Home video innovations always seem to lead back to porn.
The fingerprints of the adult-film industry can be found on the development of VHS and Blu-ray disc. Soon, the sector may teach us about the cloud.
In March, Pink Visual will offer to store movies on its servers that were purchased from the studio. Why can't Google and Apple do this with mainstream movies?
Pink Visual, a porn studio with a history of embracing new technologies, appears to be among the first filmmakers in the United States to offer the kind of streaming-video features that Apple and Google were said to be considering last year.
Instead of storing digital movies they own on computer hard drives, Pink Visual customers will be able to store clips they buy from the studio on the company's servers, said Quentin Boyer, a company spokesman. For a one-time fee, buyers can access their films from PVLocker.com anytime and as often as they choose.
Digital shelves
Computing done over the Internet is commonly referred to as "the cloud" and this is where the next generation of digital entertainment is supposedly headed. Sources in the movie industry told CNET last year that Google and Apple have spoken to some of the Hollywood film studios about providing "digital shelves" for which users could store movies, songs, and other media. Buyers can access their flicks from Web-connected devices.
With PC hard drives getting crammed, features like this stirred some excitement. Unfortunately for cloud fans, however, the Google and Apple services have yet to show up.
While cloud video and music services are packed with potential, say supporters, there are few success stories to support the claim. A smattering of music services have enabled users to store and stream songs on their servers, including Lala. Apple acquired the struggling company in December 2009 and later shut it down. A pioneering cloud music service, MP3tunes.com. was sued by EMI, one of the four largest record companies, for copyright violations. That case is ongoing.
In video, Pink Visual could help determine whether these cloud services are a slice of heaven or just vapor. The company will be among the first to tackle issues of pricing, copyright protection, and most importantly, gauge consumer demand.
Liability
Already, managers at Pink Visual are asking important questions.
There was a debate at the porn studio about whether it should store and stream content created by other filmmakers, according to Boyer. At least at the start, Pink Visual will handle only its own content but could open up its cloud later, he said.
Why the hesitation?
"We don't want to accidentally have a lot of liability," Boyer said. "We don't want to become fertile ground for copyright infringement [should users upload pirated content to the company's cloud]."
Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20031122-261.html?tag=topTechContentWrap;mostRead
The fingerprints of the adult-film industry can be found on the development of VHS and Blu-ray disc. Soon, the sector may teach us about the cloud.
In March, Pink Visual will offer to store movies on its servers that were purchased from the studio. Why can't Google and Apple do this with mainstream movies?
Pink Visual, a porn studio with a history of embracing new technologies, appears to be among the first filmmakers in the United States to offer the kind of streaming-video features that Apple and Google were said to be considering last year.
Instead of storing digital movies they own on computer hard drives, Pink Visual customers will be able to store clips they buy from the studio on the company's servers, said Quentin Boyer, a company spokesman. For a one-time fee, buyers can access their films from PVLocker.com anytime and as often as they choose.
Digital shelves
Computing done over the Internet is commonly referred to as "the cloud" and this is where the next generation of digital entertainment is supposedly headed. Sources in the movie industry told CNET last year that Google and Apple have spoken to some of the Hollywood film studios about providing "digital shelves" for which users could store movies, songs, and other media. Buyers can access their flicks from Web-connected devices.
With PC hard drives getting crammed, features like this stirred some excitement. Unfortunately for cloud fans, however, the Google and Apple services have yet to show up.
While cloud video and music services are packed with potential, say supporters, there are few success stories to support the claim. A smattering of music services have enabled users to store and stream songs on their servers, including Lala. Apple acquired the struggling company in December 2009 and later shut it down. A pioneering cloud music service, MP3tunes.com. was sued by EMI, one of the four largest record companies, for copyright violations. That case is ongoing.
In video, Pink Visual could help determine whether these cloud services are a slice of heaven or just vapor. The company will be among the first to tackle issues of pricing, copyright protection, and most importantly, gauge consumer demand.
Liability
Already, managers at Pink Visual are asking important questions.
There was a debate at the porn studio about whether it should store and stream content created by other filmmakers, according to Boyer. At least at the start, Pink Visual will handle only its own content but could open up its cloud later, he said.
Why the hesitation?
"We don't want to accidentally have a lot of liability," Boyer said. "We don't want to become fertile ground for copyright infringement [should users upload pirated content to the company's cloud]."
Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20031122-261.html?tag=topTechContentWrap;mostRead
