Movies for Hobbes

Why are there no sites out there where I can download high quality movies via cable modem.

Seems like all you need are servers and bandwidth.

No store, no overhead, never out of stock, no late fees.

Just establish a secure server for credit card transactions, provide a nice media player where parents can set controls so that little Billy doesn't download porn and put a program in the movie which deletes it after 3 days and prevents it from being copied.

Those last 2 points are probably the sticky ones, but who cares. Most movies are out there anyway on Kazaa and the like. Problem is download speed, resolution, and locating rare movies.

Please provide a place where people who are too lazy to comb their hair on Sunday, muchless drive to the video store, can enjoy a limitless supply of movies.

Hollywood video, Blockbuster- you listening to me?

I get all my movies from KazaA and they are great resolution you just gatta wait for the right user. just downloaded LOTR two towers (720 x 272) and thats really good resolution for a bootleg movie

Actually, I just came from there looking for the B movie "The Hearse", no matches found.

I hate sitting at my computer to watch a movie.
As far as Two Towers is concerned, you're missing something of the movie if you cannot see it on the big screen.

I already saw two towers twice so watching on my cpu does not bother me

The endless bureaucracy of mega-corporations prevent the creation of a one-stop movie internet site. AOL Time Warner, Sony, Viacom, etc. are all befuddled in hypercompetition in a stagnant marketplace [although 2002 was an excellent year for moviemakers, it is unable to maintain growth comparable to other entertainment venues like console and computer games]. Consequently, the corporations are extremely eager to protect their blockbuster movies from pirating or low profiting yielding of the viewing of their movies. How much could you really charge for the ability to download a movie, if you could download it for free [albeit at a slower rate / lower quality]?
The present scenario is similar to the music industries attempts to create a napster-esque, for profit music sharing. Several big name companies, such as viacom, sony, aol time warner, and bertlesmann [?] attempted to create their own music sharing sites. You had the option of legally downloading songs or albums through either a fixed monthly price or a song by song price. However, two issues held back the creation of music with the selection comparable to napster. Pirating prevented the sale of online music at a viable price point why pay to download a song, when you can get it for free? Furthermore, the issue of licensing songs held the sites back. All the major music labels bickered over the price of licensing their songs for the internets sites. How much would a popular song be valued over an offbeat song [pardon the pun]. etc...

The movie industry faces the same dillemma. Why would they support the pirating of movies by offering dvd qualities films to an individual who could instantly transmit it over the internet to others for free? [they could encode it with some programming wizardry to prevent pirating, but inevitably some 1337 d00d will hack into it] Furthermore, the site would be mired in licensing ssues. Typically, the movie rental buys dvd's with the license allowing them to rent it out. These licenses cost alot more than the purchase price of dvd [approximately $50 or more, depending on the popularity of the film]. Obviously, such an upfront fee is unfeasible for this sort of rental. Complexity would exponentially as the rental site attempt to fairly allocate royalties to the moviemakers.

Although these issues seem rather mundane, they are a major restraint to this sort of rental notion. Corporate greed was the greatest hinderance to the music site's success. Each major company [aol, sony ,etc] felt they could launch their own for profit site. However, each company refused to give its rivals access to its copyrighted music. so the result was a collection of music sites with a minimal selection. Not a very compelling business, ihmo.


Though i must say i would love to have a online movie rental site, but i don't believe any sort of viable business could arise out the current conditions [pirated movies on kazaa, etc]

i apoligize if this a fragmented arguement, as i am too lazy [and lack the admirable diligence of other posters]

Ahh, but there is going to be a site like that hobbes. If i can find the site i'll post it.

As an interesting aside to the discussion...

...there apparently is technology being developed around "self-destructing" DVDs that are only good for a set number of hours before they are unreadable. Most notably used as a promotional device for the Bond movie "Die Another Day".

CNN info link here.

If this ever becomes an industry standard, you'll never have to worry about the latest movie not being in. Just ask for it, the clerk has it recorded/burnt/whatever onto a blank destructable disc, and presto, movie.

On-topic, I don't think a legal internet-download movie site is something that will see much success anytime soon. Too many legal hurdles and pirating issues that I can see. Moreso than current ones, anyhow.