Looks like some people in Hollywood are forward thinking. According to the news from the BBC Morgan Freeman has decided to setup a company to start a download service in order to make it easier and more attractive to purchase and download legally rather than pirate.
ClickStar Inc will sell “premium movies” and entertainment programmes to internet users, the Oscar winner said.
Freeman said: “Our goal is to deliver first-run premium entertainment to film fans around the world and to make film easier to buy than to pirate.” ..[and that] the new service would address “the growing worldwide consumer demand for digital content – especially filmed entertainment”…
It was founded by Freeman’s production firm Revelations and Intel computers but no film studios have yet signed up.
Certainly sounds like a good move, but no content? Well I guess with Intel on board and the story from the other day about the major studios working hard to produce their content in digital, downloadable formats, then I doubt they will be far off actually selling something!
John was right, the momentum is building and it’s gaining strength. This move right out of Hollywood is really exciting and if they keep this pace up then downloading a movie even before it arrives on DVD might not be that far away.
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while i’m glad that someone of mr freeman’s calibar is venturing into this arena. i’m afraid i have to express some concerns. what kind of background do they have in this arena? on face value, they are keen to establish communication between the content providers, technology sector, and give customers what they want.
however their time frame appears to be between first run in theaters and commencement on dvd. with this time frsme dropping rapidly as of late, their exclusivity (and therefore the premium they could potentialy charge) can’t last long. also due to this short time frame, i’m sure that this would be bare move only. Again, this is a shame, since by attaching extras of some sort, they could really stand out against the numerous dvd rental services that have sprung up as of late, by providing something even more immediate. Unfortunately, since the big studios will most likely dictate the specifics of this since they hold the leverage, and are stuck in the past, i’m guessing we’ll be seeing low quality compared to dvd, and the recent compression formats available, such as divx, xvid, nero, and this new ratdvd container (which would have been perfect for my extras idea) on top of this, since intel is a big investor, microsoft may get a say int his as well, due to their ties, and therefore wmv would be pushed as the format, with restricions placed upon the openness as well, thanks to content holders. no chance of being able to burn this movie you bought to dvd, to watch elsewhere, transferring to another computer (in your house or beyond), and possibly, even to these new portable video players, although microsoft is trying to makes strides in this field, ahead of apple, and this could really give them a head start. rant over.
hmm, i like the idea but it seems yahoo will be the major player in offering the big league hollywood content over the internet. i’m not saying no one else should try, but yahoo is sitting on a lot of money and they’re really looking to make inroads to hollywood.
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I’m just glad that it’s Morgan Freeman and not Ashton Kutcher or something. :p
Legal downloaded is a very good move on the studios part. I hope they roll with it.