Vudu being acquired by fandango

[TechBruhE]

A while back, first Ultraviolet shut down, then Walmart said they were going to put VUDU up for sale. Which is very disappointing, because if Walmart can't make money with something, then I don't think anyone can. I have a very large movie library through VUDU, so this is news on my radar, I received an email today saying VUDU is being acquired by Fandango, glad someone is buying it, but I have a feeling it may not survive very long after. Will probably limp along for a while before slowly dying. or maybe it will just die overnight who knows lol

[minibois]

Me after reading the title: literally who??

Me after reading the post: Oh.. The digital movie collection company...?

Me after reading that e-mail: Oh, a digital move and TV library

 

Personally I feel like it's kind of scary to 'store' your library on such a volatile market like this. Companies get acquired so quickly it seems, you really have no grasp over what you own with that.

[TechBruhE]

Just now, minibois said:

Me after reading the title: literally who??

Me after reading the post: Oh.. The digital movie collection company...?

Me after reading that e-mail: Oh, a digital move and TV library

 

Personally I feel like it's kind of scary to 'store' your library on such a volatile market like this. Companies get acquired so quickly it seems, you really have no grasp over what you own with that.

yeah i transitioned my library to digital back when ultraviolet first started, and just bought everything digital ever since, so i've got around 1500 or so movies and a few seasons of tv shows, so if it goes under, i will lose everything lol. i think i got started on vudu around 2008-10? ish? soo.... its had a good run i guess.

[Tristerin]

Hmmmmm, I own quite the library here.  As long as I get a chance to download the media if it goes under I wont complain.  Will be a reason to buy larger storage.

[The1Dickens]

3 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

Hmmmmm, I own quite the library here.  As long as I get a chance to download the media if it goes under I wont complain.  Will be a reason to buy larger storage.

You can't download anything higher than "HDX" though (no UHD). Which is just standard HD. Maybe the new owners will change that, but that is the current situation.

[Tristerin]

1 minute ago, The1Dickens said:

You can't download anything higher than "HDX" though (no UHD). Which is just standard HD. Maybe the new owners will change that, but that is the current situation.

#truth - I buy everything UHD that is sold in that way if Im buying it so it would have to be in UHD or bust

[Curufinwe_wins]

Yeah, so in the really early days I was a VUDU guy, but certain issues (only reinforced by the ownership debacles) made me a Plex guy

[Salv8 (sam)]

4 hours ago, minibois said:

Personally I feel like it's kind of scary to 'store' your library on such a volatile market like this. Companies get acquired so quickly it seems, you really have no grasp over what you own with that.

and company's wounder why people rip and torrent their stuff.

i am always happy to pay for the content i watch.

the reason i do it is because it's on a streaming service that isn't available in my country.

the only U.S based streaming service that's available in Australia (that doesn't restrict their in-house made content) is netflix.

and since every company MUST have their own streaming service, netflix is losing third party movies and tv shows making it harder to justify buying a subscription if you don't live in the US.

seriously compare streaming services available in Australia to the one's US, it's like comparing a USB drive to a fucking datacenter.

and they fucking wonder why people use VPN's.

i want to support the creators of the crap i watch because they fucking deserve it.

but i can't support them in a legal way, i can't access the content without either using a VPN (which is against many streaming service's agreements and they will just ip ban your VPN provider's location from accessing their content) or fucking torrenting it. which benefits nobody and harms the original creators.

the people who run this shit are so incompetent that they are unable to comprehend a land mass OUTSIDE THE US.

guess what the rest of the world fucking exists, we aren't drawings on google maps, the green shit you see on there apart from your fucking country, is a land mass that actually fucking exists!

until these brain dead morons figure this out, i will forever have to resort to this.

[justpoet]

If you don't physically possess it, it isn't yours.  Stop paying people to license stuff they hold for a temporary time.  Buy your content and hold it in your hands.

[Orangeator]

Damn, this sucks. I have 50+ movies on VUDU... Hopefully nothing to drastic changes. I got this email this morning as well. I hope what they said in their email is true, that our libraries are safe. Also, I hope the part about them adding new features and benefits indicates that Fandango intends to improve the Vudu experience. But we will see, from here on out I would avoid buying any Vudu movies until everything settles.

[JZStudios]

16 hours ago, Tristerin said:

Hmmmmm, I own quite the library here.  As long as I get a chance to download the media if it goes under I wont complain.  Will be a reason to buy larger storage.

That's just a very large and very sudden spike in data though. If that were the case it would have to be a pretty good lead time of a couple months to allow people to download their collections. This is why I hate digital media. No one can come into my house and just remove my DVDs from my shelf. Luckily I only have like 2 movies on VUDU that I've just screen captured so I can watch it through Plex.

 

12 hours ago, Salv8 (sam) said:

the people who run this shit are so incompetent that they are unable to comprehend a land mass OUTSIDE THE US.

Well that's a little more than angry, but once these companies spread out past the US there's a lot more global considerations going on legality and licensing wise. It doesn't change the end result, but it's not just because they don't know Australia exists.

Fun fact, this is why Valve tried claiming in court that they don't operate a business in Australia, in an attempt to not have to provide refunds after purchase. They just sell their products and services in Australia for money. No business happening there.

11 hours ago, justpoet said:

If you don't physically possess it, it isn't yours.  Stop paying people to license stuff they hold for a temporary time.  Buy your content and hold it in your hands.

Well... technically yes, and realistically no. You should own that copy of the movie, but no digital platform actually treats it as such.

[Tristerin]

Just now, JZStudios said:

That's just a very large and very sudden spike in data though. If that were the case it would have to be a pretty good lead time of a couple months to allow people to download their collections. This is why I hate digital media. No one can come into my house and just remove my DVDs from my shelf. Luckily I only have like 2 movies on VUDU that I've just screen captured so I can watch it through Plex.

As long as I get those couple months and the onus is on me to DL it - I wont complain.  If I get nothing, Ill file complaints, and jump on the class action lawsuit that will come about if that's the only recourse I can find legally.

 

Once I saw this thread, I am stopping purchasing any digital goods for streaming purposes.  Ive watched Vudu change hands to many times (I have an original OG account where I have to login through) that this last one leaves me done with this industry.  

 

The only reason I was purchasing so many movies from them was instant gratification (entertainment for the kids!  One click away convenience) I will have to plan ahead and be patient by a few days so I can go back to owning the physical media.  

 

 

[JZStudios]

13 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

As long as I get those couple months and the onus is on me to DL it - I wont complain.  If I get nothing, Ill file complaints, and jump on the class action lawsuit that will come about if that's the only recourse I can find legally.

 

Once I saw this thread, I am stopping purchasing any digital goods for streaming purposes.  Ive watched Vudu change hands to many times (I have an original OG account where I have to login through) that this last one leaves me done with this industry.  

 

The only reason I was purchasing so many movies from them was instant gratification (entertainment for the kids!  One click away convenience) I will have to plan ahead and be patient by a few days so I can go back to owning the physical media.  

That's a big problem though. It's changing hands because it's not making money, and now it's not making money because it's changing hands. I'd say that Apple and Amazon are probably still pretty safe bets, but it's not too hard to just rip movies and add them to Plex either.

[ionbasa]

Have a few titles through Vudu. 

Best solution for everyone worrying regarding their movies is to link your accounts with MoviesAnywhere. It allows cross-platform purchases to be watched on other platforms.*

*Its not perfect, but redeeming through Apple TV tends to get you the UHD version even if its "HDX". There are other caveats as well, not all studios are on board with cross-platform licensing, such as Paramount Studios...

[Tristerin]

32 minutes ago, JZStudios said:

That's a big problem though. It's changing hands because it's not making money, and now it's not making money because it's changing hands. I'd say that Apple and Amazon are probably still pretty safe bets, but it's not too hard to just rip movies and add them to Plex either.

Agreed - but its only a problem for me, if they don't give me the opportunity to harvest my purchased data.  I understand a business failing - but doing what is right while failing spells volumes on how I will handle this industry going forward which will absolutely hurt the bottom dollars for other streaming purchase services like you mentioned.  I will literally only go to physical copies and RIP to my server.  Convenience brought me to this point, and it may have been the wrong choice (and I will find out likely over the next 6 months lol) - and Ill change how I purchase media in the future due to this.

[Tristerin]

18 minutes ago, ionbasa said:

Have a few titles through Vudu. 

Best solution for everyone worrying regarding their movies is to link your accounts with MoviesAnywhere. It allows cross-platform purchases to be watched on other platforms.*

*Its not perfect, but redeeming through Apple TV tends to get you the UHD version even if its "HDX". There are other caveats as well, not all studios are on board with cross-platform licensing, such as Paramount Studios...

Amazon does similar as well, its how I moved my preference to Vudu because Amazon Prime sucks as an App imho

[justpoet]

1 hour ago, JZStudios said:

Well... technically yes, and realistically no. You should own that copy of the movie, but no digital platform actually treats it as such.

Realistically yes.  This is why you shouldn't ever use cloud libraries or streaming services if you have to pay.  Vote with your money.

[BuckGup]

Plex is all I'm saying

[elfensky]

21 hours ago, minibois said:

Personally I feel like it's kind of scary to 'store' your library on such a volatile market like this. Companies get acquired so quickly it seems, you really have no grasp over what you own with that.

This is a comment I saved that perfectly describes my opinion about why I will always have a Plex  personal media server, no matter how good or cheap digital streaming gets.
 

Quote

~~Why am I a Data Hoarder/Why did I start data hoarding?~~ Why I run a Plex server:
 

"The Internet Never Forgets!" is a statement that a lot of people misuse/misread. The Internet never forgets embarrassing things, personal info, photo's of you doing that weird thing with your tits/cock/etc that your friend accidentally uploaded, etc.

 

What the Internet *does* forget however, is whatever you are looking for, when you are looking for it.

When it comes to finding media online, everything is fine when its something new, or popular. No one is going to have problems trying to find a copy of Avengers: End Game 5 years from now, not even 10, or probably 20. Doesn't matter if its a YIFY/YTS rip, or a 100GB+ 4K HDR Blu Ray Remux that sucks your respective genitals with its huge bitrate.

 

*Not every thing you try to find however, is going to be Avengers: End Game.*

 

I'm Canadian, and while I grew up with (let's say) 90% of the same media that the USA had, there is some content that (due to the smaller market), is incredibly difficult to find, if even possible at all. Example? In Ontario in 1971, there was a show called The Hilarious House of Frightenstein. Completely shit show by todays standards, but for me, it was the very first show I *ever* saw the first day we had cable TV. I want it. I want to have it, so I can watch it. My options?

 

Go on Amazon (at the time of this writing) and spend $947.00 CAD on a single DVD (yes, nine hundred and forty seven dollars), or, find it online.

 

Wanna know how many places online have it streaming (at the time of this original writing)?

**Sweet fuck all.**

 

Wanna know how many places online have it available for *illegal* streaming (at the time of this original writing)?

**Sweet fuck all.**

 

Wanna know how many places online have it available as a torrent(s) to download (at the time of this original writing)?

**One**, and even that is only IF the person who had originally uploaded it (or the [probably] 5 people who still have a copy of it [Of whom I am one of]) actually shows up to reseed it.

 

That is a single TV show from almost 50 years ago. *What happens in another 50 years?*

 

Now this is obviously one random extreme case with an obscure old ass cable access TV show, we're not talking Game of Thrones here. But what happens in the 2060's when Game of Thrones is 50 years old and someone wants to watch it, but NetDisneyHBOOverlordFlix has decided they don't have the license to broadcast it anymore, or its been rebooted as a better version 700 times and someone wants to watch the original, but they can't find it anymore, because physical media has fully gone tits up, old discs are unreadable, and that *one motherfucking torrent of the show still doesn't have any fucking seeders showing up*.

What happens if a company that makes a piece of media decides 'Fuck it, we don't need these master copies anymore, no ones ever going to want to watch these old episodes of Doctor Who ever again once they've seen them one time!'

 

*This shit is the reason why I (and others) hoard data instead of streaming it or downloading it and deleting it on the fly*.

 

If there has *ever* been a piece of media that I have enjoyed, regardless of what it is. Movies. TV shows. Stand up comedy specials. Music albums. Books. Comics. Video games. If I have ever watched it, played it, read it, or listened to it, and *liked it*, I have it available. It is at my finger tips. From anywhere in the world, any device, any computer.

 

I do not need to worry about what company is going to pull its license to broadcast what piece of media in what country. I do not need to worry about a service or website shutting down and losing access to media they provide for me. I do not need to worry about internet speeds, or bandwidth caps. I do not need to worry about a country, government, company, or individual deciding that I am no longer able to interact with a piece of media without my consent, because *they don't want me to.*

 

I do not need to worry that a piece of media I enjoy will disappear from the world so that my children, and grand children, will be robbed of being able to wake up on a Saturday morning and watch old, classic cartoons and maybe have a little bit of happiness to remember when they grow up and have their own children.

 

**That** is why I am a Data Hoarder.

 

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

 

tl;dr: No, read it. Maybe have a drink while doing so, or go to the washroom first. It's kind of long.

 

[JZStudios]

3 hours ago, justpoet said:

Realistically yes.  This is why you shouldn't ever use cloud libraries or streaming services if you have to pay.  Vote with your money.

Streaming services and cloud libraries are up front about being a monthly fee, kind of like renting. It's when you purchase a single end user license for perpetuity for a one time purchase fee this comes into play.

 

1 hour ago, elfensky said:

This is a comment I saved that perfectly describes my opinion about why I will always have a Plex  personal media server, no matter how good or cheap digital streaming gets.

There is the internet data archive or whatever, but they really only start hosting stuff once the copyright is expired. Fun fact, it's illegal to take a picture of the Eiffel Tower at night because there's still an active copyright on the lighting or something.

[elfensky]

19 minutes ago, JZStudios said:

There is the internet data archive or whatever, but they really only start hosting stuff once the copyright is expired. Fun fact, it's illegal to take a picture of the Eiffel Tower at night because there's still an active copyright on the lighting or something.

Exactly, and the data still needs to survive until copyright expiry. Which is the problem for non-popular media.

[TechBruhE]

22 hours ago, The1Dickens said:

You can't download anything higher than "HDX" though (no UHD). Which is just standard HD. Maybe the new owners will change that, but that is the current situation.

 

22 hours ago, Tristerin said:

Hmmmmm, I own quite the library here.  As long as I get a chance to download the media if it goes under I wont complain.  Will be a reason to buy larger storage.

even if they let you download uhd it is irrelevant because you can only watch the movies through the VUDU app/player, if the company goes under, considering it does a DRM check upon startup, all the movies are encrypted, and the digging i've done, nobody has cracked it yet, so if you download your entire library through vudu, your just wasting disk space the second the company goes under, the DRM will prevent you from watching anything or using any of the files.

[TechBruhE]

5 hours ago, Tristerin said:

Agreed - but its only a problem for me, if they don't give me the opportunity to harvest my purchased data.  I understand a business failing - but doing what is right while failing spells volumes on how I will handle this industry going forward which will absolutely hurt the bottom dollars for other streaming purchase services like you mentioned.  I will literally only go to physical copies and RIP to my server.  Convenience brought me to this point, and it may have been the wrong choice (and I will find out likely over the next 6 months lol) - and Ill change how I purchase media in the future due to this.

on the bright side, before ultraviolet went down, most of my digital library transfered to itunes(which is kinda dying/morphing on its own), disney, and google/youtube, so at least digital rights are backed up in multiple places lol

[Salv8 (sam)]

7 hours ago, JZStudios said:

Well that's a little more than angry

my anger for this is so big that it is even bigger then Graham's number.

7 hours ago, JZStudios said:

but once these companies spread out past the US there's a lot more global considerations going on legality and licensing wise.

i'm not even gonna fucking touch this but only say that the "Australia–United States Free Trade Agreement" back in 2004 caused the "Copyright Amendment Act 2006" to be put into effect so that it makes it easier for US-australia trade when it comes to copyrighted media.

for those who don't speak legalise, TLDR: our copyright laws are basically the same to the U.S's and you don't need much to get U.S owned copyrighted piece of media to be played in Australia.

these companies are just lazy.

"30 million people what we can well our service to? nah! We DoN'T WaNt MoNeY!"

there is no excuse for restricting media (well, there is but, thats moral shit i'm not gonna touch at all), over time it will become illegal worldwide for restricting media based on country and they will have no choice put to allow access to it regardless where you live.