Re: NYTimes.com Article: Hollywood Moves to Rent Movies Online

[Nelson Guedes Paulo Junior <npaulo@linux.ime.usp.br>]

Ola,

Sim, aqui no Brasil ainda vai levar tempo para usarmos tecnologias como o
Speedy em larga escala, mas nos EUA isso não é bem verdade.....
Metade dos internautas de lá já usam Banda Larga e vários deste possuem
conexões como T1 que permite velocidades mais altas que o Speedy.
Além do que, já é realidade, apesar de em pequena escala ainda, a
pirataria de filmes que aliás anda crescendo muito depois que o Napster
teve toda essa dor de cabeça e seus usuários tiveram que procurar outros
programas para substitui-lo e em grande parte tais programas permitem o
download de outros tipos de arquivo além do MP3.

Acho que a indústria cinematográfica está muito certa em ir tomando
providencias para o seu próprio bem, mas acredito que tudo isso é terrível
para o usuário que vai ter que arcar com essas consequências diretamente
do seu bolso. Não gostaria de pagar por um filme e ter que deleta-lo em
seguida. Ninguem precisa destruir a fita de vídeo comprada depois de ver o
filme, porque eu tenho que destruir o arquivo?

[]'s

-----
Nelson Guedes Paulo Junior   
E-mail:  <npaulo@linux.ime.usp.br>   UIN: 2489382 (Tender [:alpha:]*)
HomePage: (Em eterna construção) http://members.xoom.com/DuneKiller/index2.html
"Não serão todas as coisas engolidas pela morte?" - Platão

On Mon, 20 Aug 2001, Cleber da Costa Oliveira wrote:

>    Acho que isso é mais uma forma de fazer dinheiro. E pode ser até que no
> futuro funcione ( mas, por enquanto, pouca gente tem, por exemplo, speedy
> ou ajato para conseguir puxar videos de tamanho grande como
> 500Mb). Enquanto fazia download, daria e sobraria tempo para ir até uma
> locadora ao lado, alugar e até ficar assistindo enquanto você puxaria o
> vídeo! E acho que vai ser difícil evitar que as pessoas copiem ou que
> esse mercado vire algo como um napster da vida.
>    Mas como os americanos são ótimos em propaganda, muita gente ainda vai
> querer alugá-los!   
> 
> 
> Cleber.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------
> Cleber da Costa Oliveira <cleber@linux.ime.usp.br>
> Computer Science
> University of Sao Paulo  
> Sao Paulo,SP - Brazil
> --------------------------------------------------
> 
> On Fri, 17 Aug 2001 is@ime.usp.br wrote:
> 
> > This article from NYTimes.com 
> > has been sent to you by is@ime.usp.br.
> > 
> > Bom dia, classe.
> > 
> > La vai uma outra noticia interessante.
> > 
> > Alguem para comentar esta noticia?
> > 
> > Boa leitura,
> > 
> > Imre Simon
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\
> > 
> > 
> > Let NYTimes.com Come to You
> > 
> > Sign up for one of our weekly e-mails 
> > and the news will come directly to you. 
> > YOUR MONEY brings you a wealth of analysis
> > and information about personal investing.  
> > CIRCUITS plugs you into the latest on 
> > personal technology. TRAVEL DISPATCH offers 
> > you a jump on special travel deals and news.  
> > 
> > http://email.nytimes.com/email/email.jsp?eta5
> > 
> > \----------------------------------------------------------/
> > 
> > Hollywood Moves to Rent Movies Online
> > 
> > By RICK LYMAN
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > LOS ANGELES, Aug. 16 — Five major movie studios, including some of
> > Hollywood's top players, unveiled plans today for a joint venture
> > that would allow computer users to download rental copies of
> > feature films over the Internet.
> > 
> >  The service, which will be available only to those with high-speed
> > Internet connections, is an attempt to get ahead of piracy problems
> > that have plagued the music industry through services like Napster
> > and which were beginning to be felt in the film industry with newer
> > file-swapping services.
> > 
> >  "I think the majority of consumers believe that copyright has
> > value and that if they have a pay vehicle to watch movies on the
> > Internet, they will pay for it," said Yair Landau, president of
> > Sony (news/quote) Pictures Digital Entertainment. "We want to give
> > honest people an honest alternative."
> > 
> >  The venture is also seen by many studio executives as a first step
> > toward true video-on-demand, when consumers will be able to watch
> > any movie they want, whenever they want. Initially, the films will
> > be available for download only onto personal computers, or
> > television monitors linked to an Internet connection, but
> > eventually video-on-demand service is expected to include cable
> > television and other delivery systems.
> > 
> >  "I think anybody who is in the movie business wants to reach the
> > day when you can watch any movie you want, any time you want," Mr.
> > Landau said. "I personally believe that launching an Internet
> > service like this is a necessary first step in that regard."
> > 
> >  The studios that will be partners in the service are MGM,
> > Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers and Universal
> > Pictures. Noticeably absent were Disney and 20th Century Fox,
> > although sources close to Disney said that it intended to announce
> > its own video-on-demand service within 10 days. Fox issued a
> > statement late this afternoon saying that it, too, would announce
> > plans soon for such a service.
> > 
> >  Executives at Sony's Moviefly, an Internet movies-on-demand effort
> > that will provide the technical backbone for the venture, had been
> > saying since early this year that they intended to go online as
> > soon as they could.
> > 
> >  They delayed the move, the executives said, in hopes of persuading
> > as many Hollywood studios as possible to join the effort, a process
> > that took longer than expected as each studio brought its concerns
> > about pricing, security and competition with other outlets like
> > cable television.
> > 
> >  "It's very expensive to create something like this, so economics
> > plays a role in bringing so many studios together," said Jack
> > Waterman, president of worldwide pay television for the Paramount
> > Television Group. "And this allows a lot of companies to come
> > together to create a common viewpoint on the technology and
> > security behind the system."
> > 
> >  In the coming months, a chief executive will be hired for the new
> > venture, which will have an equal number of representatives from
> > each studio on its board; a name will be chosen; and the site will
> > be tested extensively to make sure its security system works as
> > promised. Then, the first 100 or so films, a mix of recent releases
> > and films from studio libraries, will become available, either late
> > this year or early next.
> > 
> >  The selection of films, and how much it will cost to download
> > them, will be left to the individual studios. Studios that are not
> > part of the venture will also be allowed to post films on the site.
> > 
> >  The average feature film is about 500 megabytes in digitized form
> > and will take 20 minutes to 40 minutes to download, Mr. Landau
> > said, depending on the type of broadband connection. Download times
> > would be untenable for those with slower Internet connections.
> > Studio officials estimate that there are 10 million households with
> > broadband connections, a number they expect to increase
> > significantly, as well as 35 million screens in offices and
> > colleges.
> > 
> >  A film will remain on a computer's hard drive for 30 days but will
> > erase itself 24 hours after it is first run. In that 24 hours,
> > consumers will be able to watch the film as many times as they wish
> > — pause, fast forward and perform other functions typical of a
> > videocassette or DVD.
> > 
> >  Studios traditionally release movies in a series of so-called
> > windows, starting with theatrical release, followed by
> > videocassette, DVD, pay- per-view, pay-cable networks and,
> > eventually, broadcast networks. Executives at several studios said
> > films would be released on this new system, initially at least,
> > only when they entered their pay-per-view window, usually months
> > after the theatrical release. The rental cost will be about the
> > same as a pay-per-view film, the executives said.
> > 
> >  "We are not looking to undermine DVD, which is a great business,"
> > Mr. Landau said.
> > 
> >  The new venture will be neither the first video-on-demand service
> > (cable operators in a few markets have offered such a service to
> > some customers, though the movie selection has been limited) nor
> > the first time that feature films have been available for download
> > on the Internet (companies like CinemaNow and SightSound
> > Technologies have offered a limited roster of films for download).
> > But it is the first effort involving Hollywood studios and offers
> > the promise of thousands of potential films.
> > 
> >  "This announcement confirms that film producers are eager for the
> > Internet to enlarge and flourish," said Jack Valenti, president of
> > the Motion Picture Association of America. "For the first time, in
> > the very near future, a broad selection of motion pictures will be
> > available online, protected by encryption, and delivered directly
> > to consumers at a reasonable price."
> > 
> >  In general, the studios have been hesitant to allow the
> > distribution of digital copies of their films on the Internet,
> > fearing they would be too easy to copy and share through
> > unauthorized sites. What has made studio executives agree to this
> > venture has been a growing confidence that the necessary security
> > is in place to prevent copying of the downloaded files.
> > 
> >  However, since almost all film pirating has involved the latest
> > releases and this service will make movies available only months
> > later, it is unclear what effect it would have on illegal copying.
> > 
> >  "That remains to be seen," said Ric Dube, an analyst for Webnoize,
> > a research company that focuses on digital entertainment
> > industries.
> > 
> >  "What this does is to compete with piracy more effectively than
> > the movie industry has in the past," Mr. Dube said. "And the real
> > issue isn't whether it will affect piracy, but whether the movie
> > industry is willing to tolerate the amount of piracy that's going
> > on in order to grow their market."
> > 
> >  The music industry, which shares parentage with many of the
> > studios involved in today's announcement, has also fought against
> > file-sharing sites like Napster, and had a harder time because of
> > the relative ease of downloading a piece of music.
> > 
> >  But movie studios have also been faced with file-sharing sites
> > like Aimster, which allows swapping of both audio and video files.
> > 
> >  "The film industry does have a better history of coming through on
> > plans like this than does the music industry," Mr. Dube said. "So
> > when five major film companies say they will use an online channel
> > to distribute their films, that means a lot more than a similar
> > statement coming from five music companies."
> > 
> >  The real question, though, is how many people really want to
> > download movies onto their personal computers.
> > 
> >  "To be really honest, we have no idea," Mr. Waterman said.
> > 
> > 
> > http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/17/technology/17STUD.html?ex=999055436&ei=1&en=c9ee710697a10157
> > 
> > /-----------------------------------------------------------------\
> > 
> > 
> > Visit NYTimes.com for complete access to the
> > most authoritative news coverage on the Web,
> > updated throughout the day.
> > 
> > Become a member today! It's free!
> > 
> > http://www.nytimes.com?eta
> > 
> > 
> > \-----------------------------------------------------------------/
> > 
> > HOW TO ADVERTISE
> > ---------------------------------
> > For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters 
> > or other creative advertising opportunities with The 
> > New York Times on the Web, please contact Alyson 
> > Racer at alyson@nytimes.com or visit our online media 
> > kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo
> > 
> > For general information about NYTimes.com, write to 
> > help@nytimes.com.  
> > 
> > Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
>