“Apple Inc.’s plans to enter the nascent online movie rental business drew skepticism on Monday from Hollywood executives who questioned pricing, copy protection and the timing of a possible launch,” Bob Tourtellotte reports for Reuters.
“Sources inside and outside the major movie studios confirmed news reports the maker of computers and iPods is considering online film rentals to complement digital movie downloads that are already sold at Apple’s iTunes web site,” Tourtellotte reports.
“But the sources, who declined to be named because film licensing talks are preliminary, questioned Apple’s desire to fight copy piracy and the reported $2.99 price per rental,” Tourtellotte reports. “Some said that, because the film download market remains small, the studios do not need to rush into a deal with Apple… ‘It just feels like the ball is in our court,’ said one source.”
“Among several issues involving copy protection, some movie executives expressed concern that Apple’s digital rights management software would not adequately protect against unauthorized copies made for the video iPod and other devices,” Tourtellotte reports. “Given Apple’s history, however, several sources said entering the movie rental market was likely just a matter of time, although autumn 2007 was too soon.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “LinuxGuy and Mac Prodigal Son” for the heads up.]
Some collection of anonymous sources do not always represent the whole story. Sometimes they’re right. Sometimes they’re wrong. Sometimes they’re simply pushing their own agendas. Without Tourtellotte more clearly identifying his sources, his report’s import is impossible to quantify.