CinemaNow Allows Customers to Store Digital Copies of DVDs in the Cloud
 In a move that is seen as the first time the American film industry has supported copying films in any fashion, CinemaNow - an online rental service offered by BestBuy - has launched a trial service that allows people to make copies of DVDs in the cloud at a cost of $2 per disc (going up to $5 per disc for high-definition discs). The move does not though have unanimous support, and at present only films produced by Lionsgate, Universal, Sony and Warner Brothers can be copied in this fashion. Although the service has roused considerable interest, any excitement has been tempered by the service's limitations.
People using the service receive online accounts with CinemaNow and uploaded film titles are added to these accounts. Users are then able to play the films on devices that are compatible with Ultraviolet - a "digital rights authentication and cloud-based licensing system" that was set up to encourage people to be able to view films on a range of devices, but without copyright infringement (such as when people burn DVDs). Films can be viewed anywhere, at any time, and as Ultraviolet solves any compatibility problems, through (almost) any device.
Although groundbreaking, the move is seen by some as not especially significant. The cost of replicating a DVD through the service might make it prohibitive, while on-demand services provided by companies like Netflix and Hulu might make replicating DVDs unnecessary. In addition, in a culture where digitized music sharing is a reality, the fact that digitizing a film collection would come at a cost might also lead to people not wanting to adopt the service. It will be interesting to see whether CinemaNow's cloud based disc-to-digital service proves to be a catalyst, or a complete nonstarter.
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