MPAA Cracks Down

[Chip NoVaMac]

i can't see an online movie store taking off... for movies, there aren't the same (rather compelling) reasons that made iTMS a success:

3) movies do not "split" very well, nor do they need to. iTMS does well partially because you can choose ind. songs from albums, skipping songs you don't want, something you cannot do in retail stores. (hence $15 CD sold at a store with 15 songs but 2 that you want will look like a not a great deal, but you can get those 2 songs online at iTMS for $2.) same problem does not exist for movies - retail stores sell the movie as a whole, as it should. online store has no advantage, unless the price is significantly cheaper. (but popular DVDs routinely sell for under $15...)

Speaking of the "indi's", an movie setup like ITMS would give wider distribution of many fine documentary and fine art films.

 

[Decemberice]

Sony is taking note

I read a while back that Sony was planning to include movie downloads in the Sony Connect Music store (the iTunes so-called rival). I really hope Apple is secretly plotting something to counter this. The scary part is that Sony owns a controlling portion of the motion picture industry. If, for some reason Sony wouldn't allow Apple to license Sony Pictures (Sony and Sony Classic, Columbia Tri-Star, and now MGM) movies for download on a hypothetical iTunes movie store, it would be devastating to whatever Apple tried to do. Even worse for my beloved Apple, it would likely draw a lot of people to Connect. Further worsening the situation, if Sony were to add the ability to take these downloaded movies with you on their upcoming PSP (as they will with Connect downloads) Apple will have a much stronger competitor in Sony than they currently do.

I doubt Connect could ever rival iTunes because so many people are already familiar with, and happy with iTunes, but with the PSP involved I just hope Apple R&D is burning the midnight oil.

Here is one of the articles that talks about Sony's movie download plans:
http://www.engadget.com/entry/6314322554365187