[sc:entertainment-category ]In a previous post I talked about how online music dominated my buying habits and that I no longer even considered buying a CD as an option. The other day I had the opposite happen.
Every once in a while I buy a movie, the last one I purchased was Prometheus, which had a lot of extra’s and two commentary tracks on it. This kind of movie makes sense to purchase on Blu-Ray, as there isn’t yet a standard for things like commentary tracks in most movie formats. However I was looking to pick up a copy of Jack Reacher (which really reminds me of an old school Dirty Harry movie) and all I wanted as the movie. It just felt wrong having to go out and actually buy the disk so I looked online to see if there were any options yet.
I found it in a couple of places online:
- Cineplex.com has the SD version available
- PlayStation Store
Now here’s the problem, both are full of DRM.
The Cineplex download only runs on your computer and can’t stream to other devices (like my PS3). Where as the PlayStation store copy only works on the PS3, I can’t put it on my phone or other devices.
Really? I can instead go online to a torrent site and get a full copy of the movie without and DRM in minutes but I can’t buy a legal copy online that gives me the freedom to use it as I like?
And don’t get me started about the “digital” editions and UltraViolet. DRM infested “digital” editions that only run on a PC with their software is a no go. And I refuse to “stream” gigs of data every time I want to watch my movie.
The movie studio’s need to grow up and realize they’re killing their own business by refusing to deliver a product people actually want.
P.S. On a semi-related note, why can’t I just buy the Blu-Ray version of the movie? Why do I need to buy the combo pack that includes a DVD copy, digital edition and UltraViolet version? I… just… want… the… Blu-Ray!
