Getting Flicks With Clicks
The World Wide Web is rapidly becoming the main conduit for news, music, and even phone calls. But when it comes to (legally) downloading Taxi Driver or Gone With the Wind, that pipeline gets clogged.
Granted, thanks to the folks at Apple, you can now watch U2 videos on an iPod screen the size of a Fig Newton. But while that may be fine for relieving commuters' ennui, movie fans still can't download any film anytime they want it. By popular demand, though, such a service is in development, and there already are some websites that demonstrate its potential. One of them, www.cinemanow.com , has been in business for over six years and has a roster of over 7,500 features and shorts, including Crash and Frank Miller's Sin City for $3.99 for a one- or two-day rental. Another site, www.movielink.com , a joint venture of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Studios, and Warner Bros., offers over 1,200 features that can be rented for $1.99 to $4.99 for 24 hours.
These options are appealing, but--because of some technical restrictions and copyright issues--the process is hardly as simple as playing a DVD. Even with a high-speed Internet connection, it still takes 20 to 30 minutes to download The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to your computer. And as high-definition video becomes more prevalent, people will need even higher-speed Web connections. Those speeds are coming, but widespread access is still several years away.
While some films can be downloaded and watched at one's leisure, other rentals expire within 24 hours. Still other movies can be purchased--but remain tied to your computer's hard drive. These restrictions aim to curtail piracy, but they also keep you from getting that rightfully rented flick from your PC to your TV.
Allowing people to download a movie from the Internet to watch on demand, say industry executives, would explode the business model Hollywood currently uses, cutting into revenues from DVD sales and television broadcasts. It may be several years before the studios are ready to change the system completely, though the recent TV network deals with iTunes demonstrate that they are pursuing options.
Finally, there's the issue of the music that embellishes every movie from Casablanca to Chicago . Hardly any of those song clips are licensed for distribution over the Internet. This means studios have to seek additional permission for every single song in a movie before the film can be cleared to go online.
Despite these obstacles, movie downloads seem inevitable. As CinemaNow's CEO Curt Marvis puts it, "Eventually, everything will be on demand."
This story appears in the December 5, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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