Six major studios planned to begin selling movies over the Internet yesterday that buyers can download and keep for watching at any time.
Until now, the only downloads the studios have offered have been online rentals, which can be watched only for a 24-hour period -- an idea that has not caught on with consumers. But the high prices and technological limits of the new permanent downloads suggest that they may not be an instant hit.
New movies will cost about US$20 to US$30 to download; older titles will cost as little as US$10. The downloads will be available on the same day that the DVD is released -- quicker than rentals, which are put online about 45 days later and cost US$2 to US$5.
The studios hope more people will want to own digital copies of movies, just as more people pay to download songs than sign up for online music subscription services with a monthly fee.
Download sales have been discussed for several years in Hollywood, but the studios have been spurred to action by the success of TV programs sold through Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store.
Starting yesterday, nearly 300 films went on sale through Movie-link (owned by Warner Brothers, a unit of Time Warner; Sony Pictures; Universal; MGM and Paramount, a unit of Viacom), which has been largely an online rental site. It offers films from its owners and from Twentieth Century Fox, owned by the News Corp.
Another movie site, CinemaNow, started selling downloadable versions of about 75 movies from Sony, MGM and Lions Gate, which owns a large stake in CinemaNow.
Curt Marvis, the chief executive of CinemaNow, said that he was talking to other studios about selling downloads.
Apple, Amazon.com and other online retailers are also busily trying to cut deals with Hollywood to sell downloads, according to several studio executives. In general, the studios want to make downloads available on largely the same terms, in as many places as possible.
For now, a movie will need about 1 gigabyte of hard-drive space and will take an hour or two to download using a high-speed Internet connection.
The studios have limited the way they can be watched. CinemaNow will allow them to be played only on a single computer. Movielink will allow a movie to be copied onto a DVD and downloaded to two other computers, but it can't be played on a conventional DVD player.
Nor can the movies be copied to Apple's video iPod or handheld video players that use software from Microsoft.
For now, it is difficult but not impossible to watch the downloaded movies on a TV.
Industry executives say these limitations will dampen the appeal of downloads.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source