Amazon Spends Over A Year Developing Movie Download Service Then Shackles It With Absurd Restrictions
Amazon launched it’s new Unbox Video service yesterday. After reportedly over a year of development, the new service allows movies to be permanently downloaded for the same price as purchasing the physical DVDs from Amazon or rented for 24 hours for $3.99. Unfortunately, Unbox is has so many restrictions that it is unlikely to make very many people happy and it’s license agreement breaks new ground in absurdity.
Amazon had the chance to do something revolutionary. If they released a service that let customers immediately download movies and watch them on their DVD players, they would have a serious shot at some of Netflix’s record profits and 5.169 million subscribers. Instead, they gave into movie industry demands and spent a year and untold dollars developing an over-priced service plagued with unreasonable restrictions:
You can’t play Unbox movies on your DVD player
Even though downloaded movies cost just as much as regular dvds, Amazon won’t let you watch the movies on your DVD player. Unbox allows you to back-up downloaded movies on blank DVDs, but the backups are encypted to prevent you from doing anything useful with them. Amazon has taken what was potentially the most compelling feature of Unbox and removed it from the service. This is classic uninnovation.
And how does Amazon want you to watch your expensive downloaded movies on your new HDTV? Amazon’s only suggestion is to buy a clumsy Windows Media Center PC and use an antequated s-video cable to connect it to your television. Welcome to picture quality circa 1995.
You can’t let your friends borrow your Unbox movies
Movies are a social experience. Part of the fun of having a DVD collection is sharing it with friends and family. Movies downloaded from Unbox cost just as much as normal DVDs, but will only play on the computer where they were downloaded or one other alternate computer you own. You can’t lend your movies to friends, take them with you to watch at a friend’s house, or let your kids watch them with your new in-car lcd movie system.
You must give Amazon an absurd amount of control over your computer
In what must be the scariest license agreement in years, Amazon is requiring an amazing amount of control over your computer if you want to use Unbox. According to the license agreement:
- You must install any software patch Amazon releases or you can no longer watch movies you have already purchased. Imagine if you couldn’t watch DVDs anymore unless you agreed to let Sony poke around inside your DVD player anytime it wanted.
- You must agree to let Unbox report what movies you watch back to Amazon without notice.
- If you try to uninstall Amazon’s Unbox player for any reason, Amazon has the right to automatically delete all of your movies without notice to you.
- You have to agree to let Amazon spam your computer with “promotional downloads” that appear unsolicted in your Unbox player. You also have to agree to let Amazon delete these promotional downloads from your computer without notice.
- Amazon can discontinue the Unbox service at any time without liability. What happens to all the movies you bought then?
- Amazon can change the terms of the agreement at any time and you must agree to the changes or you lose the right to continue watching all of the movies you bought.
Yes, you read that right. You have to pay just as much money to build an Unbox video library as it would cost to build a DVD library, but you can lose the whole library at Amazon’s whim with no recourse.
Somehow I don’t think this is going to be the hit service Amazon that hopes it will be.
technorati tags:unbox, amazon, drm, uninnovate, eula, dvd
51 Comments so far
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That’s terrible. Amazon has been such a reputable, and great company thus far, and this is bringing them down a few notches.
I am disapointed Amazon has taken this route. Yet, there are still some services out there, like starz.real.com and www.vongo.com that allow you to download an unlimited amount of movies. Problem is they have a small selection in comparison to what is out. And, they usually carry movies that are out on premium cable channels. That means that you will not be able to download the latest movies that have just come out on DVD. The last problem is that they are not yours to keep. Still, I am waiting for the day that I can buy, outright, a movie over the internet. At least this is a move in the right direction, even if it is the longer route.
[…] Phipps: “Unbox Unusable.” Tom Merritt, on CNET: ”My Fight with Amazon Unbox.” Uninnovate: “Amazon Spends Over a Year Developing Movie Download Service Then ShacklesWith Absurd Restrictions.” Filed under: Google, blogging, Amazon @ 2:51 am# […]
It does nark me that Amazon has taken the stance that it has - espcialy on forcing the EULA down users throats. Be interesting to see just how sucsessfull this is - and besides theres bound to be a hck / cracker appear on the tinterweb soon enough that de-crypts the movies.
But I have to raise 1 issue here, your 2 point about sharing DVD’s you buy from the high street stores. You may or maynot be aware that technicaly speaking you are breaking the licence agreement you enter into when purchasing the discs. Madness I know - but you arent supose to load the disc without prior wirtten permission. Now the movie industry arent stoopid enough to go after to for it because 1 - its very difficult to prove and 2 - more importantly its so widespread it would take a gazillion years for them to ever get anywhere doing it.
The PC world from Mcrosoft to Amazon, to Dell, to Real, etc.. the whole PC mentality is to control the users use of their product. To collect as much private information of the user is they’re only goal. Its a sick mentality. And every PC user has agreed to it mostly unknowingly. You buy their product and they control your use of it. And hey will only let you use it as long as the computer can “call back home” via the internet. Microsoft Windos activation is constantly updating the MS database of the users working in it.
The PC world, and Microsoft more than any other is paranoid on not kowing what software/hardare users are doing with their product.
Switch to Aple folks. Retain your privacy.
What did you expect from a company that tried “dynamic pricing”? Remember that? If the Amazon database indicated you really liked a particular author of band or actor, they would quote you a higher price for a releated item than, say, a buyer who had never shown interest in the item. So two people could pay different prices for the same item, same day. Maybe they still do this. Anybody know?
This is what happens when content distributors have a “partnership” with the likes of the MPAA. You end up with something that’s tailored exactly to the needs of the entertainment industry and is completely out of touch with what consumers want.
I get insulted every time I pop in a DVD I purchased just to see the “stealing a movie is like stealing a car” PSA. The only people who are going to see that ad are people who bought the disc. (If I ripped the movie, I surely wouldn’t include that.)
Also, I do download movies or buy bootlegs, but only those that aren’t available on DVD (things like Max Headroom and the original cut of Blade Runner). In every case, I’ve replaced my copy with a legit one as soon as they were available. (I have over 1,200 discs in my collection right now - the MPAA should be trying to be my best friend.)
If people like the MPAA worked harder at trying to figure out what the consumer wants instead of spending 10 times what they “save” from pirates, they would have a digital distribution channel that would work and we would benefit from their work. Sadly, they are too busy treating the paying public like criminals.
[…] Amazon Spends Over A Year Developing Movie Download Service Then Shackles It With Absurd Restrictions Amazon launched it’s new Unbox Video service yesterday. After reportedly over a year of development, the new service allows movies to be permanently downloaded for the same price as purchasing the physical DVDs from Amazon or rented for 24 hours for $3.99. Unfortunately, Unbox is has so many restrictions that it is unlikely to make very many people happy and it’s license agreement breaks new ground in absurdity. […]
Shame on the masses that blame Unbox’s shortcomings on Amazon or even the MPAA. Amazon is entering a market that is about to change, and wants to establish themselves alongside Apple and everyone else who is doing it. The MPAA is a product of, not a force behind, the way studios handle the intellectual property.
People posting negative comments about Amazon are unable to see past the user experience to the business realities of services like Unbox, CinemaNow, Movielink, etc. Fact is that in order to have ANY content a company has to make the content owners happy, and to have content from all the studios they have to make them all happy by adding every restriction asked for while negotiating for contracts.
Fear not, change will come. It may be well behind the cutting edge of tech, but how many people actually have DVD burners in their PCs at this point?
There is NO LICENSE on a DVD MOVIE and there is NO EULA of any kind that is legal.
You can not be forced to accept a blind license or EULA (microsoft fought and LOST to this in court hence why ALL microsoft EULA’s state if you don’t agree you have 30 days to return to place of purchase for a full refund)
I never “accept” any kind of license terms or EULA when I buy or watch a DVD
there simply is none so there is NOTHING legally they can do (technically or otherwise) to prevent you from sharing your DVD
Can you clarify where I might be mistaken ?
[…] Meanwhile, Uninnovate complains that in Amazon’s haste to avoid piracy via Unbox, they’ve removed the ability to play downloaded shows on a standard DVD player and this has made the service hardly as good as it could be. […]
[…] Update: I knew it was too good to be true. It turns out that Amazon’s Terms and Conditions for Unbox are extremely intrusive and unfair. I am not downloading anything. […]
“You must install any software patch Amazon releases or you can no longer watch movies you have already purchased. Imagine if you couldn’t watch DVDs anymore unless you agreed to let Sony poke around inside your DVD player anytime it wanted.”
Yep, same thing’s theoretically true with Blu-Ray/HD-DVD.
[…] Myth: Customers who buy Unbox videos own them in the same way they own DVD’s Fact: Despite the fact that consumers are paying essentially the same for a download as a DVD, they aren’t acquiring the same rights they would with the physical media. Amazon’s terms of service are unbelievably restrictive. Amazon reserves the right to revoke or change your license at any time. Furthermore, Amazon may delete your Unbox movies without notice. When was the last time Amazon deleted one of your DVDs? […]
Amazon is not requiring any of these conditions — its the MPAA.
The number of movies that I like to watch is getting smaller and smaller all the time, anyway.
It looks like Amazon is going to have a lot of convincing to do, in order to see me buy or rent any of their movies, as long as it requires downloading any kind of additional software I don’t want. It is that easy.
Fortunately, we all have something, that can protect us from abuse: A Choice!
If your conclusion is right, Amazon is bound for a complete failure as well as anyone who tries to immitate this type of service agreement.
I hope the “bad” news spread on the net and that movie studios will realize that they are heading for worse times online. These “rules of entertainment” are for people who don’t understand entertainment values.
Just stick to buying DVDs through the post and ripping them. Easy enough. I still buy CDs as I like owning my material and ripping them to whatever I want rather than having to wash everything from iTunes through JHymn.
The DRM on Unbox can be easily stripped, by the way. Just use FairUse4WM: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=114916
The answer to these restrictive licensing arrangements?
Quit watching movies. Just stop.
Don’t tell me any of the pieces of crap they release these days are worth the amount of money they charge, much less the bullshit they try to put you through.
It’s like they think people are so addicted to their product that they can
* lower quality to an absurd degree
* simultaneously increase costs
* engage in draconian, ludicrous licensing requirements that violate Fair Use in addition to common sense.
Time to end it.
[…] By building a top-notch roster of indie and jazz artists and by offering a product that people want to pay for, eMusic has eaten the lunch of much larger companies. Most importantly, they have done this with a niche audience and a limited range of music product. Imagine what the major labels and companyies the size of Microsoft could accomplish if they started selling products people wanted to buy instead of crippling their products to the point of uselessness. […]
[…] I am guessing the MPAA didn’t want to submit to Steve Jobs ‘iron headlock’ and all of the big content providers (except Disney) were on board with Amazon’s Unbox service. I was thinking, ‘Goodness, I wonder what Amazon offered them in order for them to get on board?’. After reading this blog post it was pretty clear. Amazon had to offer them complete control over the content, and over their customers computers. […]
Amazon Fumble The Ball
Uninnovate.com
» Amazon Spends Over A Year Developing Movie Download Service Then Shackles It With Absurd Restrictions…
I HEART My DRM … Amazon Edition…
[…] Amazon UnBox Video is really lame. If you don’t believe us, check out their licesening terms (as reveiwed by Uninnovate.com). * You must install any software patch Amazon releases or you can no longer watch movies you have already purchased. Imagine if you couldn’t watch DVDs anymore unless you agreed to let Sony poke around inside your DVD player anytime it wanted. […]
[…] However, the costs was too high and the license too restrictive and too unfriendly. End of experiment. […]
[…] Uninnovate has a pretty detailed account of why the service isn’t up to par with all of it’s restrictions and the possibility of Amazon erasing the movies if you don’t comply with the any ToS changes. Some of it is pretty nasty stuff, that Amazon’s legal department has surely made a big booboo. […]
It’s not Amazon that is the bad guy here - it’s the movie companies holding the gun to their head. It looks like their service won’t gain traction as a result. I’mnot sure that any movie download service will actually be popular any time soon.
For the record - I don’t think DRM sucks. Why rip off any artist if you really like their stuff.
No-one respects the studios - but most people respect the artists. Why else would you want their stuff?
[…] You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your ownsite. […]
Spot on.
In addition, I think that for movie downloads to become mass market, the convenient integration with the TV must be in place. (Only us geeks will be happy to view movies on our laptops long term!) The question is, who will bring this to the market first, Microsoft with Zune/XBOX/Media Center or Apple with “one more thing” on Tuesday?
DRM is an “necessery” evil to satisfy the mainstream content providers and their lawyers. I think the company that can implement their DRM in the least intrusive way will be the winner. To date, that has been Apple.
Also covering this in Amazon Unbox launched; pieces of the puzzle missing.
[…] Amazon Spends Over A Year Developing Movie Download Service Then Shackles It With Absurd Restrictions I’m not selling my Netflix stock anytime soon. (tags: vod amazon video) […]
And don’t you consider taking your laptop or even relocating to Europe. Not only can you only buy in the US, also “you may not transfer Digital Content outside the United States”.
[…] amazon.com launches a movie download service – everybody gets excited, because it means that hopefully Apple will release a movie service soon that doesn’t that doesn’t suck […]
[…] Last word on this from Uninnovate: After reportedly over a year of development, the new service allows movies to be permanently downloaded for the same price as purchasing the physical DVDs from Amazon or rented for 24 hours for $3.99. Unfortunately, Unbox is has so many restrictions that it is unlikely to make very many people happy and it’s license agreement breaks new ground in absurdity. […]
[…] Amazon has perversely chosen to ignore consumers wants and needs in an effort to bow to studio concerns about piracy. The result is prices that reflect the last century — apropos, as it was pointed out that the suggested technology for linking to your television gives you a picture straight out of 1995. […]
All this talk of the MPAA being mostly at fault for the shoddy service in Unbox has me wondering about Apple. It’s been said that Apple has spent a lengthy amount of time trying to reach an agreement on pricing for the their movies. What if it was more than pricing? What if they’ve been trying to get more liberal usage rights for the consumer?
If Apple’s service is as intrusive and clunky as Amazon’s, then all the hype for tomorrow’s announcement will be for nothing. I sure hope they’re paying attention the hole Amazon has found itself in…
Fuck amazon. Ive never bought anything from them, and neither will I. Voting for the swedish pirate party, september 17th! Yaaaarh!
[…] Uninnovate.com » Amazon Spends Over A Year Developing Movie Download Service Then Shackles It With Absurd Restrictions (tags: Unbox Amazon DRM user_rights online video rights) […]
[…] Much has been said about the unreasonable limitations built into Amazon’s Unbox video download service and other services like it. Democracy Player is something completely different. Instead of trying to shoehorn old business models into places where they just don’t make sense, Democracy Player embraces the possibilities of the internet and does something innovative. […]
It’s in your head…
I don’t have much to say about the 9/11 anniversary. I haven’t watched any of the coverage because……
Steve said:
For the record - I don’t think DRM sucks. Why rip off any artist if you really like their stuff.
DRM has little to nothing to do with protecting artists and everything to do with controlling how, where, and how often you can enjoy their work. It’s there to help the industry re-sell you the same entertainment for each playback device you may want to use.
First they lobbied to extend their copyrights beyond a lifetime so they can milk it for decades, and then they impose limitations forcing the consumer to continually replace media they already purchased. They used to have to introduce new formats to push people into re-buying. Now they just set up expiration dates.
To make matters worse, the artist gets screwed on any digital sales due to the way the companies classify them. If you purchase the digital version of most media instead of the physical product, most artists get less than 10% of their normal take even though it costs the company far less.
just download a dvd via a torrent bit site and you can watch it on your dvd within the hour …
[…] This is uninnovation in it’s most frustrating form. It’s easy to spot and avoid drm-saturated junk, but these kinds of subtle limitations in an otherwise great product frustrate users and drive them to alternative applications. How about trusting the user enough to let them get at their own files without these childish restrictions? […]
What really shocks me here is the continued ignorance on the part of the entertainment industry. These types of discussions have been going on for quite some time concerning digital music download sites like iTunes and Plays4Sure. These services would probably be 10 times as successful if users had the freedom to use the media on the device of their choice. I’ve seen too many people make legitimate arguments that DRM stifles innovation for that very reason - lack of freedom. The question should not be ‘wouldn’t removing DRM make this media easier to pirate?’ because we know the answer to that already. The question should be ‘wouldn’t people be far less likely to pirate if this media was available (online) without DRM via legitimate channels?’ because if the answer is ‘yes’ (which I’m certain it is) then the proper course of action for the entertainment industry is clear. Elimination of DRM would be a win for both consumers and the industry. It seems the dollar-signs in executive’s eyes is keeping them from seeing the big picture.
[…] Simon Phipps: “Unbox Unusable.” Tom Merritt, on CNET: ”My Fight with Amazon Unbox.” Uninnovate: “Amazon Spends Over a Year Developing Movie Download Service Then Shackles It With Absurd Restrictions.” […]
[…] While most companies are looking for new ways to add DRM to their products or launching increasingly restrictive online media services, a select few are taking a radical approach: giving the people what they want. […]
This is just one more example of why they should find a cure for chronic stupidity. I have had experience with Amazon Unbox, myself…and in all honesty, I’ve had trojans that were easier to uninstall!!! Saying Unbox is ‘absurd’ (as you did) is probably the shortest and best description I’ve ever found. If I didn’t have the self-control that I do and I had given in to my desire to rip large chunks of my hair out, with all the hassles of installing it…trying to get it to work…and ultimately uninstalling it because it was horribly sadistic, I would be completely bald. Yes, it is that bad.
However, if you should ever feel any desire to sadistically punish yourself and bring down a savage reign of tyranny upon your defenseless computer, you’ll feel more than satiated after an experience with Amazon Unbox.
Amazon Unbox: Cyanide for Computers.
[…] There has been a lot of debate but the general consensus is that both services are so crippled by Digital Rights Management (DRM) software that most people would be better off buying the DVD. A full overview can be found here. We have a slightly different concern: Movie files are BIG. Which means that they take a while to download (for a real testimony read Cormac O’Reilly’s account on the register). It also means that downloading a movie will eat into any ISP imposed data limit. At the time of writing BT, Orange and Pipex all offer 2Gb with their entry level broadband products and Virgin offers 3Gb. A trip to Amazon shows that Brokeback Mountain runs to 136 minutes but is 2.2Gb in size. So that’s your monthly limit gone then…1 episode of 24 is 804 Mb, giving users 2 of the 24 hours before they exceed their monthly allowance! […]
Confirming that the most recent version of Amazon Unbox detects the FairUse4WM process, and proceedes to delete content downloaded from Amazon Unbox regardless of whether or not the film has ever been viewed. Very nasty!
Wow, stunningly dumb. If it costs the same price, then where is the advantage, even if it was free of DRM? Order the DVD next day, and most people are going to have it on a disc in the player faster than starting a download that will use your month’s limit, then burning a disc that, at the end of the day is a disc you paid for sepeartely. You dont get a cover, either, and then it’s encrypted so it wont work! And it has cost you MORE!
[…] There has been a lot of debate but the general consensus is that both services are so crippled by Digital Rights Management (DRM) software that most people would be better off buying the DVD. A full overview can be found here. We have a slightly different concern: Movie files are BIG. Which means that they take a while to download (for a real testimony read Cormac O’Reilly’s account on the register). It also means that downloading a movie will eat into any ISP imposed data limit. At the time of writing BT, Orange and Pipex all offer 2Gb with their entry level broadband products and Virgin offers 3Gb. A trip to Amazon shows that Brokeback Mountain runs to 136 minutes but is 2.2Gb in size. So that’s your monthly limit gone then…1 episode of 24 is 804 Mb, giving users 2 of the 24 hours before they exceed their monthly allowance!At the moment most Broadband users don’t even know they have a limit… but they will! Thnking about it … […]
[…] On the other hand, there could be hope if the studios get their acts together and offer a more compelling downloading product. I think that part of why this number is so high is in large part because of how weaksauce the current downloading systems are. First they give you limited selection, then they make you pay almost as much as a DVD, just to rent a downloaded film and finally they make it a royal pain in the neck if you want to watch it on your TV set. Oh and to top it all, for doing the right thing and buying your movie instead of stealing it off the bit torrent networks, you get a large heaping dose of DRM with your file. No wonder half of the population isn’t interested in this. […]
two experiences w/unbox..and then..none further:
1) was living overseas…thought a great chance to see an english language film…oh, but it won’t run because you are overseas. lucky they refunded my $2. gee, thanks amazon.
2) back in the states, tried again. download quit. amazon says “already downloaded”. accidentally bought it again. still didn’t download. eventually started, but by that time, it was too late at night to watch a film, and then unbox says it’ll take 3 hours to download.
WHAT? I have to wait 3 hours for a download? I can go to the video store and back in less than 15 minutes!
I thought this was streaming video…I could buy, then start watching.
Ok, now I’ve been waiting for several days for the hefty download to uh…download. I still have an “hour and a half” to wait (although it’s literally been 3 days downloading).
screw u amazon, this is STUPID.