Disney is Down(loading) with CinemaNow

Walt Disney has finally sided with one of two leading movie download sites. Beginning June 6, the studio will be releasing its films through CinemaNow on the same day they come out on DVD in stores. The first release in the deal will be Glory Road. CinemaNow movies cost $20 each for new releases and $10 for older titles and they can be transferred to up to three other devices, such as portable players. Disney says they went with CinemaNow because of this slight leniency with copying the downloads because parents like to transfer movies to players in their vehicles for their children's backseat enjoyment.

In April, a competing download site called Movielink signed with a number of studios -- Universal, Sony, Warner Bros., MGM, and Paramount. At the same time, CinemaNow only worked deals with Sony, MGM and LionsGate. Disney's partnership with CinemaNow is not exclusive, though, and they could very well sign with Movielink in the future.

Now that studios are getting with the program, I'd like to meet somebody who has actually used either Movielink or CinemaNow, because I just can't believe they are worth the money right now. Since you can't burn the movies to DVDs and show them on your TV, and the quality probably isn't good enough anyway, there really seems little incentive for the consumer. Then again, I still think buying movies is a waste while there's rental sites available. But at least buying movies can result in impressive libraries or collections, which is important to other people, if not to me. Downloading movies can still only be important to people who do it illegally.