Monday, April 3, 2006

Movie Studios Launch Download To Own

MGM, Paramount, Sony, Twentieth Century, Universal, and Warner Bros. are launching download-to-own of their movies today, in a new deal with Santa Monica-based MovieLink. MovieLink said this morning that the studios will allow consumers to buy movie downloads online, for permament ownership and on the same day as DVD releases. The service will release Universal Studio's Brokeback Mountain as its first major title tomorrow, and it also said that other major titles will be available today on the service. MovieLink has been offering rentals of films via the Internet, and the announcement marks the first time the studios have allowed ownership of films via the distribution medium. MovieLink said that the download service will allow the films to be viewed on up to three PCs and archived to a DVD in Windows Media format for backup.