Movie Downloads Update - August 2008

Lets catch up on this months (August 2008) movie download industry news in the UK.

BBC iPlayer
The BBC iPlayer, backed by an eyewatering �131m budget over five years, had its full launch at Christmas. It offers a seven-day catch-up TV service via PC. Users can also download programmes within the week after transmission and then have 30 days to watch a show. In May the service was extended to TV through Virgin Media's cable platform. The iPlayer is free to UK licence fee payers. The iPlayer is also accessible through devices such as the iPhone and iPod touch. Content is mostly UK produced shows although there is increasingly US programming as new rights deals are struck.

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, sell shows via iTunes for around �1.89 per episode and is a partner in Project Kangaroo.

ITV
ITV injected �20m into developing ITV.com's capability with an online TV player last summer. ITV.com simulcasts the broadcaster's channels and offers catch-up TV for 30 days after transmission. ITV's service has the benefits of a huge archive of programming. The service is ad-funded.

Channel 4
Channel 4 was the first terrestrial broadcaster to market with an online TV service with the 4oD download service in 2006. Channel 4 has developed its offering with a streamed, seven-day catch-up service via Channel4.com. 4oD offers TV downloads as an ad-funded 30-day catch up service and movies on a pay-per-view basis.

Project Kangaroo
Project Kangaroo, the online TV joint venture between BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4, was earmarked to launch by the end of the year. It is currently being investigated by the Competition Commission. Assuming it eventually gets the green light from regulators it is expected to be an archive-driven service focusing on the "best of British television". It is thought that the model will try and exploit the window for content post seven-day catch-up.

Channel Five
Channel Five finally got into the online TV game in a big way with the launch of Demand Five, a massive improvement over the previous bare bones offering Five Download. Demand Five is a mixed catch-up and download service that offers a pay-per-view archive of Five's leading US shows , such as CSI, at around 99p. Cleverly, it also offers a pre-transmission pay-perview window for some US shows at around �1.99. Five was frozen out of the deal to be a launch partner in Project Kangaroo.

Apple
Apple has moved beyond its instantly recognisable music roots to branch out into movies and TV shows. In June the company began offering more than 700 movies through iTunes UK, the first market outside its US stronghold, with downloaded rentals priced at �2.49 for library films and �3.49 for new releases. Download-to-own films are priced at �6.99 for a library title and �10.99 for new releases.

Sky
Sky's main online service, the Sky Player, offers TV shows, sport and movies. Sky customers get different levels of access to content depending on their subscription package. Non-Sky customers can buy download-to-own TV shows. Sky also offers TV and movies via Sony's Playstation Portable device under the Go! View brand as a payper-view or subscription service. The company also has the Sky Anytime on TV service although it is not a true VoD service. Instead it relies on broadcast content being stored on the Sky+ personal video recorder, which instead allows users to select programmes from the linear TV schedule from the past seven days.

Virgin Media
Virgin Media offers a wide-range of US and UK TV content, including HBO, Warner, BBC and Channel 4 content, available as a �5 subscription on-demand or part of free seven-day catch-up service. BBC iPlayer was made available as part of on-demand service in May. Music videos, concerts and adult content are available on a pay-per-view basis with prices ranging from 20p through to �5.50.

This information was provided by the Guardian Newspaper
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Illegal movie downloads in France

The number of illegal movie downloads in France is set to overtake box office ticket sales if trends continue. Figures published by the anti piracy bodies Thomson and Advestigo indicate that a massive 450,000 illegal movie downloads take place every day.

The director general of l'Association de Lutte Contre la Piraterie Audiovisuelle , Fr�d�ric Delacroix, said: ?This is a major phenomenon which could put the whole cinema and audiovisual industry in danger.?

He said that France was one of the worst offenders for illegal movie downloads. ?The number of subscribers to fast broadband connections is directly proportional to the trend of illegal downloads. These fast lines enable people to make big downloads like films.?

French movie producers Gaumont have employed the anti-piracy bodies Thomson and Advestigo to monitor illegal download traffic.

According to this study more than 10 million copies of films are downloaded each month; 14.1 million in June and a peak of 16.6 last December. The figures are pushing past the number of people who pay to see films in cinemas ? 12 million in May.

In the first six months of the year they remained below with 62 million illegal downloads compared to 90 million cinema tickets sold. Most films downloaded are American (66%) with France in second position (19%).

The most popular film for pirates at the moment is Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis a surprise box office smash which pulled in 20 million viewers at the cinema.

Direct to TV Movie Downloads Future is bright

United States consumer spending on direct-to-TV Internet video content will jump fivefold within the next five years as customers find more ways to connect their TVs to the Web with videogame consoles, video-on-demand set-top boxes and other components.

TV-related Internet-video revenue will surge to almost $5 billion annually by 2013, from less than $1 billion this year, and will account for 75% of all Internet-video revenue, research firm Parks Associates said in a report released last week. The trend is likely to benefit studios with large back catalogs, but cable companies looking to boost revenue from video-on-demand services could feel the brunt, the company said.

The forecast exceeds those of studios such as Lionsgate, which said in June that sales from digitally delivered content would more than double to almost $3.6 billion in 2013, from about $1.5 billion this year, despite U.S. home entertainment sales rising just 7% to $26.8 billion.

?We?ll continue to see more premium content make its way to electronic delivery formats, and we are also seeing the key trend of creating connected consumer electronics devices that will place the video right at the TV,? said Kurt Scherf, VP and principal analyst at Parks Associates.

Content distributors ranging from Blockbuster to Netflix to Amazon.com have recently started or overhauled services that let customers download or stream videos to their computers or TVs.

Blockbuster, the largest U.S. movie-rental chain, last month started beta-testing its Movielink download service on its Web site, while Amazon.com, the world?s largest Internet retailer, began preparing to replace its two-year-old download-based Unbox service with a streaming-based video-on-demand service.

And since May, Netflix, the largest U.S. rental service by mail, has signed agreements allowing its content to be streamed via LG Electronics? Blu-ray Disc players, Microsoft?s Xbox 360 videogame consoles and its own Netflix Player by Roku.

As customers buy more TV and film titles from the Internet that can be sent directly to their TVs, they?re likely to spend less on video-on-demand services that cable companies have been counting on to help boost sales amid a flattening subscriber base, according to Scherf.

Meanwhile, studios and distributors looking to gain home-entertainment revenue by releasing newer titles on Blu-ray might also pick up sales from older titles by selling digital content.

?This can allow older content to be monetized in ways that weren't available just a few years ago, and it can allow the aggregators to use their advantages of scale to gain recurring revenues from content that is less-expensive to acquire,? Scherf said.

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Cinemanow Apple Mac Movie Downloads

In a move that could step up the competitive pressure on Apple, movie download service
CinemaNow has inked a deal that will make its movie and TV show downloads playable on both PCs and Macs.

CinemaNow announced today it has signed a deal to use Widevine Technologies' multi-format digital rights management and copy-protection technology to make CinemaNow's video downloads playable on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms. The technology also enables CinemaNow to stream movies to users through the Internet Explorer, FireFox, Safari and Opera browsers.

The move could help the company wrestle market share away from Apple iTunes, which dominates the paid digital video business. Up to now, iTunes has been the only download service to sell major studio movie downloads playable on Apple computers and PCs.

CinemaNow, Amazon.com, Movielink and others have been restricted by DRM to offering downloads compatible with PCs and Windows Media portable devices, the latter of which make up a fraction of the portable market compared to the iPod.

ITunes still offers the only downloads playable on the iPod, giving it a considerable edge over competitors.

With its Widevine partnership, CinemaNow�s digital content will be available on a wide range of consumer electronic devices as well as new devices shipping to retail with CinemaNow�s "CE Store" application. CinemaNow downloads still won�t play on iPods, a spokeswoman confirmed.

"Widevine�s technology helps CinemaNow expand delivery of high-quality digital content across any consumer electronics device or platform," CinemaNow chief technology officer Jesse Keane said in a statement announcing the deal. "With the integration of Widevine�s multi-platform and multi-format solution, we ensure our content partners receive the highest level of protection, which is a key factor in their ongoing support for CinemaNow�s open platform and domain-based business model."

The move comes as several competitors have dropped out of the download business and others are shifting their models. Last week, news broke that Starz Entertainment's Vongo service and Morgan Freeman-backed movie service ClickStar shut down. Meanwhile, Amazon launched a streaming movie service called Amazon Video On Demand in beta last month as an eventual replacement for its Unbox download service, which has gotten off to a slow start. Amazon's streaming service is playable on PC, Mac and Linux computers.

HD Movie Downloads still to come

That flood of demand for HD Movies maybe a little farther off than some studios and content providers had hoped.

Movie downloads service Vudu said this week that it will let customers renew HD movies for $1.99. The company, which offers standard-definition renewals for 99 cents, charges $3.99 to $5.99 for first-time rentals of HD titles.

?In this age of $4-a-gallon gas and ?staycations,? we felt that Vudu customers deserved a break,? said Patrick Cosson, the company?s vice president of marketing. Of Vudu?s 6,500 titles, about 200 are available in HD.

With studios such as Lionsgate forecasting U.S. consumers will spend about $1.5 billion on digital downloads and streaming this year, and Blu-ray revenue expected to account for about 4% of the $25 billion home entertainment market, digital delivery of HD films may jump from a negligible number to more than $60 million this year.

Already, Blu-ray revenue has jumped fourfold to more than $200 million this year, despite home entertainment spending being nearly flat at about $10.1 billion, according to data compiled by Video Business and Rentrak.

Meanwhile, Lionsgate said in an earnings call this week that revenue from digital delivery would more than double to about $3.5 billion within the next five years while the continued rise in high-definition TV sales suggests that HD titles will account for a progressively larger share of that total.

Still, the promotion by Vudu, which doesn?t disclose sales or rental figures, suggests that between bandwidth limitations that lengthen the time it takes to download or stream HD titles, the disparate components used to bring digital titles directly to televisions and the general cutback in consumer spending, it may yet be a while before digital delivery of HD titles becomes the norm.

CinemaNow Movie Downloads Review

CinemaNow movie download service offers movie rentals, memberships and downloads for purchase from popular movie companies like Disney, MGM, 20th Century Fox and Miramax.

This service has a little something for everybody, from family favorites, cult classics to major new releases.

This service even offers streaming video, HD downloads and they are completely compatible with Windows Mobile??based Portable Media Centers.

CinemaNow has collaborated with many Hollywood heavy hitters to total over 250 licensors to offer over 4000 titles. They have created relationships with media moguls like Disney, Microsoft, MGM, Miramax, NBC Universal, 20th Century Fox, ABC News and Vivid Video.

Movie Download Selection
This movie download site is a little more adult oriented than some of the other sites that we reviewed. For example, they only offer 105 titles in their family section, whereas they offer 600 Drama and 300 action titles as well as a large adult content section. However, they do provide parental controls and do not display graphic images on their regular pages. It is a good idea to visit this site before your kids do, to set the parental controls, because they are not automatically on.

At the time this review was completed they offered almost 25 pages of New Releases for rent, which included popular titles like Ghost Rider, Pan?s Labyrinth and the Astronaut Farmer. CinemaNow also offers independent films and titles from smaller production companies.

Ease of Use of Movie Download Service
This movie download service is a bit different from other movie download services, they offer a membership plan, movies for rent and for downloadable purchase (digital sell through).
CinemaNow has recently included a ?Burn to DVD? section that allows you to burn selected titles and play them on most DVD players. Furthermore, they let you browse their extensive selection without having to register or sign up for a membership-you can see what they offer before making a commitment.

Their membership is a bit pricey at $29.95 per month and includes adult content videos, news and concert downloads and access to nearly 1400 free videos. However, membership does not provide unlimited access to the Hollywood hit rentals, these are offered pay per movie only.

If you choose to rent a movie, they range from $1.99 to $3.99 each and you have unlimited access for 24 hours after you begin watching the film.

Digital sell through movies vary in price and they offer nearly 1400 of these titles.

Their downloads are extremely compatible with Microsoft products, they work with Windows Mobile??based Portable Media Centers and are available for streaming or download. They also offer High Definition (HD) downloads. However, their services are not available for Macintosh or through browsers other than Internet Explorer.

CinemaNow posts customer reviews and hosts several account management tools including parental controls, My Media Manager and a Recently Browsed section. The service supports searches by title, actor, director or keyword, genre, format and device.

Summary
For quick, studio backed and legal downloads try CinemaNow. This service offers choices for all ages and all tastes, from Comic Superheroes to Cult Classics to Feature Films. So instead of getting in your car or waiting for a two hour download, visit CinemaNow, and get it NOW....

Blockbuster Movie Downloads Review

A review of Blockbuster beta version of their new movie download service.

The design is clean and easy to use. Here is what the website design looks like:

Users have 2 weeks to watch the downloaded movie but only 24 hours to finish watching the movie once you start watching.

Users of the service will require downloading the MovieLink Player in order to download and watch the movies:

YOU NEED THE BLOCKBUSTER MOVIELINK PLAYER The BLOCKBUSTER Movielink player is a free program that allows you to download and watch movies. (you can install it from the Blockbuster site)

The MovieLink player looks to be using Microsoft WMV DRM and it requires the massively bloated .NET Framework 3.0 to be installed as well which is not a good start.

The service is DRM-laden, non-portable (unless you have a laptop), time limited, it doesn't work with Firefox and can only be played on Windows PCs. This is all very odd as I do not see any benefit for users using this service over renting DVDs via mail which Blockbuster does well along with LoveFilm.

Here is what the Blockbuster Movielink application looks like:

On a positive note, the movie download speed I found to be impressive averaging 2100 kbps on this trial download.

As for the movie download quality, I found this to be on par with DVD quality but some way off High Definition. The movie download size is 1,243 MB for a 115 minute movie. Here is the player in action:

I then tried copying the download file (a protected WMV file as expected) to another Windows machine on our network and, upon attempting to play in Windows Media Player, got this error:

So to conclude with this Blockbuster movie download service review, here is what I found:

• Watch movies only on one PC
  
  
• Always finish them within 24 hours
  
  
• If you have no desire to share or keep a movie download for future watching, Blockbuster's new movie download service may be just what you've been looking for.
  

EZTakes Movie Downloads to Burn

Movie download service EZTakes today started a division that will allow customers to download from an inventory of more than 800 arthouse titles that can be burned on DVDs.

By the end of the year, the unit, iArthouse, will have ?several thousand? international, documentary and other independent films available to customers, the company said in a statement.

Among the titles now available are the Cate Blanchett-starring 2005 film Little Fish, which can be downloaded for DVD burning for $7.98, and the Morgan Spurlock documentary Super Size Me, which can be purchased for $12.99.

The site is part of a growing group of online distribution channels specializing in independent and other hard-to-find films largely ignored by larger retail chains. In June, New York?s Tribeca Film Institute launched its Reframe Web site, which helps fledgling filmmakers and rights holders to rare or educational movies digitize and sell their content at reduced prices.

Closely held EZTakes was launched five years ago by two former executives of mail-processing equipment maker Pitney Bowes. Last year, EZTakes, which has an inventory of about 3,000 titles with prices starting at $1.99, added an option to its site that allowed customers to download titles to portable devices such as Apple?s iPhone and Microsoft?s Zune.

Movie Links

To combat illegal movie downloads, the MPAA's latest idea involves a site that would allow users to search for a movie and then provide links to legit legal downloads or ticket purchases for it.

Why are they doing this?
Because their research showed 'many users have a hard time differentiating between legal and illegal content online.'

And all this time I thought people pirated movies because it was cheaper to do! Turns out they were just confused."

The Motion Picture Association of America has tried any number of tactics to fight piracy, but its latest scheme might actually prove useful to movie consumers on the Internet.

The group is supposedly working on a new 'movie links' website that will offer information on how to find legit sources of movies so that users won't have to resort to copyright infringement.

The movie links site, which does not yet have a name, would allow users to search for film titles, and in return it would provide links to places to buy movie tickets, to locations where searchers could buy or rent a DVD, or to sites where they can buy or rent a download from an online source.

All of the major movie studios are behind the movie links initiative, an anonymous movie studio source told Variety, and all legit "partners" would be linked on the site. Assuming this information is accurate, it could include links to Fandango, Vizumi, Movietickets.com, Amazon, Netflix, iTunes, Xbox Live Video, Hulu, and more.

The movie links site will be not-for-profit (except, of course, that it will be pointing to a million places that sell/rent movies for profit).

The rationale for the venture was allegedly provided by research from the studios that found that many users have a hard time differentiating between legal and illegal content online.

While some of us may scoff at such an assumption?it's not exactly difficult for tech-savvy users to know the difference between downloading a movie from iTunes versus BitTorrent?such a confusion does sometimes come up among your average Joes and Janes. Just casually chatting with several of my own family members shows that they haven't the foggiest idea of where to start looking for legal music and video content outside of "the Google," which has sometimes in the past pointed them directly to not-so-legit content.

Having a one-stop shop could definitely help in this case, especially if it doesn't discriminate between various online stores and merely provides a comprehensive listing for each film. Hell, throw in a column to list the price and even I would use it.

An MPAA spokesperson declined to comment on the website, but said that the organization is always looking for new ways to help users find legal alternatives. Of course, most of the MPAA's past efforts to "help users" have not exactly revolved around making things easier for anyone; they have instead included legal attacks on P2P sites, pushing for Internet filtering on college campuses, trying to stop DVRs from recording movies, and paying $15,000 for the private e-mail addresses of TorrentSpy users.

But, if this initiative turns out being as simple and straightforward as it sounds, and if it gains enough popularity to be widely used, then it could actually offer something of value to consumers.

Bootleg Movie Download

A bootleg movie download sounds dodgy but file sharing has not yet been eliminated. The average person online can usually find a listing for a free movie download with some ease, but care must be taken as many are illegal movie downloads.

The trouble arrives when the downloading begins. Most of the free movie downloads available either contain some form of adware, are of poor quality and risk of PC viruses are high.

Some users of file sharing sites (p2p) learn the hard way, but nearly all of them use a form of virus scanning once a download is complete.

This takes care of most of the risk involved with online bootleg movie downloads, but what happens when the download contains advertising? Sometimes the movie download could just contain the first few minutes of a feature, leading into commercials for online stores. The user has usually lost a considerable amount of time downloading the movie and the search is on again.

For those who greatly value their time and have little patience, there are other resources available. Numerous websites have sprouted up lately, which not only offer free movie downloads but also provide high quality DVD movies. These online bootleg movie downloads can be burned onto a DVD and watched on a regular DVD player.

Illegal Movie Downloads - Be Careful!

I recommend caution however with a bootleg movie download and read reviews of the website you are using to see what other users experiences have been and also read any disclaimers on the website carefully. Be careful when it comes to bootleg movie downloads.

The current laws and court rulings have stated that file sharing is not illegal. That means that downloading movies online is available to all of us.

How many times have you downloaded an MP3 or movie just to find that you wasted your time downloading an incomplete copy, a poor quality track, or even worse; a virus.

Online bootleg movie downloads can be entertaining, but first there are some things you are going to have to look for in your resources.

Watch Out for Viruses
This may sound like it should go without saying, but most people are so determined to download what they are searching for that they will open it immediately. First off, if the source is questionable, you should at least pay attention to the red flag in your head. Scan files as soon as you download them and definitely prior to opening.

It usually only takes a few seconds and it can save you loads of headaches. Every time you download a file from a questionable source you should ask yourself, "Do I want a permanent ad on my desktop?" If you are planning on enjoying any online bootleg movie downloads, you should take the time to scan them first, prior to viewing. The movie is about 125 minutes long, but the damage could take weeks to repair.

Download Formats and Quality
When you find the online bootleg movie downloads you have been searching for, you want to make sure that they are of good quality. Some free movie download sites will provide you with software, which will allow you to burn your downloaded movies to DVD.

Watching your downloaded movies on the PC is good, but burning them to DVD and watching them on the TV is even better. In order to do this though; you will have to download a high-quality copy of the movie. Most of the newer free movie downloads come with the complete menus and chapter selections as well. These downloads are the closest thing to the original copy available.

User Requirements and Support
Something you will seldom find amongst free movie download sites is customer service. In order to help you with download issues as well as watching your downloads, you may need some tech support from time to time.

Only a few free movie download sites will offer customer support, but it is very valuable when you need it. Additionally, some sites are known to limit how many movies you can download, based upon how many movies you share.

For those with slower internet connections, this can be troublesome, since when people are downloading a shared movie from your PC, your download speeds suffer. By finding a reliable site, which does not limit your downloads, you can share only a few downloaded movies and still maintain a relatively fast download speed.

Adam Sandler's Movie Babe Moments

Adam Sandler is one lucky man. Check out these sexy babes he has shared some loving on-screen with including Kate Beckinsale and Jessical Biel.
I'm sure there will be much more to come as well including his latest film 'You don't mess with the Zohan'


Tea Leoni - Spanglish (2004)


Jessica Biel - I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry (2007)


Kate Beckinsale - Click (2006)


Bridgette Wilson - Billy Madison (1995)

I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry Download

Click - Kate Beckinsale Movie Download

Adam Sandler Movie Downloads

Hollywood Movie Downloads Distribution

How does Hollywood makes digital-distribution decisions for Apple, PS3, Vudu, Microsoft and Netflix when it comes to movie downloads?

"Vudu gets all their content from the studios," said Tara Wagner of SutherlandGold, which handles Vudu's public relations. Wagner said Vudu has deals with all of the major motion-picture studios and more than 27 independent distributors. "When the studio releases a DVD into the video store, it's available the same day on Vudu right from your living room. There's also something called the HBO hole -- movies not available on any digital services because they fall into the HBO hole."

For Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace, Evan Parker of the PR firm Edelman said: "In general we get our movies in the VOD [video on demand] window, which means they hit the service usually within a month of the movie being released on DVD."

He added that certain partners such as Warner Bros. offer titles on Live the same day they go out on DVD. "On average we get the movies within two weeks." Parker said the practice is standard in the business. "Nobody gets the films faster than we do, so we are generally on par with cable TV, Apple TV, etc." TV shows are quicker to go from on-air to download.

"We get the shows within 24 hours of its original airing," Parker said, "so if you missed 'The Daily Show' last night, you can download it today."

Steve Swasey, Netflix's vice-president of corporate communications, said his company "sends DVDs and Blu-ray discs to Netflix members the same day they 'street' for sale at Wal-Mart, Best Buy and elsewhere." Titles for streaming come at various intervals, Swasey said, adding that "Netflix has more than 100,000 titles available on DVD and a smaller, separate catalog of more than 12,000 movies and TV episodes available to watch instantly."

Which prompts the question: How many titles does each service offer?

A recent MacWorld story estimates that Apple has nearly 1,500 titles. Vudu's Web site reports more than 6,000 titles, while a visit to Amazon's Unbox (which can be accessed via TiVo) turned up just over 14,000 titles. Newcomer Sony reports 300 movies and more than 1,200 TV episodes for downloading to the company's PlayStation 3 and PSP video game consoles.

And last, there's Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace. "We have nearly 400 movies and then a few thousand TV episodes," Parker said. "And of course come fall we'll add in 10,000 movies and TV episodes from Netflix."

Movie Downloads in Ireland

Movie rental stores are doing great business these days -- in games consoles, mobile-phone handsets and digital music players. They have been forced to diversify to cope with the fall in popularity of DVD rentals.

Ireland still has one of the biggest cinema-going populations in Europe, but the availability of movies on the internet has revolutionised how we watch films at home. Stephen McCormack is CEO of Irish company WildWave.com, which uses new digital technology media for distributing film and TV content. He says that the pervasiveness of the internet has allowed the public to find and consume entertainment in non-traditional ways -- and the movie industry had better catch up.

"At the moment, there is no digital download site specifically for Ireland so people go to illegal download sites and get the latest movies there," says McCormack. "They download in BitTorrent form, which is to movies now what Napster was to the music industry."

Illegal it may be, but McCormack estimates that many people under the age of 25 in this country habitually download content in this way.

There is good news on the way for the Irish consumer, however, who does not want to pay ?5.25 for a new release at a movie rental store -- but doesn't want to operate outside the law either.

All the major Hollywood studios have started to make their movies available online for a download fee at sites such as amazon.com and on Apple.

These downloads are not yet available in Ireland, but industry experts, including McCormack, suspect that will change in the next year.

"The music industry moved too slowly to prevent piracy and illegal downloads, but the movie people are starting to play catch-up and join with the internet to provide people with what they want."

The Irish Film Board has just posted 10 films from Irish producers online in a bid to get the material out to a wider audience. These can be seen at Youtube.com/virtualcinema.

For the Irish movie fan, there are also online rental options such as screenclick.com and moviestar.ie where films are sent by post to subscribers. There is also the option of downloading popular TV programmes legally on sites such as Lovefilm and Channel 4's 4OD. Eircom are hoping to roll out a new TV-on-the-web site soon.

When Ireland gets its own movie download site -- and it's a case of if, not when -- it is expected that downloading will replace DVD rental altogether. In Britain, the site www.vizumi.com allows consumers access to a wide back catalogue of movies.

This has given an extra lease of life to old horror movies, forgotten and cult classics, giving the current blockbusters a run for their money. Another important factor in paving the way for a download future for Irish film fans is the improvement to broadband services.

Downloading a feature-length movie needs 10 to 20mgbs of broadband speed, but many broadband solutions in rural areas are currently providing only 2mgbs.

It's not enough, but is set to improve.

The ability of most newer-model computers to hook up to TV sets will also enhance the home entertainment experience.

But even the download industry could be surpassed when consumers move onto the 'next big thing': VoD (video on demand).

This new service means that a customer can just click on a film and watch it straight away -- while it 'streams' -- rather than wait ages for it to download on to their hard drive. Amazon.com was reported last month to be replacing its download service with Amazon Video on Demand.

Irish consumers can only wait for a major provider to do the same here.

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Nokia Mobile Phone Movie Downloads

Apparently not content with just being the biggest cell phone company in the world, Nokia is now reportedly working on a movie download service that would deliver fresh flicks directly to your multimedia phone.

The Nokia Music Store has already launched in a few select markets and it hasn't exactly been met with a huge level of success, but the Finnish phonemaker is hoping that video will be the key to our hearts (and our wallets).

The Nokia Movie Store (yet to be named) will allow you to stream movies directly from their server onto your Nokia mobile phone. You pay a flat monthly fee and then the videos can be sent you in a stream of QVGA H.264 goodness. The audio would come by way of AAC stereo 96kbps. While it is perfectly possible to watch these videos on your phone, you may also be able to enjoy them on a bigger screen with the TV-out feature.

Interestingly, if you find that you are really enjoying the movie and want to buy a copy of your own, you can click on the purchase button in the middle of playing and the movie "will then be dispatched overnight to your address on file from a Nokia-partnered DVD retailer."

More to come on mobile phone movie downloads over the coming months. Keep you posted.

Movie Downloads from Blockbuster

Blockbuster has taken the step and begin offering, still as a beta only service movie downloads and movie rentals. This new service marks the integration of the Movielink service which they purchased just about one year ago.

Currently Blockbuster is offering around 5,000 movie and TV shows which can be either purchased or just rented. The movie pricing begins at $7.99 and the rental pricing starts at $1.99.

The movie purchase and rentals are an interesting approach, especially considering how rival Netflix remains just with streaming movies on a subscription level. Blockbuster is planning to offer some movie titles for purchase on the day of the DVD release, and also make those titles available for rent within the VOD window.

While I like the Netflix approach better, because its already tied into my standard account, I think the likely winner will be the one who will be able to offer more new release titles faster.

The Blockbuster movies also have a variety of options for viewing, which is a nice plus for them. They can be watched on your regular Windows PC, a TV through a Windows Media Center PC, by using the AT&T Homezone set-top box, an Xbox 360, as well as a variety of portable media players.

Legal Free Movie Downloads

Illegally downloading movies from the Internet involves video transfer to a user without the consent of the copyright holder. The legal argument given by peer-to-peer software companies and others is that the ability to watch a movie is not an infringement upon a copyright.

To avoid legal and financial problems, Internet users should understand how to legally download movies as currently defined by federal law.

Step 1
Bookmark Web sites that have developed relationships with movie studios to show clips or full-length versions of their films. There are a number of video-sharing and social-networking Web sites (such as Yahoo! and MySpace) used by movie studios to reach millions of Internet users. Users who view material on these Web sites are free to watch as much as they want.

Step 2
Utilize your video-enabled MP3 player or mobile phone to download extended clips or full-length versions of your favorite films. Movie studios are working with MP3 and mobile-phone providers to stave off copyright infringement through the purchase of downloadable files. This process is still in its infancy, and costs are still high for phones or MP3 players with video options.

Step 3
Get in touch with movie studios or a representative from the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) to discuss the latest trends in legal movie downloads. These organizations are willing to speak with concerned viewers who want to know how they can utilize new technology without infringing upon copyright laws.

Step 4
Ascertain the rights of peer-to-peer and social-networking Web sites to provide movie downloads by reading their legal disclaimers. Legitimate Web providers of copyrighted movies will go out of their way to demonstrate that they have permissions and partnerships to allow movie downloads. If you can't find any such disclaimers, chances are the distribution of content from that site is not legal.

5 websites for legal free movie downloads

Here are five great movie download websites where you can legally get a free movie download and burn them to a DVD to watch with your sweetie, family, and friends this weekend.


The Internet Archive
This is the motherlode for all kinds of free media (it's even got video games). The Archive has loads of old movies, foreign films, documentaries, and more.

There's even a couple of movies about ice cream (hey, we just blog about this stuff -- we can't explain it either).


Emol
If comedy and cartoons are what you're after, Emol.org is the place to go. Here's where you'll find Charlie Chaplin, The Three Stooges, Bugs Bunny, and Popeye.


Angry Alien
Just because none of these sites are likely to have the latest box office blockbuster available, that doesn't mean you can't still watch Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, or Star Wars. In less than 30 seconds. Acted out by bunnies.


Public Domain Torrents
Head here for B-movies "Like Attack of the Giant Leeches", "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" (wonder what that love child looks like?), and "Track of the Moon Beast". On the other hand, you'll also find "Night of the Living Dead" on this site -- so it's not all bad.


Atom Films
There are some very creative films on this site made up of mostly user-created content.

AtomFilms is a service of MTV Networks that serves up content to mobile phones and Web sites, but since they're partnered with Comedy Central and Spike TV there are a few gems on here if you poke around a bit.

Download Safely - 7 Tips for online safety

Computer downloaders beware! Being careless online can lead to serious issues such as computer malfunctions, viruses and identity theft. Here are seven of the most common online errors and how to avoid them.

1. Assuming your security software is protecting you.
   Because security software is fully effective only when activated and frequently updated, consumers must renew their subscriptions when they expire. Most software requires an annual subscription fee, so pay up to stay covered.
   
   
2. Accessing an account through an e-mail link.
   Clicking on an embedded Web link can give cybercriminals account access, and lead to identity theft. Even the most official-looking e-mail messages can be fraudulent, so access online accounts only by typing the institution's Web address in a browser.
   
   
3. Using a single password for all online accounts.
   Using one password for all accounts provides easy access for someone looking to steal a consumer's identity. Try using variations on one password -- the best passwords use a combination of at least eight letters, numbers, or punctuation symbols.
   
   
4. Downloading free software.
   Free downloads often come at the price of added spyware which can slow down your computer. To avoid spyware, download freeware from reputable sites like SnapFiles.com and Download.com.
   
   
5. Thinking your Mac shields you from all risks.
   Phishing scams are just as much a threat to Mac users as Windows users. Since Apple's Safari browser has no phishing protection, users should try Firefox or Opera instead.
   
   
6. Clicking on a pop-up ad that says your PC is insecure.
   Clicking on a pop-up is never a good idea. Avoid accidentally opening the pop-up by carefully clicking on the "close button" or get rid of pop-ups altogether by enabling the browser's pop-up blocker.
   
   
7. Shopping online the same way you do in stores.
   To avoid scams, use a separate credit card for Internet purchases and don't use a debit card. Or get a virtual account number from your credit-card company, which is good for only one purchase for a specific vendor.
   
   

Online Safety Resources

Get Safe Online

BBC Guide to using the Internet

How to download safely