days and weeks after they are released on iTunes)

Why should I go to work at a job to make money when I can just rob a bank.

 

[ade2bee]

So, at what point do we "Own It" after we buy it? Sounds like it follows in the footsteps of "Unlimited".

Websters better get busy updating it's dictionary.

Now you move into interested territory and what we call the 'small print' In effect what we are moving towards is the fact we are paying for the right to use it but will own it... I doubt it. In reality we never own the content of the DVD, we are merely purchasing a licence to use it...

 

[MarsDude]

That would be nice... If only we could buy/rent movies/series through iTunes/AppleTV here in the Netherlands...

 

[OmegaRed1723]

Now you move into interested territory and what we call the 'small print' In effect what we are moving towards is the fact we are paying for the right to use it but will own it... I doubt it. In reality we never own the content of the DVD, we are merely purchasing a licence to use it...

For the car lovers out there, it's like purchasing an 'XX' car from Ferrari. You "own" it, but you aren't allowed to park it in your garage, or drive it without Ferrari's consent or supervision.

 

[griz]

Just let me rent a movie for more than 24 hours and I'll be happy. I don't buy movies, but often times I won't get to finish watching a movie in one night and then it's impossible to finish watching it the next day unless I start watching before I started the day before. They should make all rentals 48 hours. Once you have paid, why should they care how long you have it. 48 hours seems far more reasonable and it's still just renting.
I think they should also have an option to grab it again up to a week later for a Dollar. Then if you don't get to finish watching in the 48 hours, you can pay a little extra to grab it again and watch it. The movie industry needs to loosen up like the recording industry finally did and we will all be much happier.

 

[tigres]

Just let me rent a movie for more than 24 hours and I'll be happy. I don't buy movies, but often times I won't get to finish watching a movie in one night and then it's impossible to finish watching it the next day unless I start watching before I started the day before. They should make all rentals 48 hours. Once you have paid, why should they care how long you have it. 48 hours seems far more reasonable and it's still just renting.
I think they should also have an option to grab it again up to a week later for a Dollar. Then if you don't get to finish watching in the 48 hours, you can pay a little extra to grab it again and watch it. The movie industry needs to loosen up like the recording industry finally did and we will all be much happier.

Better yet, make it a month- who cares, it's expensive to rent on iTunes. Redbox is what $1?

 

[Superken7]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_4 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8K2 Safari/6533.18.5)



Why should I go to work at a job to make money when I can just rob a bank.

While I don't give them money with my purchase, I don't take their money as if I were robbing a bank, so that's an invalid comparison. If torrents were not available, I would not even know about this TV show. Certainly I would not go buy it. Now, I am buying some episodes.
If they offered a superior product to that of the pirates, I would give them more money (full season passes). But sadly, pirates offer a better end product than the original. That is unacceptable, and I won't pay for a crippled experience.

Whether you decide to still go watch it from pirated content or just not watch it at all, is an entirely moral decision. Also take in mind that in some european countries it is totally legal to download and watch "pirated" content, as long as you do it by yourself and don't make money off it.

 

[genovelle]

So, at what point do we "Own It" after we buy it? Sounds like it follows in the footsteps of "Unlimited".

Websters better get busy updating it's dictionary.

After you download it. You can store it on you hard drive forever if you choose to. If you buy a DVD and it gets lost, stolen or damaged, can you go back to Walmart to get another one for free. Five times to re-down load would be a gift.

 

[maroontiger2k9]

i like the approach that apple is taking with the iOS, iOS devices and iTunes this year...

you can tell they're gonna go for the gusto with iCloud....

im just happy that apple has taken this approach... i remember the click wheel ipod days where there were little to no advancements, especially none to this magnitude

 

[J R R]

Download Cost

I pay about £30 per month for a capped 75 Gb service from my ISP.

So that is about £0.40 per Gb

1 Tb would therefore be £400

A 1 Tb usb hard disk is about £100

So if you compare download and store vs download each time it is a 1:4 cost.

OK, this argument is a bit dodgy as I rarely get anywhere near my cap, storage on mobile devices is lower, costs more to increase.

But on the other side, mobile downloads are likely to cost you even more.

Additional cost to the convenience of not having to plan what is stored on your local/portable device.

 

[tigres]

After you download it. You can store it on you hard drive forever if you choose to. If you buy a DVD and it gets lost, stolen or damaged, can you go back to Walmart to get another one for free. Five times to re-down load would be a gift.

You are correct, but.

The entire idea (or so it may seem) is that the cloud is going to circumvent the need for stored media on our local machines.
Same thing goes for the 5 devices allowed on the library; well look how many we are all beginning to own (devices).

 

[silentnite]

This is excellent, I plan on taking full advantage of streaming everywhere & on every device I own. Re downloads are awesome this is something that will kill the competitors alone.

 

[bpaluzzi]

Also take in mind that in some european countries it is totally legal to download and watch "pirated" content, as long as you do it by yourself and don't make money off it.

Nope. Did you get that nugget from Barry Zuckerkorn?
"I have the worst ****ing attorneys"

;-)

 

[Crzyrio]

While I don't give them money with my purchase, I don't take their money as if I were robbing a bank, so that's an invalid comparison. If torrents were not available, I would not even know about this TV show. Certainly I would not go buy it. Now, I am buying some episodes.
If they offered a superior product to that of the pirates, I would give them more money (full season passes). But sadly, pirates offer a better end product than the original. That is unacceptable, and I won't pay for a crippled experience.

Whether you decide to still go watch it from pirated content or just not watch it at all, is an entirely moral decision. Also take in mind that in some european countries it is totally legal to download and watch "pirated" content, as long as you do it by yourself and don't make money off it.

llol what?

It Doesnt matter it is still considered stealing. Why dont you just walk into a store and steal the dvd then?

You are not giving credit to the makers/producers/actors etc. Pirated content is free and that is why you like it.

What is stopping you from buying the DVD's ?

It is funny how your justifying stealing.