The Walt Disney Co. became the latest Hollywood studio to offer movies for sale via the Internet by providing films like recent thriller Flightplan to CinemaNow. CinemaNow, which is based in Santa Monica, California, said Disney's home video division, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, now offers movies on a download-to-own basis for PCs and portable devices on the same day they are available on DVD.
Disney's move follows a similar announcement made in April by rival studios to offer titles for sale via Movielink, which is a joint venture owned by ?ve Disney rivals and a key competitor of CinemaNow.
Starting last June 6 with the DVD release of basketball drama Glory Road, Disney began offering both new movies and older catalog titles like The Insider via CinemaNow. The movies can be transferred to up to three more devices including laptop PCs and handheld electronic devices, which was a key factor for Disney movies that are often made for families.
One large market for downloadable movies has been parents who load digital copies onto laptop PCs and place them in cars for kids to watch while parents are driving.
The CinemaNow purchasers won't be able to burn their downloaded copies onto DVDs, which is a feature consumers want but studios are not allowing until burned DVDs can be more strongly protected from illegal copying.
A Disney spokesman said the pact with CinemaNow was non-exclusive, meaning Disney can make similar deals with other online services in the future.
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