Apple, Fox join hands in iTunes movie rental deal

Right on cue, it's being reported that Apple and Fox have indeed (finally) agreed on an iTunes movie deal, and while details are admittedly scant at the moment, chances are Stevie J. will get to the nitty gritty come Macworld. What we do know, however, is that the alleged partnership will enable iTunes users to rent new Fox DVD releases and keep them around "for a limited time," though pricing figures weren't speculated upon. Additionally, it sounds like Fox will be spreading its digital file inclusion from select titles to all flicks, giving DVD purchasers a FairPlay protected file that can easily be transferred (read: without third-party transcoding software) to a computer and / or iPod for later viewing. As expected, both firms declined to comment on the reports, but all the minutiae you can stand will likely start flowing in just a few weeks.

[Via paidContent]

[webon @ Dec 26th 2007 11:54PM]

limited time being three times watched, then again who watches Friends reruns,
hey by the ways what happened to the apple ultra portable??

[Ryan @ Dec 27th 2007 12:00AM]

now i just can't wait for the hack that will inevitably be released that will let users "rent" the movie and then strip the DRM so we can keep it permanently...

[Rob @ Dec 27th 2007 12:04AM]

That has only worked on MS's DRM. I haven't heard much about Apple's being cracked. Some have come up with ways of going about it, but it seems to be a pain in the rear. This is why a lot of people were confused with NBC's decision of leaving Apple and going for Amazon who uses MS's cracked DRM. TV execs, who can understand them.

[mtt @ Dec 27th 2007 12:07AM]

This hack will probably come... but really who will use it? What difference will it make? How many rental movies do you really want to keep forever and watch repeatedly?

How many movies have you chosen to watch more than twice?

This is a key difference between music & movies!

[aaron @ Dec 27th 2007 12:22AM]

itunes drm has already been hacked... the only drm ive seen so far that hasnt been hacked (yet) is the xbox live marketplace.

still this is a good deal for itunes subscribers but if they dont have hd versions (like xbox live marketplace). they really need to get itunes upgraded to hd soon.

[nerdtalker @ Dec 27th 2007 1:01AM]

Rent and keep?

Forgetting the ethics of it, how is that different than what we can already do with conventional DVDs? I know I sure enjoy renting movies (for the large part) because of that functionality.

I guess my biggest question here is what the quality is going to be. iPod-size 320 x 240 is very subprime for desktop or even TV viewing. Especially in the day of HD...

[Michael LaFramboise @ Dec 27th 2007 1:51AM]

nerdtalker, Apple hasn't used 320x240 in a few years now... shortly after they started selling videos, they bumped them all up to 640x480...

But yeah, would def be nice to see it bumped up again to atleast 480p

[frozenrubber @ Dec 27th 2007 2:57AM]

aaron: all iTunes files haven't yet been cracked. AAC protected files have been for a quite a while (so you no longer have to burn and rip tracks to gain access).

However, there is no application that is able to strip protected iTunes video of DRM. The closest thing to this at the moment is:
http://www.topvideopro.com/guide/how_to_convert_protected_m4v_m4p_aa_m4b.htm

This however is a work around with the application recording the output and then creating a new file. This is NOT the crack we all desire. It is just a step above taking a video camera and filming your screen. I can't speak to the specifics of the technology, but I'm in the camp if it hasn't been cracked yet (which it's going on a few years now), it probably will not be hacked in the nearterm.

[L. M. Lloyd @ Dec 27th 2007 4:41AM]

To all the people talking about how iTunes hasn't used 320x240 "in a few years now" and how iTunes video hasn't been cracked "going on a few years now" you do realize that the iTunes video store hasn't even been around for two years yet, right?

As far as why it hasn't been cracked, why on Earth would anyone bother to crack low resolution videos downloaded from a pay site, that will only play on Apple devices, when with less effort they can just download the same (and then some) content at better resolution as a Divx that will play on just about everything except Apple hardware? I don't think that the lack of a crack is a particular testament to the superiority of their DRM, but rather a testament to what a colossal flop the iTunes movie store and AppleTV have been.

[ssuk @ Dec 27th 2007 5:30AM]

Rob: Money. It's the reason they're in this business anyway, if Apple wasn't paying them as good as Amazon was offering, "Sorry Apple, there's someone else..."

[sabotage @ Dec 27th 2007 12:03AM]

Joy oh joy, more things to blow money on with Apple!

[snitch @ Dec 27th 2007 12:04AM]

so what does this mean?? does it mean i should take my new Zune back?? or should we wait for it to be official??

[Phillip Black @ Dec 27th 2007 2:15AM]

Wow, you make me laugh, I'll pay to see the day that happens. This is DRM were taking about here, first we have to buy the product 1,000 times then we get it DRM free.

[peestandingup @ Dec 27th 2007 12:06AM]

Well, Stevie. Its about damn time.

Unlike music, I don't wanna own every single show/movie I may happen to wanna watch.

[dcny @ Dec 27th 2007 12:13AM]

what the hell took so damn long

[Sam Zebian @ Dec 27th 2007 12:40AM]

hopefully he dvd's that come with videos will be something Zune's and other PMP's can use

[michael @ Dec 27th 2007 1:20AM]

Wished something like this could some on the Zune store side.

Still waiting for movie studios to open up there legally.

[BigPana @ Dec 27th 2007 4:41PM]

Microsoft making you work during the holiday?

[michael @ Dec 28th 2007 1:22PM]

No, is Apple making you?

[Duscrom @ Dec 27th 2007 1:29AM]

Yay more ways to further Apple's monopoly.

[Zak @ Dec 27th 2007 11:51AM]

mo·nop·o·ly [muh-nop-uh-lee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -lies.
1. exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices.

Is there anything in the definition of the word monopoly that applies to Apple? Does Apple have exclusive control over the sale of all music through the internet? Does Apple have exclusive control of any commodity or service at all, in any market? Since iTunes is not the only place you can buy music online, I would have to say no. Or have you not heard of Amazon?

[crescentdavid @ Dec 27th 2007 1:53AM]

It's all good ... even if HD desperately needs to be implemented. The subscription model needs to bleed from video to audio ... then I'll be happy in the iTunes world. Until then ... a foot in both worlds.

[wickedpheonix @ Dec 27th 2007 6:24AM]

its not a subscription they're talking about (yet), just rentals.

I want a subscription though...

[Miles @ Dec 27th 2007 2:22AM]

Apple's DRM is uncrackable you retard.
I doubt anything less than the NSA could decypher it.

[yoshi @ Dec 27th 2007 3:13AM]

What a dumb thing to say.

[h0mi @ Dec 27th 2007 3:24AM]

Oh noe, fox really is supporting to torpedo HD-DVD and force us into download schemes like this.

/ignorant michael bay hysterical rant

[Andrew @ Dec 27th 2007 9:34AM]

Apple is on the Bluray team. I don't know why they have yet to release a bluray product.

[Zak @ Dec 27th 2007 11:55AM]

@ Andrew - I think this probably has something to do with it.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/27/panasonic-whittles-thinnest-blu-ray-drive-for-laptops-down-to-9/

With MacWorld SF coming up in a few weeks, and Apple's long running history of using Panasonic optical drives, this one seems almost too obvious.

[Meredith Baxter Berney @ Dec 27th 2007 6:52AM]

This is likely related to the code injection patent people having been missing the point on for days now.

Now back to your petty lives...

[Jonathan Bergeron @ Dec 27th 2007 8:36AM]

I like Netflix.

[Jonathan-DBOSS @ Dec 27th 2007 12:20PM]

iTunes FOX movies...