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WORLD FIRST -- download and burn DVD movies legally

apcmag.com — The world's-first download-to-own movie service -- legal burning of (new release) movies to DVD, transfer to portable media players and redownload movies if you have a crash. It's in partnership with Universal Studios.

Who dugg this? Made popular Nov 26, 2006

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91 Comments

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  • jgee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+59I'm sorry but i think the big question is one of price/drm.
  • MikeOSX, on 10/12/2007, -2/+39Eh, I'll stick to doing it illegally

    (MPAA: just kidding!)
  • t0ny, on 10/12/2007, -1/+35Too much drm for my likings.
  • smartssa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18The prices look pretty bad. They look just as high as normal, already pressed copies that you buy.

    Downloading should _always_ be cheaper given the removal of most shipping (some bandwidth applies), middle man wholesale and retailers.

    DRM looks pretty bad too. Locked to mac address? No transferability? lame.
  • arunforce, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19I think it's awesome to the point where you can sit around with your friends/family on the couch, and just download a movie in about 10-20 minutes (with a decent connection) without having to go rent it.
  • CheezeMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12most ***** can only support one user anyways.
  • bieber, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Your ***** is DRM'd? Guess you won't be getting any from socially responsible females, then. They don't wanna spread that *****...
  • zeldafan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10At least it's a step in the right direction, but I'll stick with torrents for now.
  • wm2010russ, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10tinker

    rtfa. your question is answered explicitly in the article
  • shortkid422, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8It says that it's a proprietary software to burn to dvd, but can't you just make a duplicate of that dvd disc?
  • CheezeMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -10/+18@ tinker123

    I don't really think that's the BIG question, as most computer run on windows.

    @ jgee

    price for new releases: approx. $26.40 USD
    standard price: approx. $11.02 USD

    read the article for the DRM.

    @ arunforce

    services like vongo have been doing this for a while now.
  • foolfromhell, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Not really.
    You can always re-rip the ISO of the DVD using Nero or Alcohol 120% or whatever.
    It doesnt say if the WMV is restricted, so they will allow unrestircted WMVs..... Wish is no DRM whatsoever!
    And, is this for Aussies only? They keep referencing Australia...
    Whats up with that?
  • jono1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"Downloading should _always_ be cheaper given the removal of most shipping (some bandwidth applies), middle man wholesale and retailers."

    Not to mention the complete lack of the cost of manufacturing.
  • phort99, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9But then you may as well just pirate the movie originally and save your AUD$15-$35! Similar download times, and you don't have to waste a DVD.
  • flameboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6The prices are high because you are paying for all that shiny new DRM and their lovely licensing fees
  • kalleanka, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10It's still less hassle to download movies using Bittorrent, plus it's cheaper too.
  • tzuriel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6too expensive
  • danwarne, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8The great majority of the cost of a DVD is not the manufacturing cost -- it's the intellectual property cost and marketing. I write for APC Magazine (the mag that published the article linked) and we have a monthly cover disc produced, which includes pressed DVD, commercial quality case and printed insert. I'm probably not allowed to say how much it costs to produce for commercial reasons, but suffice to say it is very, very, very cheap.

    Also don't forget this service is actually offering more than what you get from a pressed DVD -- you also get a pre-encoded version of the movie that's at the right bit rate to play on a portable media player, and a legal copy for your PC/laptop too (with none of the hassle of ripping the DVD.)

    I know people say you can't compete with free, but I actually think this service competes quite well with piracy -- unless you're never, ever going to pay for a movie.

    My main problem with it is that it uses Windows Media DRM, and I'm a Mac user, and would never want to buy DRMed stuff that was locked to Windows. I do buy iTunes music, but at least the player is available on both platforms.
  • bieber, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6It's still DRM'd. Being able to burn to a DVD is nice, but you can only do it thrice, and only from a Windows computer, and only with their proprietary software (which is liable to be *****). I'll pass. You'd think they could make it at least *as convenient as* an illegal download. Better would be good, if they'd like to actually sell it...
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Sounded like a great idea until I read that it's locked to a MAC address.
    I've built up my media collection over the period of 20 years. I'm 38 years old and still own the first CD I ever bought. It's scratched, any they promised it never would, but what the hell, whitney houston is crap these days.

    I don't know how many MAC addresses I've had since those days.

    I'm not against the media companies protecting their investment, hell, I own their stock, I *want* them to do well. But. I am a consumer.

    What I want to do is download a movie, watch it, archive it digitally and watch it at any point in the future without being encumbered. I do not share files with any people other than 2 or 3 of my closest friends, and those are generally educational (physics) journals or documentaries.

    I'm by no means a P2P up-loader. I have on 2 ot 3 occasions downloaded from P2P, mainly when I'm drunk and desperately want *that* media file.

    If the media companies come up with a way for me to own and use the media I buy in the way I want, I'll sign up for DRM and buy it. My rules are simple.

    1. Buy the media online. I want to but the movie, song, album, whatever right now,
    2. I want to view, listen, archive that media to a media player, permanent storage device.
    3. I want to allow my buddies (close friends, maybe 2 or 3 .. could be limited) to view the same content... could be of lesser quality to encourage them to buy. I believe my friends to be not cheap and would by quality content.

    4. I want to back this up. 10 years from now, I want to be able to view that video !
    5. It must be cross platform. EVERY platform.

    It's that simple, give me that, and I'm cool. I'll drink the DRM cool-aid.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"tied to the MAC address"

    since when was a MAC address difficult to spoof?
  • diggn_it, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Universal has been really cool about the whole new media thing. they support zune, youtube, and now this. thats pretty sweat.

    I mean they are still kinda evil, but with-it evil
  • GuyHitByTruck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"The DVD image file is compressed down to around 2.5GB."
    Am I the only one thinking that's not gonna look so great? I can cut a dual-layer movie down to single layer and notice a little bit of the compression. Cut that in half again, and for that price, that's gonna suck.
  • threeoneg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I seen this on TV the other day. It doesn't look to good.
  • danwarne, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Huh? Cinemanow allows downloads of movies but doesn't allow you to burn it to a DVD or play on a portable media player.
  • Wootery, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I agree - "ReelTime and Universal have a highly professional post-production team in place to compress the original double-layer DVDs down to single-layer without any noticeable loss in quality.", *****, it doesn't matter how much training you have clicking the 'Recompress' button, there will still be quality loss.

    (If this was true, publishers would print single-layer DVDs, as they are cheaper than the double-layered ones. The quallity would be worse, so they don't.)
  • Nerys, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2So is the DVD a true DVD ? you can not CSS a consumer DVD-R which means in order to play it must be UNENCRYPTED this means we can back it up and CONVERT to any format we want legally with NO intrusion of the DMCA (here in the USA)

    also:
    Netflix has been attempting to go green with that method for months now. Its a shame that all the movie studios cant just get together and come up with a standard in regards to legal downloads. Any physical media is so 20th century.
    -------------------------------------------------

    Physical media is the LAST THING saving your property rights to purchased content. The Moment they can get rid of physical media you have ZERO RIGHTS period.

    at least with PHYSICAL media there is the possibility of TAKING your rights (legally or otherwise and "justifying" it to a judge. IE NO JUDGE would ever convict an end user for simply ripping there own purchased DVD's)

    With no physical media we the end user are SCREWED big time.

    Long live the DVD - screw the legal download (unless its unencrypted) screw bluray screw hd dvd
  • griz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4“The WMV file for computer playback is locked to the MAC address of the machine which downloaded it, and can’t be transferred to another machine."

    Sounds useful. NOT. At least on iTunes, I can use my stuff on up to 5 machines. Simultaneously if I choose.
  • burgerboy06, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2or, dvd decrypter, videora, ipod/comp screen, get a pc

    the movies suck anyways

    the movies in the sci fi section were Mystery Science Theater movies, thats bad, really bad.
  • klawz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2can only burn it 3 times, and those 3 times has to be within 30 days - more than likely my dvd will not get scratched/damaged beyond use needing a new burn, within 30 days.
  • MikeOSX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Netflix has been attempting to go green with that method for months now. Its a shame that all the movie studios cant just get together and come up with a standard in regards to legal downloads. Any physical media is so 20th century.
  • DD32, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4===
    And, is this for Aussies only? They keep referencing Australia...
    Whats up with that?
    ===

    Well.. Its an australian company for one.. They're initial target is the market of people who have got ADSL2+ or Telstras new Cripled ADSL services(Which, IMO are better than perviously, but still suck).
    I'm sure they'll consider tackling the international audience once they manage to get the australian section running.

    D
  • danwarne, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well, ignoring the "intellectual property" jargon, movies cost a lot of money to make. Of course, there's no fixed cost, but the more money generated from sales, the easier it will be to fund movies -- both flops and successes.

    Anyway, it's a free market economy thing... if you think it's too expensive, you don't have to buy the product. (Especially so considering the healthy 'market' for pirated movies out there.)
  • jono1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"It doesnt say if the WMV is restricted"

    from the article:
    "The WMV file for computer playback is locked to the MAC address of the machine which downloaded it, and can’t be transferred to another machine. The same is true of the Plays4Sure WMV, except in that case the file is locked to the portable device it’s transferred to."
  • danwarne, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I agree... locking the video file to one MAC does seem like an overly restrictive system. Particularly because if I "own" a movie (and they are marketing this as "download to own") I want to be able to keep it forever -- through all my various computers (all with different MAC addresses) over time. Then again they do say you can redownload it, so perhaps that means you can redownload a new copy that's locked to your new MAC. (Could be a lot of downloading if you've been a prolific customer!)
  • mousky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Bah. This still has FUP (Fair Use Prevention) aka DRM. Say no to DRM.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And I thought it was going to be free. Boo hoo.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5I've got a better one, it's called Bittorrent. LOL
  • themoose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1On the actual website, it says the costs are $6 for a new release movie or $4 for a library one. $3 for episodes.
  • DD32, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Oh yeah... Most of us have piddly allowances.. i'm talking ~12GB, the higher plans have 20+GB though.

    I feel sorry for the mom and pop users who're on Telstras "24mbit, 400MB Quota, $150/GB thereafter" plans..

    D
  • danwarne, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's not the "download to own" service -- it's their previous video on demand service.
  • saturnstar, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1I personally feel that for legitimate free unlimited movie downloads, vongo is the best place to go. Try 14 days free trial of today's hottest online movie viewing and downloads service – Vongo

    http://movies.nitinblog.com/vongo-review
  • Wootery, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What?

    There is only one codec that all DVD players are compatible with - you can't use a more efficient one like XviD - if you use less space to store a video, you are going to get worse quality. I don't care if you mess around with other codecs before you burn.

    I find it unlikely that burning an XviD DVD will be the official way to do it, only some DVD players are compatible.
  • zdiggler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There are places you can pay 10/month, download all you want already, burn anyway and anything you want with already. They have Full DVD5 downloads and even DVD9's

    What I think is Netflix should start doing that, if they're allowed by movie companies. Only because they have a lot of movies in stock. Rather then trying to put it on list and wait I rather just download and watch it. for a flat /monthly fee. less then 15/month
    but the key is the movie must play in my favorite media player or else you won't get a cent.

    Then they can also start selling broadband connected hardware that download movies etc.. better then cable on demand.
  • oxyrubber, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3You aren't buying the DVD of the movie. You are buying an overly compressed version of the DVD and the convenience of not leaving your home for the purchase.

    If they were to use a newer video codec (like XVID), it would look fine. On standard DVD-spec MPEG2, 2.5 Gigs will be noticeably degraded. Also, they will likely not give you any of the DVD fun-stuffs (like 7 languages of audio, director commentaries, deleted scenes, etc).
  • shark72, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Downloading should _always_ be cheaper given the removal of most shipping (some bandwidth applies), middle man wholesale and retailers."

    It's perfectly OK to sell something at a price that the market will bear. Virtually every industry does it. You can do it, too -- say if you could cover your cost of living providing your IT or programming skills for $10 an hour. But if people are willing to pay you $11, $15, $20 or even $50 an hour, you have every right to charge that much.

    There will always be haters who might call you "greedy" because they think you should charge $10 an hour and live a modest existence. Those are the same people that probably think that if you cook a meal in a restaurant, make an item of clothing, or even finance and produce a movie on DVD, you should limit yourself to a low profit margin because... well, just because. Don't listen them. You have the right to charge what the market will bear.
  • danwarne, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1They do say they have a proprietary method of compressing the DVD and then decompressing it for burning. How do you know they don't use something like Xvid to compress the MPEG2 and then decompress it before burn?
  • zdiggler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Netflix need to come up with Set top box device with Wireless connection with proprietary codec like TiVo which still take a lot to extract a shows from.
    I'll goto my account and order a movie which them download it to my box then I can watch it.

    I love that feature on ReplayTv when I had it, there was a community where people share their shows, all you do is send a request to server show will be download from other peers to your ReplayTv box. TiVo also have Ethernet why not companies joins up and come up with something.

    I bet pay alt.bin*.*.* are making more money then anybody who's trying to roll out the movie services right now.
  • DoubtfulSalmon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1FTA: “The WMV file for computer playback is locked to the MAC address of the machine which downloaded it, and can’t be transferred to another machine"

    Yeah, like no-one will ever think of googling for "windows registry change mac address"

    http://www.google.com.au/search?q=windows+registry+change+mac+address
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