The major studios continue to prove that they just don't get it in terms of providing online content. Continued adherence to their assinine business model finds industry approved websites offering mainstream movie downloads haunted by the specter of DRM, crippling the consumer's ability to - you guessed it - spend his/her money and get the product s/he wants in return.
The EFF reports on the hilarious contradiction between the claims that companies like CinemaNow make and the products that they actually offer. The site displays a banner stating "You don't have to be online to watch, Now you can enjoy your movies ANYWWHERE!"
This is, classic advertising BS at first glance of course, I mean, was I unable to enjoy my movies 'anywhere' before? I guess I'm generally limited on where I watch movies by the presence of a DVD player, computer, or some other piece of technology on which a movie can be watched, but CinemaNow certainly isn't allowing me the ability to project movies onto the inside of my eyelids and watch them when I'm walking down the street.
The EFF gets to the real contradiction, though, when they list a few of the DRM limitations of the downloaded files:
"6. Can I burn videos to a DVD? Not currently. Your DVD player will not be able to read the information properly since our videos use a special security protection. ... 9. Can I transfer movies to my video iPod, PSP or other portable player? At this time, CinemaNow movies are not available for the iPod or PSP, however we are working with our content providers to expand the options you have."
Doesn't sound like "anywhere" to the EFF, and it doesn't to me either. God forbid I be able to watch a DVD I pay for on my DVD player - I guess that must not constitute "fair use."
The pricing is equally hilarious - when you read the introductory FAQ question on CinemaNow's "How It Works?" page, the part about "buying" movies:
For titles marked "Buy", the downloads are typically priced between $9.95 and $19.95. Please see the title's details page for actual pricing.
$9.95-$19.95 is, of course, about exactly what you'd pay for a movie in the store. Only if you buy one of these CinemaNow movies, you better hope you harddrive never takes a dump, because it has to sit there for all eternity.
Maybe owning movies on DVD as finished products with neat liner notes, etc. is "object fetishism" and maybe it isn't (I don't believe it is, and I especially don't believe that it is in the case of music) - but that's an entirely different debate. The fact is, what you pay for here is a product of limited functionality for the same price. Looks to me like the studios are treating the prospect of downloadable movies as a novelty more than anything else - Woohoo, people can download movies and watch them on their computers, but the convenience of getting them fast and promptly is far overshadowed by the pointless DRM limitations and, for what you actually get, sky-high prices.
