FlickWatcher.com

Since 1999, movie fans have had the luxury of selecting movies for viewing from the comfort of their home computer and then receiving them at their door through the mail. Online movie rental services allow users a huge selection and affordable prices as well as convenience. Perhaps the only drawback to these services has been the wait between returning movies and receiving the next ones in the queue.

It appears that those movie fans who prefer more immediate gratification may soon see the method of movie delivery begin shifting in their favor. Netflix has announced on their website that they are beginning to phase in electronic delivery of movies to their subscribers. Switching service over to internet delivery exclusively will take a number of years as the online movie rental service has over 70,000 titles to its credit and the readiness of many consumers and the film industry is still a step behind. However, some current subscribers will begin seeing at least 1,000 titles available for immediate viewing in January 2007 with additional subscribers having the service added each week through the end of June 2007.

In its infancy, the new Netflix “Watch Now” feature will allow viewing of movies on personal computers/laptops that have a high speed connection and a Microsoft Windows operating system. However, the company reports that the future goal is to make their movies available on all internet connected screens; for instance on cell phones, iPods and computers with Apple OS.

The electronic delivery offered by Netflix offers some advantages over many download services as it is a real-time playback technology and allows viewers to begin viewing films as they are received versus waiting for the download to occur. Although meeting the demand for greater immediacy is a primary advantage to the Netflix “Watch Now” option, some convenience features will be welcomed by subscribers as well. After a 60 second browser applet installation, subscribers will even be able to pause and move forward within films using a simple position bar, giving viewers greater control.

Current subscribers to the Netflix online movie rental service will have access to view up to 48 hours of films per month on the internet streaming service based on the plan in which they participate; the more films per month included in their plan, the more streamed movies they will be able to view. There is no additional charge for viewing streamed movies versus those delivered through the traditional mail method.

Obviously, this news offers current Netflix customers a great new option for getting movies delivered into their home. For those who aren’t current customers it certainly demonstrates that the future of online movie rental is firmly headed in the direction of electronic delivery.

Freebies delight many of us and computer users are lucky to be able to download free movies from the Internet. There are several hundred sites advertising downloads of free movies but some are in the business peddling illegal fare. The trend to download free movies has also irked movie studios that fear a Napster-like piracy of music and movies via the Internet.

The free movies available online are usually those in the public domain because their copyright has not been renewed. The latest full-length movies are seldom free and they require a small fee sometimes charged as membership or shipping or mailing fee by some companies. If a recent movie is completely free, most often the transaction can get you into legal trouble.

The websites ibiblio.org and archive.org have free movie downloads. These sites have a collection of public domain movies. You can even get full-length movies from the 1930s and 40s such as the Three Stooges. It is legal to download these movies because the copyright has expired and they are now in the public domain.

The major movie studios are worried about this trend of free movie down loads. They see a future scenario of movie piracy similar to the music piracy boom of a few years ago. New technology makes it more difficult to put free movies on the Internet. Microsoft is planning a new operating system that will have strong anti-movie piracy protection.

The software is being developed in consultation with movie industry. The studios are looking at controlling the movie downloading market. With broadband speeds, Downloading a movie may become as common as downloading a song. A new alternative is to rent movies online for a small fee.

The movie download business is still in its infancy and faces many hurdles. For one, most people prefer to watch a movie on a television screen and not on a computer. Also, the hard drive of a P.C. can store only a few movies.

Downloading a movie from the Internet requires the following items. First, there must be a 56K modem or a broadband connection, 64 MB of RAM, Windows (95,98, ME, 2000, XP, Linux) and a movie download player like Quick Time. If all these components are present, you can play videos by download or stream. Movies should start playing within a minute or two once you select a link to the page that supports your modem speed.

It is not at all a tall order to expect the movie industry to be completely transformed by the free download business just like when the iPod hit the music scene. A way will surely emerge for the present technology to shed its defects and to bring out a high-quality product.