Disney Movies Anywhere

Disney Movies Anywhere
Product type Digital Rights Locker Service and Rewards Program
Owner Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
(The Walt Disney Company)
Introduced 2014
Related brands Disney Movie Rewards
Markets United States of America (Web, iOS, Android, Android TV, Kindle, FireTV, Xbox 360, Roku)
Website www.disneymoviesanywhere.com

Disney Movies Anywhere is a digital film locker for Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars-branded films in the United States. It allows for the storage of digital movie rights via purchases from providers such as iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, Microsoft, and Amazon.com. Rights to titles can also be added via redemption of Disney Movies Rewards "Magic/Action Codes" from select titles that provide either a digital HD download or digital copy. The service allows consumers to redeem films produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Disneynature, and Lucasfilm. Disney Movies Anywhere allows streaming of content over the web or mobile apps, along with access to the title through the linked accounts in participating providers. It is powered by a proprietary digital rights system called KeyChest.

History

Disney Digital Copy (formerly Disney File) is a predecessor to Disney Movies Anywhere.

Disney Movies Anywhere digital retailers

Comparison of streaming providers

Resolution UltraViolet
SD (480p) HD (720p) HD (1080p)
Amazon Video Yes Yes Yes No
Apple iTunes Yes Yes [1] Yes [1] No
Google Play Yes Yes [2] Yes [2] No
Microsoft Movies & TV Yes Yes Yes No
Walmart VUDU Yes Yes Yes Yes

Other streaming providers not currently supported by Disney Movies Anywhere include Flixster Video, CinemaNow, blinkbox, Cineplex Entertainment, JB Hi-Fi, Fandango Now, Verizon FIOS On Demand, and Nolim Films.

KeyChest

KeyChest
Owner The Walt Disney Company
Introduced 2010

KeyChest is the architecture behind the Disney Movies Anywhere website and mobile apps. A centrally managed KeyChest server allows streaming access to the content. Purchasing content, either online or through physical media, creates a unique key stored in a digital rights locker that unlocks the ability to stream the content to any electronic device capable of playing it. Because the actual content remains on the servers as opposed to being downloaded and played locally, the manufacturers retain control of access to the files. The service stores your movies in a digital library that is linked to your Apple iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, Microsoft, or Amazon.com accounts, and Disney Movies Rewards accounts, much like the linkage requirement of UltraViolet.[3][4]

Reception

The technology has been praised for its potential to improve consumer convenience,[5] but has attracted criticism for enabling further use of digital rights management.[6]

Obstacles

There are a number of potential obstacles to implementation. Studios, retailers and service providers will be the ultimate deciding factor when it comes to pricing the extra flexibility KeyChest promises to provide which could ultimately mean higher prices for features that some people may not specifically be interested in. In addition, attracting studios seems to be a challenging endeavour for Disney even though their approach says to be using more open standards than the competing UltraViolet system.[7] Which leaves the biggest obstacle being the competing UltraViolet system as a whole which has the support of all the other major Hollywood movie studios[8] with the only exception being the Walt Disney Studios.

References

  1. 1 2 "About HD videos in iTunes".
  2. 1 2 "HD movie & TV show availability".
  3. ↑ "Disney Movies Anywhere service launches with an unprecedented link to iTunes". Engadget. AOL.
  4. ↑ Mason, JG (October 21, 2009), Future-proof your movie purchases with Disney’s Keychest, retrieved December 4, 2009
  5. ↑ Indiviglio, Daniel (October 21, 2009), Disney's Keychest Technology, retrieved December 3, 2009
  6. ↑ Masnick, Mike (October 23, 2009), Disney's Keychest: Is Giving Back Your Fair Use Rights With More DRM Really A Step Forward?, retrieved December 3, 2009
  7. ↑ Healey, Jon (January 5, 2010), Disney offers KeyChest, but where is the KeyMaster?, retrieved December 8, 2011
  8. ↑ UltraViolet consortium membership http://www.uvvu.com/alliance-members.php

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, May 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.