The Financial Times reports that Apple and 20th Century Fox have inked a deal to offer movie rentals. In order for this development to be meaningful, two things have to happen:
I see both as inevitable – it’s just a question of timing. Most studios haven’t shied away from renting digital movies (see: Amazon Unbox, Xbox 360, CinemaNow, Vudu, etc), the sticking point will be negotiating the revenue split and customer rental terms with Apple. As we know, Apple TV hasn’t exactly set the world on fire… Taking the computer out of the equation to allow couch-based online ordering would subtly but significantly change the experience. For the better.
So now that we’ve covered the obvious, let’s discuss the more interesting news:
Apple will also for the first time extend its FairPlay digital rights management system beyond its own products. A digital file protected by FairPlay will be included in new Fox DVD releases, enabling film content to be transferred or ârippedâ? from the disc to a computer and video iPod.
Sounds a lot like the Harry Potter and Die Hard bonus digital files, doesn’t it? However, instead of being protected by Microsoft’s DRM-ed WMV, these Fox films will be protected by FairPlay. Which is much more meaningful given the sheer number of video-capable iPod/iPhone units floating around.