A case against Digital Copy

[bhlombardy]

I predicted this years ago, and now I'm experiencing it.

When UltraViolet (UV) service started, the idea was that you could access your movies that you bought on disc (Blu-ray) digitally as well using their service. You had to register with a third party service, but basically all you had to do was key in your UV code that came with the disc and voila. Now you can access it on your PC, on your mobile device, etc.

Fine in theory, and the service I chose to use for my UV codes was Flixster. It seemed to be the most popular. To be honest, I didnt use it much, if at all... but I was buying these movies on disc, I might as well register my digital code as well.

It should be noted that back when it began, I predicted that putting your content in the hands of a third party was a recipe for disaster... Fast Forward to yesterday.

I log in yesterday and several of my titles are now flagged as "not playable". Not sure what the scoop is there but I'm just not allowed to play them anymore. Maybe it's a content rights issue? Regardless, I 'paid' for this movie to include digital access, and now I dont have access.

OK, I'm thinking (giving them benefit of doubt, and maybe it was MY error) perhaps these were titles I bought in the US and they can only be played in the US, so I VPN to the US and try again... nope. Still not playable only this time (being in the US) Flixster says that I am to sign up for a Vudu account if I want to watch these titles, and may require re-registering them. huh.

So, basically, as I predicted... putting your digital content in the hands of a third party spells disaster. They can relinquish your access to them, regardless how you acquired them... even if you paid for them.

Glad I still have my discs.


Here's the clincher: The above efforts are what honest people do. They buy the movie and register it online so they can have that freedom of mobility... until the company screws them and then you dont have it anymore. Not that I condone this, but had I simply downloaded and pirated the movie, I wouldn't have this problem. And they wonder why illegal downloads are still rampant.

.

[walkonby]

That sure sucks.

[rockco]

Best to abstain from every hosting site, for any purpose, such as:
- Google drive
- Microsoft One Drive
- Instagram
- Facebook
- any social media sites
- 3rd party hosting sites
.. etc

[francine1985]

That sucks. I just double checked and thankfully mine are all fine. Personally I always get the iTunes digital copy if it gives me the option and only use the uv when I don't have a choice.

[bhlombardy]

To be clear, the problem isnt UV so much as it was (in this case) Flixster. UV just provides the licence, they dont provide the content. So long as I opt to use another UV partner service, I should still be able to access my content. Thankfully I didnt want/need the content at that moment to have to be bothered jumping through the hoops to sign up with another service and try and get access to it.

Point being, with the disc on my shelf I can watch it anytime I want, without any one elses' permission/approval/provision.

[Ciel]

Best to abstain from every hosting site, for any purpose, such as:
- Google drive
- Microsoft One Drive
- Instagram
- Facebook
- any social media sites
- 3rd party hosting sites
.. etc

Google Drive is jumping the shark soon-support will wave bye-bye in Dec and service will disappear in March 2018.
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/07/go...g-suite-users/

[Ladybug2011]

Point being, with the disc on my shelf I can watch it anytime I want, without any one elses' permission/approval/provision.

Yeah, but then you have to get up off the sofa, find the disk, put it in the DVD player, find the remote and then sit back down. Just having some fun with you. I checked my content too after reading your message and everything seems fine for now.

[Ciel]

hey, Today's i did bought Microsoft office 365 from softkeyworld store at only $15 but My question is how it's possible? i have got this account and check that this account have 5 TB Disk space.

Is it an older copy of the software--the low price is a clue? I know I had a trial version for a few days before getting a message to register and purchase the current MS Office 365 (but on the cloud)but right now, I cannot pay for it (money used for other needs plus warranty upgrade for laptop).