Movielink gives way to download cheap movies
Since the introduction of high-speed Internet, the trend of downloading pirated music and videos has increased.
“At USU there is a $50 fine for file sharing, so I don’t see a lot of it in the dorms,” said Jeff Lake, a senior in secondary education and a resident assistant for the dorms at Utah State University. “But if students want music or films, they’ll find a way to get them.”
Hollywood has developed a way to fight the piracy of their films. The answer: Movielink.
“With more than 25 million broadband residences, we believe the market is now ready for the launch of a new Internet movie rental service,” said Movielink CEO Jim Ramo.
Movielink is a project of MGM Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Studios and Disney to stop the piracy of films being downloaded illegally.
“Illustrating wider attempts to quash piracy, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) sent letters to more than 2,000 colleges last month, warning them that students were using school networks to trade illegal file copies,” said Stefanie Olsen, a reporter from CNET News.com. “Although the letters didn’t overtly threaten legal action, they did ask the schools to make a ‘substantial effort’ to stop such trading.”
Prices for films vary from $2.99 to $4.99, and are set by the individual studio. First-run films will appear on the site after they are out on home video, but before they hit pay-per-view television.
“The price is right, but I don’t like the idea of watching film on my computer,” said student Jay Anson, a sophomore majoring in secondary education. “I like the couch and TV scene more.”
Movielink offers more than 450 titles which can be rented online and downloaded to your computer. The films available are from all genres, old and new. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Braveheart” and “Bowling for Columbine” are a few examples of the variety of films offered.
After choosing a film and paying for it by credit card, viewers will download it to their computer’s hard drive, and can be watched without an Internet connection.
The speed of the download depends on the users’ connection. With the general broadband speed with a cable modem, (like USU’s) it would take around 17 minutes.
“With progressive downloading, a film can be ready to watch in less than three minutes,” said Movielink representative Karen DeMarco. “Progressive downloading allows one to watch the film while the downloading is still in progress, giving viewers a quick start.”
-gspaul@cc.usu.edu