Universal to Offer its Movies Online 308
JoseAugusto writes "From IMDB: 'Universal expects to be able to offer movies online by the end of the year or early next year, company chairman and CEO Bob Wright said Tuesday. Speaking at a conference on piracy in London, Wright described the studio's entry into online movie services as 'something we have to do.' However, he cautioned, the studio's entry into the Internet sphere must be accompanied by fail-safe methods to prevent the films from being copied and redistributed. 'These movies are so expensive, we have to be careful,' he said.'"
not much info given (Score:5, Insightful)
Wow, the post is the entire article! So, this isn't much to go on. Sounds mostly like PR with a shot across the bow they intend to make it as consumer unfriendly as possible. (Consider "These movies are so expensive, we have to be careful" -- doesn't sound like ability to take advantage of inexpensive delivery cuts the consumer any slack.)
I still wonder:
This is spin. Whatever it is, I'm not looking forward to it.
Re:not much info given (Score:4, Interesting)
I Doubt even they know how it will all work yet. But at least they are admitting it needs to be done if they are to stay "Alive" in the market.
Fingers crossed someone in management realizes we don't owe the studios anything...
Re:not much info given (Score:3, Interesting)
For example DRM'd WMA10 or whatever, using bit torrent, $5.00 per movie unlimited viewings, $.99 per movie, one viewing. That would take off like wildfire (and likely displace a good measure of piracy).
If they want to host all the bandwith then make it $10/$3. For super DRM'd, can't watch it on TV without a "special decoder ring" media I think the sweet spot (for unlimited viewing) is in the $5-7 range. much more than that and people will complain, because they can b
Re:not much info given (Score:5, Insightful)
On-Line means that the MPAA is on a line of coke that makes them paranoid and unable to trust their *paying* customers.
Pricing will no doubt include charges for securing the new and unexplainably expensive delivery methods that P2P pirates have offered for free which will justify charging $20 for a DRM download when you can buy the same thing on disc at Wally-World for $12.
All movies will eventually be available. It only makes sense that they would rerelease all content under this new scheme since it will no doubt be illegal to copy your old movies in a way that lets you view them with new and incompatible hardware (just like you cannot legally copy many tapes that include Macrovision to DVD now). Of course when the older movies that we've all bought on tape and then on DVD are rereleased in a digital DRM format they will be just as vulnerable to piracy as a brand new movie so they will need just as much DRM to protect consumers from pirates!
And yes, HD will be available to people who pay an extra anti-piracy tariff designed to cover the loss of revenue caused by consumers allowing their friends and family to watch their movies at their homes without actually purchasing the movie themself. You dirty pirates.
Information Hard to Find (Score:5, Informative)
Anyway, I decided to look up Universal Studios to see if they had a beefier press release. Here is a slightly longer article on Reuters [reuters.com]. It sounds like NBCUni and Microsoft are siting in a back room brewing up some sort of concoction that the rest of the world will regret. This efforts appears to be part of something called BASCAP [iccwbo.org] (Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy).
I wish these people would just realize that the way to beat piracy is simply to establish channels for distributing the movies that are neither too costly nor too burdensome to the public. Instead, we have monopolies working in backrooms with monopolies making something that is both expensive and restrictive to the point that piracy will continue to prevail.
Re:Information Hard to Find (Score:4, Insightful)
What makes you think that they don't realise that?
What makes you think that this is really about beating piracy?
Re:not much info given (Score:2, Funny)
Um...I have something for you (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Um...I have something for you (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Um...I have something for you (Score:3, Funny)
Now if the cat was in a box, together with a radioactive atom, a geiger-counter, a hammer, a
Re:Um...I have something for you (Score:3, Informative)
worried about cost? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:worried about cost? (Score:4, Funny)
Something cheaper that would appease more people? Wait, increasing revenue and decreasing expenses? That doesn't sound like too sound of a business plan. Why don't they sue their customers instead?
Failsafe way... (Score:5, Interesting)
A failsafe way to prevent piracy? Try never putting it on any form of media readable on a PC then. Or better yet, never put it on any media. Spoken word, live performances for a naked audience (so they can't smuggle in audio recorders of course). And still...not even close.
Come on, they just need to embrace the internet and trust that most of us will pay for it when it is easy to get. I know I will. Same with tv, when I miss my favorite show, rather than download it, I would pay a few bucks to get the commercial free version online...
Foolsafe way... (Score:2, Informative)
It doesn't need to be failsafe, any more than computer security needs to be fool-proof.
"Come on, they just need to embrace the internet and trust that most of us will pay for it when it is easy to get. I know I will."
Considering all the
Re:Foolsafe way... (Score:2)
"the studio's entry into the Internet sphere must be accompanied by fail-safe methods to prevent the films from being copied"
That is where I got failsafe...did you not even read the summary?
Take My God Damn Money! (Score:5, Insightful)
Now, take Battle Star Galactica (BSG). I love the show. It is the first show in a very long time that I have tried to sit down and watch every single show. The biggest problem is that some times I miss a show. Once I miss a show I can either
A) Wait for rerun and watch the shows out of order
B) Wait for the DvD to come out.
C) Just go download it so that I can watch the next show in order.
Guess which one I pick?
I would be MORE then happy to shell out $5 to simply not go through the bother of getting it via bit-torrent and all the irritation that finding a decent connection can bring. Hell, I would pay them $5 to get tracker from their website and get the double satisfaction of gettin the show easily AND contributing more money then they make on commercials per person. They could even kill me access to the video after a week or two and I wouldn't be upset.
They don't though. If I miss an episode, the only option I have is to go pirate it. If some stupid bastard would simply let me give them my money, I would.
These businesses vastly underestimate how much people will pay for convince. iTunes is a perfect example. You can get anything you can get on iTunes via pirating. Yet iTunes some how manages to do AMAZING business. Why? If given the choice between shelling out a few dollars or pirating, most people will shell out a few bucks. Will there be people who pirate anyways? Sure. Who cares about them? Think of all the other dumb bastards that are aching to give you money if you would just FSUCKING take it.
Re:Foolsafe way... (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't know where you're from, but where I'm from when you can't afford something, you usually don't have to do without it. Instead you can almost always buy an inferior version at an affordable price.
Can't afford an armani suit? Your local salvation army will sell you a suit for a price anyone can afford. It might not be exactly what you want but, hey, it's close.
When someone is pirating music they're doing it as an alternative, the same way the person who didn't buy the armani suit, but did buy the used suit did. The problem is that the alternative isn't legal in the case of music.
Unfortunately, unlike that suit, you can't get a "lower grade" version of the music for a price that suits. So people who want that music but have no way of affording it turn to alternatives and find themselves without any. All people, when faced with a decision like that, will consider breaking the law if it doesn't conflict with their morals. Yes, not breaking the law for the sake of not wanting to be a criminal of any sort *is* a moral (whether it is bad or good is an exercise left up to the reader). So those who both find that violating copyright is not immoral and where the basic moral of not breaking the law for the sake of not being a crminal is not present pirate the music.
So we are left with an out of balance market. Prices on the music can be artificially inflated since those who want it but refuse to pirate it will pay them. Those who are willing to purchase a lower grade version cannot, and so there is no pressure to lower the prices apart from a lack of profit. In most markets a lack of sales is a motivator to adjust prices, and sales of higher and lower grade units by your competitors can be compared to yours to influence your decision.
Since the music companies do not consider piracy a competitor, they are not willing to compare sales to piracy in a way that leads them to reprice the goods for maximum profit (which involves meeting maximum sales along with maximum margin). Once they re-evaluate their stance on piracy they will make money.
Until then, sayonara to buying music for me. 3 miuntes of happiness isn't worth $1 to me. Not when the average wage hovers around $12 - $18 an hour, pricing the maximum affordable cost of one's happiness at (formula below) 7.3 cents per minute. Properly priced music would be based on the same formula. But it isn't. At present prices every song must be listened to as many as 5 times to gain proper value.
In contrast a rental video tape must only be watched for 1 hour to provide a net positive. That's not even 1 full viewing! Many outright movie purchases can be justified with only 2 viewings, or 1 viewing along with watching special features.
$15/hour * 7 hours working daily = $105
$105 / 24 hours a day = $4.375 / hour
$4.375 / 60 minutes = $0.0729 / minute
Re:Failsafe way... (Score:2)
And what makes you think it will be commercial free? This is the industry doing this best to kill commerical skipping.
Re:Failsafe way... (Score:2)
Don't forget to give them dental exams [slashdot.org], too.
Honestly, I'd really love to see these people fully embrace the internet. Unfortunately, it seems like all the execs have their heads stuck in an outmoded paradigm of distribution and complete control. I'd hope they'd be replaced by people who "get it," but by the time that happens, broadband will probably be a lot more common and it will be just as easy for a per
Re:Failsafe way... (Score:3, Insightful)
Indeed, what's been stunning to me all this time (I live in Finland, btw) is the whole underlying logic in this:
We do not want people to (illegally) copy our trademarked works. Thus we enforce technical copy-protection schemes. But since most of these schemes are trivially broken due to their nature, we want to make breaking them illegal.
Can anyone at all explain to me why we need this extra middle step
Well, you see Chewbacca is a (Score:4, Funny)
Maybe (Score:3, Funny)
Apple DRM'd
Re:Maybe (Score:2, Interesting)
I, for one, welcome our new gossiping overloards.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Interesting.
--Petey
Re:I, for one, welcome our new gossiping overloard (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I, for one, welcome our new gossiping overloard (Score:3, Funny)
"Something we have to do" (Score:5, Interesting)
Wow, way to be enthusiastic about it. What were we talking about, getting a root canal?
Who will be their distributor? (Score:3, Insightful)
They say they will be online by the end of the year, but that is less than 3 months away. There are so many problems with actually distributing original content online that I highly doubt any movie company will be able to successfully make the jump.
I'd love to be proved wrong, but then again, I'd love to have a 60 inch monitor. I don't see either one happening in the next 3 months.
Re:Who will be their distributor? Apple? (Score:3, Interesting)
Alternatively, (Score:4, Interesting)
Like this movie [primermovie.com]. I've watched it 5 times. One of the most enjoyable independant films I've ever seen. It cost $7000 to make. And, of course, it's geeky to the max.
Re:Alternatively, (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Alternatively, (Score:2)
When the Sci Fi channel first got their movie budgets - I thought this was the kind of film they'd do. But they're doing really shitty B-flicks.
the $7000 figure is a bit misleading though. Carruth got the transfer for free - he shot on film - and edited digitally on his home computer. The transfer is expensive; but he got a film to HD
Re:Alternatively, (Score:2)
As for the writing and the ear bleeds.. everything has side-effects. Those were just two.
Re:Alternatively, (Score:2)
Re:Alternatively, (Score:2)
all of which is to say is that somebody will put money behind him now. hopefully he won't be handcuffed and told to dumb down by the system.
but shit man, Primer is such a good movie.
The other thing about Primer is that it was so open ended. You leave with more questions than you arrive with - and you realize t
Re:Alternatively, (Score:2)
Re:Alternatively, (Score:2)
fail-safe methods (Score:4, Interesting)
Better Articles (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Better Articles (Score:3, Funny)
"It's something we have to do, but it has to be done well," Wright said "These movies are so expensive we have to be careful ..."
Rough translation:
Every time you pirate, Bob DRMs a movie.
Please, think of the movies!
But seriously, it does sound a bit more lax than the SUE50rz!!1!onetwothree method that another group [riaa.com] likes to use. (*sigh* they still call CI "theft"...)
About time. (Score:5, Interesting)
I've never been that interested in paying for songs, as downloading the music is about the same price, or more than actually buying the CD. And you have to be out of your mind if you think I am paying $20 for a music CD. So I just download all the music I want for free (I'm Canadian). I would rather spend the money on going to see a live concert.
Re:About time. (Score:2, Informative)
the movie is already on torrent sites.. (Score:3, Interesting)
to compete they would need to provide a better "product" than the torrent sites... if they just offer something that is worse, in quality or conviency, and charge for it, would they get any of those users "back"?
The point is FUD (Score:5, Insightful)
Not worth it, unless they offer the back catalog. (Score:4, Interesting)
What will make online movie rental or purchase worth something is if they can put a huge catalog of every movie ever made available for download. There are a lot of pretty obscure films out there, that I wouldn't buy the DVD, and the video store will never have, that could be made available.
It is like iTunes... half the music I want just isn't available on iTunes. If iTunes had more than your standard HMV fare, then maybe it would be worth it.
Sigh... (Score:2, Insightful)
Its too late! All your movies have already been pirated!
Just forget about anti-piracy and start selling those movies. You'll make much more money this way. (And its not like your gonna lose anymore than you already have from p2p networks.)
It looks like.... (Score:2)
how they can stop piracy... use markers in the (Score:3, Informative)
You download the video with a credit car, it embeds a tag that will ID you. It will be sprinkled about in the movie so that if you put it on bit torrent they can track you down and lock you up. That sounds like it might work, eh? For kicks they can require that you give blood or something in order to positively ID you.
Re:how they can stop piracy... use markers in the (Score:2)
If it can be displayed, it can be captured, and if it can be captured you have no control over the format any more.
Re:how they can stop piracy... use markers in the (Score:2)
Or you could just get a graining 320x200 16 color video of it but then again no one will want to watch that.
Re:how they can stop piracy... use markers in the (Score:2)
Yeah, that'll work briliantly. Because the pirates would never think of instead sharing a dvd rip, now would they?
The point is, any copyright method they try will only work against normal people. Crackers will find a way around them. Said crackers then upload the uncracked version to a torrent network, average people download it. They would have to make it absolutely impossible for anybody to get a undrmed copy of it, which is impossible, in order for any type of copy protection scheme to work.
Plus, I i
Re:how they can stop piracy... use markers in the (Score:2)
And who cares if a few geeks share a few movies, the real problem is when people start putting it on bit torrent.
As for the CPU load? Where is that, we pla
Re:Now hold on a minute... (Score:2)
Re:how they can stop piracy... use markers in the (Score:2)
Commentaries and extras? (Score:2, Insightful)
Is there going to be the economic incentive to provide all this extra material with online distribution?
What's going to happen to Criterion?
Gotta be careful (Score:3, Funny)
This system is already doomed for failure... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This system is already doomed for failure... (Score:3, Interesting)
Not if they position and price it as a rental.
"Failsafe Security" (Score:3, Funny)
This will be known as Mutual Assured DRM.
I'm thinking. . . (Score:4, Insightful)
It will be used to show that online distribution of movies does not work, in preparation for pushing another anti-P2P law through congress.
Why bother... (Score:3, Insightful)
Oops...I said the loud part soft and the soft part loud...ugh.
must be accompanied by fail-safe methods... (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's how it works, Bob: you make it possible for me to very easily pay you a price I like and I won't pirate it. Because, you see, it's to my advantage to pay for it.
Basically, Bob, you're a hooker: you got something I want, I got something you want, and we gotta agree on a price.
Indeed, you're one of three hookers on this block. You lucked out: the only parking spot was around the corner, so you're the first hooker that's got something to offer. There's another hooker half-way down the block: she's the "reparatory" hooker. The one at the end of the block is the "blockbusters" hooker. And past the end and across the tracks is the "torrent" hooker. All the hookers on this block are looking pretty much the same, but within that range, you're definately the tops, Bob.
Now, Bob, you seem to think you're worth about twenty-five bucks. Because by the time I pay for my ticket and my wife's, we're getting into that range.
I want you to know the reparatory hooker only wants twelve bucks. I just have to walk down to her; not long, 'cause I'm not so overwhelming horny that I just gotta get blown right this second, Bob. And the blockbusters whore, why she's just four bucks -- but she'll blow me twice and I don't have to leave my house!
The torrent whore gives free blowjobs, but she's got ragged teeth and is pretty de-rezzed. I'm not such a cheap sumbitch that I'll go to her, Bob. I do pay for my movie entertainment.
Anyway, Bob, my point is this: you're an overpriced whore. I almost always rent the DVD; when I don't, I almost always end up at the reparatory. The last mainstream cinema showing I attended was Lord of the Rings. Exceptionally few films justify the first-print, top-rate quality, IMO.
So anyway, my point is this: so long as the free whore is skanky-looking, I'm not going to pirate: I'll take whatever reasonable cheap alternative provides me a home-system-quality experience. That experience is not going to be worth more than a DVD rental.
Re:must be accompanied by fail-safe methods... (Score:4, Funny)
Cost of Production (Score:2)
'These movies are so expensive, we have to be careful,' he said.'"
Why are they so expensive? Is it the ridiculous salaries demanded by the "stars", insane amount of money spent on promotion, CG run amok because it's "cool", exorbitant salaries paid to executives, legal fees?
What it's all about is an industry that is feeling the squeeze lately. It's an industry that has been fat & happy for about 50 years and now has to come to terms with reality.
I foresee "star" salaries coming down quite a bit a
Free movies! (Score:2, Interesting)
Just go to infowars.net. They overlooked that one.
Go there and get your free movies and info-links about real issues as reported in major news media.
Re:Free movies! (Score:2)
well, we now know what fills the iPod video (Score:2)
They've been doing it for years (Score:2)
Why hello Mr. Nice MPAA Representitive... what are you doing to my compu...
+++NO_CARRIER
Another option... (Score:3, Insightful)
Or you can make them so affordable that it's not worth the time to pirate.
it's a no brainer (Score:3, Insightful)
price,speed,quality.
it's well within studio's power, they WILL make money off it, the only thing stopping them is their own stupidity.
Next year? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:3, Insightful)
Because they're too fucking expensive.
Drop the price to $10 or less and I'd buy about 10x as many CDs as I do now.
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:4, Funny)
If I were you I'd post as an AC too!
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:2)
This message was brought to you by the RIAA. RIAA: Helping Capture Pirates(TM).
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:5, Insightful)
I dont feel like typing a novel here, so I'll be brief.
1 - I buy very few CDs because I think the cost is horrific; especially when I have to work around DRM just to copy the music to my (non-windows media playing) mp3 player.
2 - The CDs that I DO buy, I generally do so because I downloaded a few songs that happen to be on the CD and enjoyed them, so I went out and tracked down the album. If I download somthing and dont like it, I delete it. If I like it, I will probably buy the album. Is it wrong for me to check out the cd before I pay for it? No. If I did not download these files, I would NOT have purchased the albums.
3 - It's people like you that can't see far enough down their own noses and look objectively for the real issues at hand that are the reason the industry is in shambles. Have you ever though that your 'Neich' market may no longer be a popular one? You said yourself that nobody listens to most of what you sell; and to be totally honest, most Christian music I have listened to is god awful (no punn intended). Have you even considered that the demographics in your area may have changed? Or that the teens (who are generally the ones buying cds) are more focused on buying the newest rap-crap the industry is releasing?
Seriously; If you would take an objective look at the issues, you might see that the evil pirates are not the ones destroying your business. Times change, adapt to them or get over it and stop complaining.
And before you go on about your financial position because of your failing business, I am also a business owner and if I was in your position, blacklisting customers is the last thing I would be doing.. Your market is going so adapt your business model to go with it.
Damn, I ended up with a novel anyways... oh well.
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:2)
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:3, Insightful)
There's also music I bought instead of downloading, didn't like, but did pay for.
Usually about half the tracks of the album they came on.
In the end, we're even.
This is NOT the RIAA (Score:5, Funny)
But now, this dream is turning into a nightmare.
Isn't this missing a "Dun dun duuhn!" sound effect?
"Dude, I'm going to put this CD on the Internet right away."
"Yeah, dude, that's really lete [sic], you'll get lots of respect."
Clearly, the kids are getting a l33t Christian rock CD, like all video gamers. Totally Xtreme (too extreme for an E) dood!.
They have fought the War on Drugs with skill, so why not the War on Piracy?
+1 irony
This evening, my daughters asked me. "Why do the other kids laugh at us?"
I wanted to tell them the truth - it's because they wear old clothes and have cheap haircuts. I can't afford anything better for them right now.
Corny lines... come on people, you must be feeling who is behind this silly post by now. It is at the tip of your tongue...
When my girls ask me questions like that, I feel like my heart is being wrenched out of my chest.
Dramatic pause... come on people, you KNOW who wrote this.
I just shook my head, and tried to hold back the tears. "I don't know, Jenny. I don't know."
If this doesn't give away who wrote this, NOTHING will. Even the RIAA could not come up with such a cliche and corney line. There is only ONE culprete he could dredge up such a crappy plot with terrible dialoge. Hollywood! That is right, even the RIAA couldn't write such a horrible piece of fiction. Either that, or the RIAA hired out the guy who wrote Alien Vs Preditor to write this touching piece.
(psst, this is +1 funny mods)
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:2, Insightful)
1. CDs are absurdly expensive. They should be priced like newspapers or magazines and sold in little cardboard dust covers to reduce the storage/transport costs. With the economies of scale, and the reduced price incentives for pirating, you'd be making money hand over fist. Take note of the example of the commerc
Hypocrites (Score:3, Funny)
Don't they know the 11 Commandments? Thou shalt not infringe!!!!
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:2)
As a record store owner, my business faces ruin. CD sales have dropped through the floor. People aren't buying half as many CDs as they did just a year ago. Revenue is down and costs are up.
Doesn't the fact that, despite the buzz about the new medium, that the music scene itself is fairly stagnant at the moment? Aside from notable exceptions like the Rolling Stones & U2, the touring industry is dying too. Can't blame that one on piracy
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:2)
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:2)
The truth of the matter is that the theatrical release of movies is (and has been, for fifty years) a money-losing proposition. Home entertainment is where the studios make some of their money, with the rest coming from licensing. As the marginal cost of entertainment distribution appro
Threaten customers & wonder where they went (Score:2)
"Uh y-yeh." He mumbled, shocked.
"That's it. What's your name? You're blacklisted. Now take yourself and your little bitch friend out of my store - and don't come back."
Someone who is 2/3rds your physical size comes into your store, makes a selection, and has a brief priva
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:3, Insightful)
Bingo! I'm no longer interested in music. There's so much noise and talk and shit about "intellectual property" and "copyright" and "theft" and whatnot that I simply disentangled myself from all that crap. I read books, I play games, I sometimes listen to Virgin Radio Classic Rock. And that's about it. I don't buy CDs, download music, or care what the whole scene
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:2)
Re:Piracy hurts the small guy (Score:2)
Re:Gosh (Score:4, Insightful)
I disagree. There are a lot of people and companies who are paying Linux vendors for the work they do. They don't need to, but they know that if they don't then those folks doing the work will just go away. If the studios are smart, they'll cut out all of the distribution costs and deliver movies at a price that people will be willing to pay. There's tons of money to be made if you charge what people feel is a fair price.
iPod? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Gosh (Score:2, Troll)
Right guys? No pirates here?
Re:Gosh (Score:3, Informative)
I disagree. While I'm sure that for many people, they just like collecting "free" stuff like baseball cards, for the majority of the population, they've always wanted the instant gratification of downloading. Especially since many music albums are impossible to find in the store, but are easy to find on the internet. (I'd never even heard of Etype before I found them on the internet, and I was never able
Re:Security? (Score:2)
Re:Slashdot Slow (Score:2)
Almost identical setup here, but a 15" Powerbook I'm using wirelessly via Airport.
In bed.
And I'm not wearing pants.
Seriously. Just about to turn the lights off and sleep.
Re:Customize every legitimate copy (Score:3, Interesting)