FIRST VERSION BLUES
Looks like Warner is now clambering onto the online distribution bandwagon (via the New York Times), following folks like Disney/ABC, CBS and others.
It's all a good thing, and as I highlighted in a post on the ABC announcement last month, it's not all perfect in the first go around of these offerings.
For instance, the Warner announcement does pioneer a way of distribution not used by it's peers to date. As the NY Times article explains:
"Warner Brothers plans to announce today that it will make hundreds of movies and television shows available for purchase over the Internet using BitTorrent software, which is widely used to download movies and other copyrighted material illegally.
The agreement between Warner Brothers and BitTorrent is an unusual deal between a major Hollywood studio and a company whose file-sharing technology has raised the ire of the movie industry."
It's all very commendable until you get to this part:
"To use the service, consumers will visit www.bittorrent.com, download the software and then browse the selections on the Web site.
They will be prevented from copying and distributing files they purchase through two mechanisms: one that requires them to enter a password before watching a file, and another that allows the file to be viewed only on the computer to which it was downloaded."
For mainstream users, this process will have to be streamlined and made more simple. The idea of sending folks to a separate site to download, install and figure out how to use new software before they can just click and watch a movie is a non-starter. Geeks and early adopters may do it. Most mainstream users won't bother.
So is the bit about allowing files to be viewed only on the computer to which it was downloaded. Why? Because it trades consumer convenience for consumer annoyance.
I know there's precedent on the online music distribution side for this. Market-leading services like iTunes limit the number of computers on which you can listen the same piece of downloaded music. But even there they give you the flexibility of using up to five computers (it used to be seven).
Movie files take much more space than music files. And even while computers are coming with bigger hard disks, it's much more convenient for folks to keep their purchased content on network attached storage. This is even more the case with broadband Wi-Fi home networks and all sorts of new consumer gadgets to view video content not just on the PC but on TVs as well.
So Warner will have to simplify and ease up on these restrictions for the service to have a fair chance of success.
So here's looking forward to version 2.0 of the service.
DISCLOSURE: I am a shareholder in Time Warner (TWX).
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