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UltraViolet Digital Movie Locker Service Will Close on July 31, 2019

Pirating Hollywood films is - clearly - the most convenient and reliable way to access them.

So why is Hollywood surprised it's so popular?

Until film studios make their product as convenient to buy and own as music is, they'll get all the piracy they deserve.

(I'm a digital nomad - owning physical films is not an option.)
 
Porco said:
I could still play a VHS tape today if I chose to.
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But would you really want to? There are some obscure titles that never made it to DVD, Blu-Ray or streaming. But there is a reason for that, they aren’t popular. In the meantime VHS tapes are an environmental mess, virtually nobody can recycle them and they are toxic.

I haven’t seen any research on it, but I imagine streaming has a smaller environmental footprint than physical ownership. Streaming: original manufacture of the device, electricity consumption of the cloud servers and transmission. Ownership: original manufacture of the player, manufacture of the media, distribution, recycle opportunities when the media is no longer used. (And all the other links in the chain for both formats). This subject is never brought up in ownership vs streaming discussions.
 
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sracer said:
And contributing to the hidden cost for that security is being locked into Apple's ecosystem and more specifically, Apple hardware. You are subject to what Apple produces. When a device needs to be replaced (that you use to access that digital media), it's going to have to be Apple.

I'm not saying that it's a bad thing. For those who use and enjoy Apple products (along Apple's "happy path") the cost is worth it. But it is a "cost" that people should consider. I'm seeing an increasing number of people who want to diversify their hardware and services beyond Apple. In the past, the reason for staying with Apple was the quality of the hardware, but now they're saying it is their investment in digital media that keeps them.
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Actually, iTunes Movies and TV shows is being built into most new smart TVs this year moving forward. Also iTunes is on Windows and has been for a long time. Apple is starting to care more about services revenue so expect to see this expand even more.
 
I checked and I already had Ultraviolet linked to Fandango Now, as well Movies Anywhere linked to Fandango Now. Only 4 movies were from UV.

And in VUDU I had both UV and Movies Anywhere linked.

In Movies Anywhere I had already linked it to iTunes, Prime Video, VUDU, Xfinity, Google Play, Microsoft, and Fandango Now retailers = 577 Movies total.

I hadn't realized that all of my Movies Anywhere movies were showing up in Google Play until tonight. However, my UV Movies don't show up in Google Play library and I don't think I can connect them.

My family of 5 really likes movies...
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sracer said:
Sorry to hear about your friend.

Homeowners have insurance against catastrophes like that and can replace the media lost. When a digital service pulls the plug, there's no recourse.
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I download a copy of every iTunes movie I bought onto an 8TB Thunderbolt 2 RAID hard drive on my iMac (only 500GB free now), and I keep an offsite copy spread across a 6TB + 4TB external USB drives. The 6TB drive was my old iTunes drive, and the 4TB WD was my iTunes drive before that.

I can usually fit everything but TV shows on the 6TB drive, and I can fit almost everything but the Movies on the 4TB, so I have some redundancy of backup data between the two drives.

In addition I keep a clone of the iTunes Drive on my 20TB Drobo 5N NAS and 16TB formatted QNAP NAS in the house, which I update weekly. But I only update the offsite copy every 2-3 months.

At some point my 20TB Drobo NAS will have to become my primary iTunes drive (when the 8TB gets full) and I'll use that 8TB Thunderbolt 2 RAID + the old 6TB RAID to contain my offsite backup. At that point I'll turn the old 4TB drive into a Time Machine backup of my iMac or something.

The 5 hard drive Drobo 5N can be easily upgraded one drive at a time, so I don't have to back it up and replace all the drives at the same time (like I would have to with the QNAP when the 4 6TB drives are all full and I want to go bigger). So, Drobo should be able to grow with my library to a max of 64TB (unless a future software update allows bigger).
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macduke said:
Actually, iTunes Movies and TV shows is being built into most new smart TVs this year moving forward. Also iTunes is on Windows and has been for a long time. Apple is starting to care more about services revenue so expect to see this expand even more.
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So, I'm hoping at some point that Apple will allow PLEX to read iTunes DRM files.
 
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For UK: I can’t seem find any info online. Any dvd or Blu-ray with digital copy after ultraviolet close down who do them? iTunes? (that best option I want and hope). None info on disk when I look in shop say where really.
 
In the UK, Ultroviolet have recommended using Flixster to retain access to your UV movies. However, Flixster have also said they are shutting down (via a vague email about moving some titles to GooglePlay... possibly). The whole thing is a mess.

Many people bought Blu-rays in good faith with a ‘play anywhere’ digital version included. The movie industry made a lot of noise about how they were providing an alternative to ripping and piracy with Ultraviolet, and have now shown they cannot be trusted themselves. They could have just used iTunes to begin with, but they were more afraid of Apple than supplying the customer with a reliable service.

Fortunately, I still have my Blu-ray copies and prefer to watch them instead, but this reflects bad on the industry and trust in VOD in general.
 
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I hope they move to iTunes after this! iTunes only one is reliable and safe option and it been around for long time and survived all other online services when others one after one shutting down.
 
If the bluray comes with a digital code and it says watch on itunes, works with ultra violet, will I still be able to claim the code for itunes on 8/2/19 after ultraviolet shuts down on 7/31/19?
 
Spacetime Anomaly said:
In the UK, Ultroviolet have recommended using Flixster to retain access to your UV movies. However, Flixster have also said they are shutting down (via a vague email about moving some titles to GooglePlay... possibly). The whole thing is a mess.

Many people bought Blu-rays in good faith with a ‘play anywhere’ digital version included. The movie industry made a lot of noise about how they were providing an alternative to ripping and piracy with Ultraviolet, and have now shown they cannot be trusted themselves. They could have just used iTunes to begin with, but they were more afraid of Apple than supplying the customer with a reliable service.

Fortunately, I still have my Blu-ray copies and prefer to watch them instead, but this reflects bad on the industry and trust in VOD in general.
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I’m hoping there is some compensation for the content that doesn’t transfer. When TalkTalk content was transferred to Rakuten, I was given some credit to make up for the tiltes that didn’t go across. It was far from enough to buy anything like as many titles as lost, but better than nothing.
 
I recently get 2 dvd with digital code and they go to Google Play Store. Unfortunately no iTunes. Apparently Flixster video going closing down. Not sure when. Before redeeming code take Flixster and now same redeem page take to Google Play Store.

USA version Flixster video closing down October and they have deal with Google Play Store transfer films over as long they have them. Might be same here eventually.

I was hoping iTunes cos they best digital video for me because you can actually download copy file and back up so if film studio remove film and I can still watch it. Other digital film don’t have download copy. iTunes seem be only one offer that.
 
Thanks letting us know. Got no email or anything about it. Just transfer my library over and lose quite few movies too. I prefer they do iTunes but I take Google Play Store copy and probably won't use them since some missing subtitles anyway.
 
Spacetime Anomaly said:
So, the migration from Ultraviolet/Flixster to GooglePlay is now working and, surprise surprise, quite a few movies are not transferable (despite being available to buy on Google Play).

Turns out, when the movie industry steals from you it’s nothing like stealing a car.
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I haven't received any information about how to do this. Info anywhere?
 
Update

More movies that were previously unavailable to be migrated from Flixster to Google Play have now been made available, so it’s worth checking again.

Only a few titles are missing for me now and the ability to watch my library through YouTube (after migrating, see ‘purchases’ on the YT site/app) actually makes it more versatile in the long run.
 
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Thanks I will recheck.

Edit: There was some more for me. Now I only got 3 left that can't be moved so far.
 
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