Disney/Miramax Films To Be Distributed Online

SightSound.com, a privately held renter and distributor of music and video content online, will be adding 12 films produced by Miramax Films, a division of the Walt Disney Company, to its rental offerings.

In an interview with Newsbytes, Jennifer Pefci, marketing director for the privately held Mt. Lebanon, Pa.-based company said that while Sightsound.com will be renting some Miramax-produced motion pictures, she does not know when they will begin renting the films, what films will be available for rental nor, what the rental price will be.

SightSound says that it sold the first music online in 1995 and rented the first full-length film over the Internet in 1999, all as the result of a proprietary technology that eliminates the need to physically distribute music and video content. Instead, the entertainment content is delivered digitally over the Internet.

"We're like digital truckers," Pefci told Newsbytes as she explained how the system works.

A consumer who wishes to either purchase or rent a film buys a "license" on the SightSound.com Web site using a credit card. After the purchase transaction is complete, the film is downloaded to the consumer's PC in the form of a compressed file. The film then resides on the computer's hard drive where it takes up about 120 MB of space, according to Pefci.

In the case of a rental, the license expires after a period of time and, even though the film is still on the computer's hard drive, the computer user cannot access the film without renewing the license. All that can be done with the film if the license is not renewed is to delete it from the hard drive.

In the case of a purchase, the film is always accessible by the computer's user.

SightSound.com says that during the rental or purchase period, the movie can be watched as often as desired.

Pefci said that the Miramax films, when available, would probably be available for rental only.

According to Sightsound, the picture quality of the downloaded motion picture, at 30-frames-per-second, is the same as a home video.

SightSound.com also says that it has eliminated the threat of unauthorized copying of its film products by the use of a decryption key. After a movie or music file is downloaded, a decryption key is installed on the user's hard drive that allows the file to be opened only on that computer. At the end of a movie rental period, the decryption key expires. If the movie or music file is transferred to another hard drive, the decryption key cannot be copied or moved.

A person trying to open the movie or music file without the decryption key is automatically directed to the SightSound Web site, where they can purchase the decryption key to access the movie or music file.

More information about SightSound.com is available at http://www.sightsound.com.

Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com.