Walmart offers innovative movie download option

Soon, when you go to Walmart and buy a (physical) DVD, you'll be greeted with a new option. For $1.97 more, you can download a digital version of that movie compatible with portable devices. For $2.97, you can buy a higher quality version, suitable for PCs. Or you can get both add-ons for $3.97.

Of course, a lot of you right now are going "You are so farking kidding me, right? Buy a DVD and then buy a digital download on top of that?" Yes, I know, I know. Handbrake, yaddi yaddi yaddi.

Remember that recent Library of Congress/Copyright Office ruling? For two bucks, you can put your movie on a portable player and not worry about breaking CSS.

The first DVD to offer this feature will be Superman Returns. The DVD will ship with a "video download feature sticker" on the cover. After purchase, customers will have to log onto walmart.com/superman and then go through some registration and (I suppose) affidavit rigmarole before downloading the digital version.

At this time, it's unclear what the download format will be (the smart money is on MPEG-4) and whether it will play on iPods.