Apple's iCloud may offer remote storage of movies, TV shows at launch
The information comes from two sources allegedly involved in the ongoing negotiations, who spoke with Greg Sandoval of CNet. The report published on Monday claims Apple has "stepped up" its efforts to convince major Hollywood film studios to issue licenses that would allow customers to store content on Apple's own remote servers.
Apple is said to have been in discussions with studios for over a year, but has not yet signed a deal. The company confirmed earlier Tuesday that it will unveil its "upcoming cloud services offering" dubbed iCloud at next week's Worldwide Developers Conference Keynote, but offered no other details.
One major snag said to be in the way of a deal with Hollywood studios is the so-called "HBO window," in which three of the top six film studios have a distribution deal with HBO. Under the terms of that deal, when a movie premieres on HBO, other outlets must halt sales or distribution of the title.
Industry insiders reportedly expect that an agreement will be reached to address the HBO window issue, though whether that deal can be struck by the June 6 keynote remains to be seen. Still, it's possible that Apple could announce agreements with the studios that are not affected by the HBO window: Disney, Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures.
Apple is believed to have reached agreements with three of the four major music labels, as Sony Corp., EMI Group and Warner Music Group are said to be in agreement. Universal Music Group, the largest recording company, is rumored to be close to a deal.
Reports have said the iCloud service will scan and mirror users' iTunes libraries, offering access to content in the cloud. It's likely that a movie and TV show streaming service would work in a similar fashion, verifying what content a user owns and grating them access to their library from any Internet-connected device.
Sources have told AppleInsider that iCloud will be a successor to the current MobileMe service, which offers cloud-based syncing of contacts and calendars for $99 per year. The new service will be unveiled alongside iOS 5 and Mac OS X 10.7 Lion by Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs next week.
48 Comments
Reports have said the iCloud service will scan and mirror users' iTunes libraries, offering access to content in the cloud. It's likely that a movie and TV show streaming service would work in a similar fashion, verifying what content a user owns and grating them access to their library from any Internet-connected device.
I've always wondered what would happen if the record companies could scan my library and then request proof that I still have the CD I bought in 1992 that I ripped but no longer have because I...er...uh, "lost" it. That and a whole bunch more that were...ya know...stolen from my dorm room in college. And what if stuff I have from 20 years ago was ripped at a lower bit rate? Are they going to charge me to stream their higher bit rate version from the cloud? Or assume that I stole it?
In the P2P arena, record labels just nailed downloaders for every track they downloaded. What's to stop them from releasing their army of lawyers on cloud users?
Serious questions, no?
I've always wondered what would happen if the record companies could scan my library and then request proof that I still have the CD I bought in 1992 that I ripped but no longer have because I...er...uh, "lost" it. That and a whole bunch more that were...ya know...stolen from my dorm room in college. And what if stuff I have from 20 years ago was ripped at a lower bit rate? Are they going to charge me to stream their higher bit rate version from the cloud? Or assume that I stole it?
In the P2P arena, record labels just nailed downloaders for every track they downloaded. What's to stop them from releasing their army of lawyers on cloud users?
Serious questions, no?
Shoot, half my music and probably 2/3 of my Dvd collection were destroyed by teething, destructive or otherwise curious children.
I've always wondered what would happen if the record companies could scan my library and then request proof that I still have the CD I bought in 1992 that I ripped but no longer have because I...er...uh, "lost" it. That and a whole bunch more that were...ya know...stolen from my dorm room in college. And what if stuff I have from 20 years ago was ripped at a lower bit rate? Are they going to charge me to stream their higher bit rate version from the cloud? Or assume that I stole it?
In the P2P arena, record labels just nailed downloaders for every track they downloaded. What's to stop them from releasing their army of lawyers on cloud users?
Serious questions, no?
That was the first thing that popped in my head too.
What stops me from saying my Mac is just my PVR? I don't own the movies that are on my Uverse box, but I'm allowed to keep them on there as long as I have their service.
I've always wondered what would happen if the record companies could scan my library and then request proof that I still have the CD I bought in 1992 that I ripped but no longer have because I...er...uh, "lost" it. That and a whole bunch more that were...ya know...stolen from my dorm room in college. And what if stuff I have from 20 years ago was ripped at a lower bit rate? Are they going to charge me to stream their higher bit rate version from the cloud? Or assume that I stole it?
In the P2P arena, record labels just nailed downloaders for every track they downloaded. What's to stop them from releasing their army of lawyers on cloud users?
Serious questions, no?
I would think so. A lot of stuff I have, also, was ripped off vinyl or VHS or for one reason or another, does not seem to be readily available anywhere in digital form. I doubt Apple will be able to 'mirror' any of that stuff. Which is too bad. (It's also why I currently have 3 copies of everything. You just can't get a lot of it.)
I've always wondered what would happen if the record companies could scan my library and then request proof that I still have the CD I bought in 1992 that I ripped but no longer have because I...er...uh, "lost" it. That and a whole bunch more that were...ya know...stolen from my dorm room in college. And what if stuff I have from 20 years ago was ripped at a lower bit rate? Are they going to charge me to stream their higher bit rate version from the cloud? Or assume that I stole it?
In the P2P arena, record labels just nailed downloaders for every track they downloaded. What's to stop them from releasing their army of lawyers on cloud users?
Serious questions, no?
1) The record labels aren't scanning your iTunes libraries, Apple is.
2) Apple has been scanning your iTunes library for years with Genius Playlists and Genius Selections.
3) Before it gets mentioned and throws the thread out of whack, when Apple charged 30¢ for DRM free audio they also updated the track to 256Kbps and the pricing model was now mostly $1.29, hence the 30¢ optional charge.
4) Apple's upgraded music on iTunes didn't cover any tracks you didn't buy from the store so it's possible that this won't let you have a copy of every audio or video item available on iTunes Store simply because the metadata is the same. Even their Genius feature doesn't work with every track in my library even though the meta data is accurate. They'd have to scan the contents, but even if they only include the checksums for the iTunes app encoders used over the last decade for various bit rates I think that would be asking too much.
5) The point is to encourage and strengthen Apple's ecosystem whilst protecting the content owners. The only way I can see that happening is if Apple allows only content you've bought from them to be available on the cloud as a guaranteed download. Anything else would have to be your manual storage in a digital online "locker."