Filmstalker: Download films legally in the UK

If you're in the UK you're about to get a great deal, downloading films, and not just the homemade ones, I mean big films like King Kong!

From Yahoo News:

Universal Pictures has launched a new service in Britain that will sell digital downloads of movies such as "King Kong" along with a DVD copy, tapping into the online video market now dominated by Apple's iTunes.
From April 10, consumers will be able to download two digital copies of selected movies -- one for a computer and one for a portable device -- and receive a DVD in the mail...

...The new service announced on Thursday is download-to-own, meaning that the downloads will not expire..

...Universal will start the service with "King Kong" as part of an initial collection of 35 movies, including "Pride and Prejudice" and "Serenity." "King Kong" will sell for 19.99 pounds, roughly equal to the retail price.

That's not a bad deal. You can download the film for your PC and your iPod (other devices are available and are better), then get the full blown singing and dancing version (no, it's not King Kong the musical...although that's not a bad idea!) mailed to you as well.

Finally the studios look set to embrace the Internet rather than try and send everyone who uses it to prison. Well done studios. Now hurry up!

What do you think of this, is it a service you would consider using?

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I watch all my films on my PC as I dont have telly just yet. I never watch much TV really so I dont see the point of paying for a tv license for a service that I wouldnt use. Then again, nothing still beats the real movie experience of going to the cinema. I only buy the DVDs I know I will watch more than once, (Star Wars for example, shameless plug I know!) so the films I wouldnt care about, I'll see it on the cinema. I dont have an iPod as I listen to my music full blast at home, although Richard, if in the future you have your audio edition for Filmstalker, I might probably change my mind. ;-)

Posted by: Simone | March 23, 2006 7:59 PM

Covered on the BBC news tonight. That sole reason why we pay our TV Tax. Hey, can we start that rant again?

Posted by: Lee | March 23, 2006 8:11 PM

I don't understand. You can watch DVDs on your PC so why have a PC version along with the DVD?

Fair enough about a portable media player but could you not just rip the DVD to the appropriate format?

I'd much prefer a downloadable version that DID NOT include a DVD eg £3-4 for a download of just the movie. Or put another way - the exact same as currently available on bittorrent (or any other pirate source) but one you pay for legally. I'd 'buy' a lot more movies than I currently do on DVD. For me £10-12 means you pretty much need to like the movie before buying. £3-£4 is like rental and I'd do it more often.

Would the iTunes Music Store have worked if they charged £12 for a download and sent you the cd in the post? Not for me!

Posted by: Dave Morrow | March 23, 2006 10:08 PM

Personal opinion agrees with Dave here. But being the cynic I I'm asking why give you a download AND a hardcopy?

I would expect the download copy to be DRM'd up to the eyeballs regardless, but hardcopy too?

There's just something in the back of my mind that says to me more copy protection and having the download as well as hardcopy is hinting at the next gen of copy protection not allowing DVDs to be played in PCs / laptop drives, only on stand-alone players, hence giving you the download.

Posted by: Lee | March 24, 2006 9:16 AM

I still cannot understand why they dont offer a download of the lastest Lost or 24 for £2 a pop. I download them currently but if there was a legit method then I'd jump straight in. And as I'm the type of idiot that cannot wait they'd get £48 off me per season.

Posted by: Dave Morrow | March 24, 2006 12:08 PM