Blockbuster acquires movie download service Movielink

Blockbuster acquires movie download service MovielinkReuters reports that the U.S. movie rental chain Blockbuster has acquired the film download service, Movielink. While the terms of the deal are undisclosed, it’s thought that the purchase price is significantly less than the 50 million price tag that was banded about when negotiations began last March.

The U.S.-only movie download store was launched in 2002 as a joint venture between Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros. and MGM — giving it access to major Hollywood content. With the acquisition, Blockbuster is inheriting those licensing agreements and a back catalog of more than 3,300 downloads. According to the report, Blockbuster will continue to operate Movielink as a separate brand, but will eventually make elements of the service available through Blockbuster.com.

Movielink is a standard Windows DRM affair, with movie downloads offered for both rental and to-own. Rentals can be stored for up to 30 days and expire 24 hours after the first viewing. In some cases, downloads can be played back on up to three PCs — depending on the original content-owners’ wishes — while others are limited to one PC.

last100 is edited by Steve O'Hear. Aside from founding last100, Steve is co-founder and CEO of Beepl and a freelance journalist who has written for numerous publications, including TechCrunch, The Guardian, ZDNet, ReadWriteWeb and Macworld, and also wrote and directed the Silicon Valley documentary, In Search of the Valley. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

3 Responses to “Blockbuster acquires movie download service Movielink”

  1. David Mackey says:

    I’ve been a Movielink user for a long time – and this is a great move on Blockbuster’s part. Hopefully they will add Movielink to the benefits of Total Access.

  2. Видео says:

    It’s seems to me that renting a movie is not so good as movie downloads. Especialy when prices are the same. Check out http://www.coplace.com to compare

  3. slot pulsa says:

    Movielink adalah urusan slot deposit pulsa standar, dengan unduhan film yang ditawarkan untuk rental dan untuk dimiliki. Sewa dapat disimpan hingga 30 hari dan kedaluwarsa 24 jam setelah penayangan pertama.

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