The joint effort of Starz Encore, a cable TV film supplier, and Real Networks is now offering a movie pay-per-download service. The downloads are unlimited with a decent $12.95 monthly fee, but the selection of movies is limited to 100 movies which are rotated monthly.The movies will only be playable when viewed through the RealNetworks Realplayer which has basic copy protection and some DRM rules to prevent subsequent copying. It’s seems likely that the service is really effectively a video rental transaction and that permanent copies of the film will not be allowed.
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The original deal is a five year exclusive deal between the two where they share revenue, which means that Starz can’t change its mind and offer Microsoft Windows Media Player files, for at least another three years.Source: ReThink
