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Movie Piracy 'Alternative' UltraViolet is Shutting Down - TorrentFreak
When UltraViolet was first launched eight years ago, it was portrayed as a convenient alternative to piracy.
The cloud-based service, backed by major Hollywood studios, allows users to store digital copies of purchased films and TV-shows, which they can then easily access on various platforms and devices.
In the years that followed UltraViolet amassed over 30 million users, but in recent times things went downhill. The number of supported retailers slowly started to drop and this week parent organization DECE threw in the towel, Variety reports.
According to the official announcement, the planned closure on July 31 was triggered by “market factors” including the rise of new platforms.
“In the years since UltraViolet's launch, we've seen the emergence of services that provide expanded options for content collection and management independent of UltraViolet. This and other market factors have led to the decision to discontinue UltraViolet,” the statement reads.
[...] The good news is that in ‘most’ cases, users can still redeem their UltraViolet codes through the retailers which are still operating. This includes VUDU, Kaleidescape, and Sony Pictures.
“In most cases, we anticipate very little impact,” DECE notes. “While there could be some disruption, we do not anticipate this on a broad scale and are working diligently to minimize and avoid such instances.”
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 05 2019, @06:06PM (10 children)
For most people this is "no big thing" - I may have purchased a disc or two with UltraViolet on it, but never did anything with it either.
On the other hand, back in the 1980s I spent a couple month's pay (over the space of years) acquiring vinyl records, which were mine to have and to hold and to tape on cassettes and also to sell used when time came that I changed my collection over to CDs, and those CDs were mine to have and to hold and to digitally transcode to .mp3 files on my computer, and also to sell used when I got tired of schlepping the collection around in disc form. At peak, I may have owned some 300 CDs, and maybe another 150+ DVDs, representing several months of take home pay, and even after the originally purchased physical forms were sold off, I still had access to the (fair use copied) content I cared enough to keep track of.
Nobody ever shrugged in a boardroom and made that content vanish overnight. Any "all in" UltraViolet customers whose discs were damaged or otherwise depended on the online copies of their stuff may have just lost access to content they have paid thousands of dollars for.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday February 05 2019, @06:56PM (9 children)
This is where the sucks to be them comment comes in and read the fine print next time. You want perpetual access, if X company goes belly up. It better be in the terms of use / contract.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 05 2019, @08:59PM (8 children)
What in a terms of use click-wrap contract has EVER benefited the consumer (besides that one joker who awarded a big cash prize to the first person to claim it, and literally thousands of people clicked through before anyone read far enough to see the prize offer...)
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday February 05 2019, @09:14PM (7 children)
For example compared to Steam's policy or Origin's Policy or Blizzard's Policy, GOG's policy is superb. Now, for media consumption, I've never heard of anything remotely coming close to GOG's policy for video games. Aside, from perhaps the movies offered on GOG, but those are niche gamer films. Possibly apps masquerading as film. I've never actually purchased one.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday February 06 2019, @03:03AM (6 children)
GOG is a freak of an organization - low prices, friendly terms. If I were (still) addicted to games, GOG would be my dealer.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday February 06 2019, @04:25PM (5 children)
Having GOG is like having an ISP that tries to give you better service and cheaper prices, while building out fiber to everyone. Yet, they're still in the infancy of becoming a major player.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday February 07 2019, @03:09AM (4 children)
They're hamstrung by content- the major studios that put millions into production won't license product to them (at prices that fit their business model...)
I will drop a small kudo to Blizzard, though, for Freeing Starcraft I, and developing a less scuzzy than average freemium product in Hearthstone.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday February 07 2019, @04:04PM (3 children)
Perhaps, but Starcraft I being freed was literally a PR attention grabbing thing to promote Starcraft II. Up to that point, they were still selling Starcraft for $20. They also sold/sell the Diablo I/II battlechest for $20 forever and the Warcraft I/II battlechest for $20 forever. While, I don't necessarily begrudge them their selling price, every other publisher reduces the price on their ancient stuff after a while. Not sure when you got in on Hearthstone, but I gave it a try not too long ago. It was a fairly awful experience, if I was playing against players. Most of the "single player campaigns" were somewhat balanced. Otherwise, I would be going up against players that would literally demolish me, almost every game. It didn't matter what strategy I used, their deck was stacked, and I had no chance. I eventually uninstalled it, because I like having fun when I play a game. And getting demolished every time, isn't fun. In contrast, I've played Gwent, the stand alone card game spun off from the witcher games and had quite a lot of fun. I lost my fair share of games, but I wasn't losing 9/10 games. Blizzard is a megacorp and they are acting like it. They seem to have lost their soul a very, very, very long time ago. I'm guessing after they got World of Warcraft going and just kept racking in the cash. That they lost sight of what real game publishing is all about. Delivering a fun game to your rabid fan base. 'cause they enjoyed a fairly strong fan base for a very long time. Kicking your fan base in the jewels isn't the way you keep a strong fan base.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday February 07 2019, @05:28PM (2 children)
Well, I recall paying something more than $20 for StarCraft I "back in the day" and never having to buy another copy again after that... and, as compared to so many older games, StarCraft I really did remain entertaining even after the release of StarCraft II.
Disappointing news about Hearthstone for newbies. I wasn't in "at the beginning" but I did start a few years ago, and quit it about a year back. It could be that the pool of newbies isn't there anymore, or that Blizzard just doesn't care about non-paying players anymore - I did sense some of that starting to roll in before I stopped playing - I had enough card-value that I could hold my own against some fairly experienced decks, but when a new expansion would come out you could definitely feel the paying players' advantages. For a short while, I followed the online chatter about "power decks" etc. and when I dusted my older cards and built some of the decks that seemed to have a reputation as "killer" - it was true. The best ones for win ratio seemed to be the ones that all the long term players were crying about being unfairly powerful - I got one of those and advanced to a higher level than I ever reached otherwise, but, predictably, they nerfed the key card at the next update and my God status was revoked.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday February 07 2019, @05:39PM (1 child)
Gwent just has a much more balanced ranking system or something, I think. Though, it could a difference of more newbies in one vs the other. The main difference is I felt like I was progressing and having fun with Gwent. Hearthstone, just felt like I was getting hammered, with nothing to show for it, and as such not much in the way of fun.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday February 07 2019, @08:56PM
As I recall, as long as I wasn't doing stupid stuff, Hearthstone would give me at least 4 wins out of 10 games most nights. Been a while, could be different now.
🌻🌻 [google.com]