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CinemaNow claims 94% of download-to-burn DVDs work
Somehow we had a feeling CinemaNow wouldn't take the news sitting down with regard to the claims espoused by an anonymous engineer who claims their new pseudo-DRMed download-to-burn DVD service is horribly, fatally flawed, and won't play but in any but the most robust standalone DVD boxes. CinemaNow shot back stating that the service has been "well received by our customers and studios alike," (ah, isn't that the trick?) and that tests had the burned DVDs working on "94 percent of DVD players." Which tests and using what DVD players we don't know, but somehow we don't expect to have that data readily divulged. Guess there's only one way to find out though, right? Download a marginally overpriced flick for about ten bucks, get yourself a spindle of DVD-Rs, and go to town. And while you're at it, howsabout letting us know how it worked out for ya by shouting it out in the comments, yeah?
CinemaNow DVD burning "irresponsibly defective"
If we sounded a little skeptical about CinemaNow's DRM-free DVD burning plans, there's good reason. One one side you have the content industry, which absolutely abhors the idea of allowing download-to-burn movies; on the other side, you've got CinemaNow trying to broker a deal to appease consumers without getting themselves sued, tarred, feathered, and caned. That deal they reached was to use fluxDVD's technology to take care of the magical DRM-less DRM that would allow customers to take their secure CinemaNow content and move it to a DVD which would play back in any old device Unfortunately, that vision may have been a little sanguine, since the reality is apparently turning out to be an "irresponsibly defective" solution, according to the report of an anonymous engineer. Apparently the burning technology deliberately introduces disc checksum errors when writing the disc, thus making the DVD both very difficult to copy, as well as making it nigh unplayable in most consumer DVD devices. And why are we not surprised this kind of solution is the compromise, hm?[Via Ars Technica]
CinemaNow launches "Burn to DVD" service for select films
Just days after MovieLink announced that it has licensed technology for burning flicks to DVD, rival download service CinemaNow has stepped up to the plate and begun actually offering consumers this very option. Starting today, about 100 titles are available for download through the "Burn to DVD" beta service, complete with all the interactive menus and bonus features you'd find on a store-bought DVD. Burnable titles start at $8.99, though if you're looking for the latest releases, you won't find them here -- Disney, Sony, Universal, and friends have only provided older films for the initial roll-out. While MovieLink partnered with Sonic Solutions for its presumed entrant into this space, CinemaNow decided to go with technology based on fluxDVD from Germany's ACE GmbH. Even though there may not be a lot of demand for the current crop of titles, assuming that the encryption scheme is able to ward off pirates and at least a few folks show some interest in "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" and "About a Boy," among others, it's likely that newer and more popular films will be added to the library in the near future.[Thanks, Michael]
Movielink to allow movie transfers to DVDs?
Have you been shunning Movielink because you don't feel like watching all your movies on your PC screen? If so, you're obviously not alone. The missed business is making the online film distributor re-think their insistence on refusing burnability in their downloads; it's been discovered that software technology from Sonic Solutions has been purchased to presumably allow for the DRM-infested files to be burned to DVDs somehow playable in any off-the-shelf DVD player. This approach could get real sticky: how does it keep DRM implemented on native DVDs, how does it stop dupes from showing up everywhere, and at this point, will anyone even pay attention? It's already known that studios are already finding alternate ways to get their films to viewers over the 'net: Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures have already inked deals with Guba in hopes of making downloads feel a bit less restrictive. Whether this (supposed) change will be enough to revitalize Movielink remains to be seen; the bigger question, however, is whether there's actually that big of a pent up demand for a DVD download-and-burn service. [Via Digital Lifestyles]
