Dorm rooms are turning into screening rooms courtesy of Movielink.com, a Web-based movie rental site that allows users to download copyrighted films to their personal computers.
The online movie rental service is the latest incarnation of downloadable entertainment. Movielink offers a solution for students who are frustrated by firewalls and fearful of the lawsuits facing some illegal music downloaders.
“Hopefully this will sway students away from piracy,” said Rachel Heffron, public relations manager for Movielink. “Unlike pirated films, you know exactly what you’re getting.”
The service offers more than 450 movie titles, from classics, foreign films and westerns to new releases including “Adaptation” and “Identity.” Each film can be downloaded for $4.99 or less.
Broadband connection users can view a film within two to 10 minutes after a download begins. Films will store on a computer’s hard drive for up to 30 days, but after hitting play, the user has a 24-hour window to view the film.
Users may watch the film as many times as they wish during this “rental” period before the movie deletes itself from the computer’s hard drive. Even films burned onto writable CDs will disable after the 24-hour viewing window.
“Movielink is comparable to renting a movie from Blockbuster, but customers can order entertainment from the comfort of their homes,” Heffron said. “Plus they never have to worry about late fees.”
According to Heffron, several movie studios, including MGM, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., created the service in August 2001 to open a new outlet for movie distribution and to defend themselves against illegal downloading. Only PCs that complete the download can be used to view Movielink films. Mac users currently cannot use Movielink’s services.
Patrick Platter, an Education sophomore, agrees with the movie studios’ attempts to regain revenue from illegally downloaded material, but he said he might never use Movielink.
“Ultimately if you can find pirated movies on the Internet, you’re going to download them,” Platter said. “Why pay for something you can get for free?”
Movielink’s technology protects users and their computers from commonly feared dangers of pirated entertainment, Heffron said.
She mentioned viruses, incomplete movies, and spyware — software used to monitor activity on a computer — as some of the problems people might encounter when downloading entertainment without Movielink.
“It’s just like watching digital television,” Heffron said of Movielink films.
Movielink launched its first annual College Film Festival in September, hoping to attract dorm room downloaders. The continuing event showcases college-oriented classics such as “American Pie,” as well as student-directed shorts from New York University and the University of Southern California.
Movielink offers students with valid university e-mail addresses discounts of 50 percent off their first online rental and 25 percent off successive rentals until the discount period ends Oct. 15. Other incentives for students include downloadable coupons for free Quizno’s sandwiches and the chance to win a computer.
Heffron said Movielink is a good option for students because of their “Web-savvy” upbringing. Movielink movies downloaded to laptops can travel with students on the El, on airplane flights home for Thanksgiving and in the backseat for long car trips, she said.
Convenience seems to be the most appealing feature of Movielink, said Anna Geller, a Weinberg freshman.
“I think it will definitely catch on,” Geller said. “It will be especially nice not to have to go out to rent a movie during the Chicago winter. I’d just like to be able to watch the movie for more than 24 hours.”
