This disc will self distruct in 10 seconds

CobraBoy! (tbyars@earthlink.net)
Tue, 9 Sep 1997 20:37:23 -0700

DISPOSABLE DVDs
Digital Video Express, a company backed by Circuit City Stores and a Los
Angeles entertainment-law firm, is developing a disposable digital video
disk aimed at consumers who would prefer to rent a movie for an evening,
rather than spend the money to purchase the film in DVD format. The new
Divx design is not compatible with existing DVD players; new Divx players
will cost about $100 more than the current models being sold. Viewers could
pay a rental-like fee of under $5 per disk, have access to the movie for 48
hours after they first start watching it, and then throw the disk away when
they were finished. If, instead, they felt like seeing it again, they could
conduct an electronic transaction via modem to reactivate the disk.
Consumers would also have the choice of making a higher one-time payment
(likely to be below $20) for limitless viewing. The disposable option
undercuts the basic business model favored by current DVD proponents who
envision consumers building permanent libraries of movies at premium prices.
"We think this product ought to be put into the market to let the consumer
decide what they want," says the chairman and CEO of Circuit City Stores,
who holds the same titles in Digital Video Express. Walt Disney Co.,
DreamWorks SKG, Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures have all agreed to
provide titles for Divx release. (Wall Street Journal 9 Sep 97)

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Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner.
-Toa Te Ching

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