Apple Planning To "Rent" Movies Online

Apple has been quietly signing deals with the major studios in which they have agreed to allow their movies to be downloaded on computers or video iPods for one-time-only viewing, several online technology websites reported today (Tuesday). Apple Chairman Steve Jobs is expected to announce the deals during a keynote address to the Worldwide Developers Conference next month. According to ThinkSecret.com, a website that claims to provide inside information on Apple, the deal marks a rare setback for Jobs, who has battled the studios to allow cheap downloads of movies that consumers would own, not rent. The website said that the movies will be coded with a date stamp that would either limit the number of playbacks or allow the movie to be viewed an unlimited number of times for a predetermined duration.
2006-08-01 18:43:20