Interesting New DVD Service: MovieKlub

MovieKlub is new service with an interesting spin on the DVD-by-mail business. The DVDs they ship to only allow for 3 plays, and you never have to return the movie -- they've solved the disposable DVD recycling problem:

There is a sticky-backed pre-addressed mailing label inside the sleeve/packaging. When you're done watching the movie and want to recycle the disc, you simply affix the label to the outside of the mailer and ship it out whenever. It goes back to our recycling center, where we guarantee 100% de-manufacturing.

The monthly service costs $24.95 and guarantees two new movie releases weekly at or immediately following their release date.

The service will launch this summer in select areas. If you sign up now you'll get your first round of movies for free.

Comments

[Ama]

That's an interesting concept. But do you just get the movie or like the whole DVD with extras and everything? Cause I live for dvd extras.

[Becky]

There's no "throttling," because it's not an "unlimited" rental service. It's just barely a rental service at all. It's a hybrid purchase/rental service.

However, it's a feasible alternative to VOD for new releases.

[Shrike]

Any word on the exact technology used to make the DVD unplayable? Is it the layer that turns opaque?

[valhallas]

It's not like Flexplay. The technology for this is embedded in the disc. The service is really designed around people who want to gain acess to new releases without any action. Not ideal for true film buffs, but nice for those who don't have the time to be running to the video store or maintaining a queue.

[mikeden2k]

Do they decide what new releases to send you? How useless is this service? Ridiculous.

[Rusty Ramrod]

I think you may have been duped. This service doesn't really exude legitimacy. May just be a way for someone to gather E-mail addresses.

[mikek]

I've been exchanging e-mails with a senior employee at the company about the service and I've requested a demo disc for review.

Here's the annnouncement on Yahoo! News:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20060223/bs_prweb/prweb349642_1

- Mike

[shoobe01]

I'll agree that the signup page does not encourage trust, but the company seems real enough:

http://www.consumablemedia.com/v2/about/

Poor audio, and too many hand gestures, but do watch the video on this page.

Seems like maybe they couldn't get anyone else to buy their tech, so just launched a service themselves to try to recoup their development money.

[sykoboy]

Thanks for the link shoobe01.
I have to call bullship on Lief Larson (or whatever this joker's name is -- if their DVD technology is as good as their promo video recording, then you better stay away from these clowns). Anyway, they claim that copying a disc is not possible. If I can play it in my DVD-ROM drive, I can surely burn it. Anyway, if you look at the Executive Biographies, you'll see it's filled with a bunch of V.C. whores with disposable business degrees and no tech experience. Shoobe01 was right; they're just trying to get back their V.C. money that they dumped into some promising technology that nobody picked up. Which implies that their technology isn't all they're trying to make it out to be. From their site: "Consumable Media LLC accepts proposals for licensing and contract manufacturing of discs that employ our proprietary limited play technology. To request more information on licensing programs, please visit the contact section of this website." -- which translates to "Please, anyone, help a poor V.C. whore out. We were wrong to jump onto the disposable disc bandwagon when we saw Flexplay being offered. Now, both Flexplay and we are here holding our discs in our hand trying to get any sucker to buy into a dead technology."
Suckas!

[Rusty Ramrod]

Thanks for the links guys.

Further investigation shows there may actually be some real technology there but first look in not promising. It appears it is a "bleachable dye" that does the work.

So what is I want to review Haley Berry's bare rump in Monster’s Ball. From what I can tell once the laser hits any section 3 times, that's all she wrote. So if I skip back more than a couple times that portion of the disc then becomes unreadable. Not very user friendly.

In addition the dude on the video talks “making burning a copy impossible”. Now any reasonable person would *never* make that claim. Can anyone think of any copy protection that has not been broken (or at least side stepped). Not sure how they are claiming to accomplish that.

Lastly I keep seeing the TM after their BuyByeDVD term. A search shows no results for either a patent or a trademark with the US gov. for that term. Perhaps it is just a scare tactic, but I would suggest they get it truly trademarked ASAP if they wish to keep the term from getting stolen. Simply placing a TM after a term does *not* make it a trademark. Someone can come in at a later date and file for a trademark and you are SOL. Believe me, I know from experience. It happened to our 5 year old company name. We were able to recover the name, since we had been actively using it in commerce for 5 years, but only after many tens of thousands of dollars of attorney fees.

In the end it is a compelling idea maybe for direct sales, but I don’t see it ever coming close to matching a service like NF or BB.

Good luck to them.

[E. Craig Crawford]

The idea of receiving 2 movies a week with no obligation to return them and no waiting period to receive them appeals to me. The "3 plays and your out" concept does not bother me since I'm already in the habit of returning movies I've viewed in order to recieve more. So, my big question is what will this service cost me, and what all can I get? I'm reluctant to sign up for a pig in a poke.

Even if this company has not yet finalized the cost to the consumer, I'd like to know approximatly the number of available titles, and if I will be able to place them in a queue.

[E. Craig Crawford]

Oops ... I guess I should read the announcement more carefully. So, I can get at least 8 movies a month for $24.95, and all new releases. Does the movie industry give us that many new releases each month? More to the point, am I really interested in viewing all the new releases that are offered?

This does not sound like a good deal to me at first blush. Am I in the minority here? Even if the technology is superb, and I can view these movies 3 times before recycling the disk, I'm really not interested in a service that offers nothing but new releases.

[ConsumableMedia]

Hey, it's Lief. Didn't think I'd be called on to defend myself. I'd expect some naysayers, but was hoping for a little constructive feedback as well. Anyway, here it goes. . .

1. I'd hope our sign-up page would encourage people to be trusting. We've put a privacy policy up and offered to send out a batch of free movies with no committment.

2. We've never tried to sell or market our technology and I've been very patient and intentional in the way we release the product. Our technology is NOT the product, the movie is. Our technology is simply the delivery vehicle.

3. Sorry about the poor audio/hand gestures of me at our website, but I am the technologist and do not profess to be a paid actor. The video is to put a face behind what we're doing and based on your feedback I'll likely remove the video next Monday. Thank you.

4. Whomever has called a "bullshit" on me better do a little more diligence. I'm a 30 year old futurist and technologist with a successful track record of entrepreneurship. I would argue that it takes at least some "tech experience" to implement a photo reactive dye in an optical disc. Our research and development team is made up of myself, Dr. JB Merry, Dr. M. Cunningham, and Dr. J. Owens. I think you'd find that we are competent technically. In addition, we currently have no VC backing. I've funded the entire endeavor personally or with friends & family. SWDA Ventures is with us from an advisory role. Skyoboy, I believe your mother did not hold you enough as a child. I'd be happy to talk with you on the phone any time to discuss features of our product. Can you please be open to a startup company with a novel concept, please?

5. Rusty, you are correct. There is a claim about not being able to copy the disc. At that point the reference is to the copy beyond expiration. Once expired the disc can not be copied. However, anyone as novel as yourself would surely find a way to rip copyrighted work. :) Just playing. For real though, our technology does dissuade the customer from stealing copies, but anyone with DVR is going to figure this out. We are limited in the up front copy protection beyond CSS.

6. Trademark has been used in commerce and we're fine with the "TM" vs. actually registering the mark with the USPTO at this time, but thanks for the suggestion. Once we actually get rolling that may come up in the budget.

7. We don't aspire to be NF or BB. We simply hope to be another option for people who could find an alternative service like ours useful. I appreciate Hacking Netflix covering the story and I appreciate all of you who have provided constructive and even negative feedback. At the heart of this business is the desire to find a convenient way for people to gain access to DVD movies on their release date. We're a very small and focused company with big aspirations (right now we only have 7 people). I invite any of you to email me at any time with questions. My email is lief@consumablemedia.com.

[Bogarts_Falcon]

Hey Lief:

In the beginning of you post you wrote:

"1. I'd hope our sign-up page would encourage people to be trusting. We've put a privacy policy up and offered to send out a batch of free movies with no committment."

I think it's DAMN funny that you want people to trust you...especally after reading your Privacy Policy.

Near the bottom of you main page at http://www.movieklub.com you state:

"Privacy Policy - Your contact information will not be shared with any third paty."

In your Privacy Policy you state, in part:

"D. Third Party Services
Third parties provide certain services available on MovieKlub.com on MovieKlub’s behalf. MovieKlub may provide information, including Personal Information, that collects on the Web to third-party service providers to help us deliver programs, products, information, and services. Service providers are also an important means by which MovieKlub maintains its Web site and mailing lists. MovieKlub will take reasonable steps to ensure that these third-party service providers are obligated to protect Personal Information on MovieKlub’s behalf."

WHICH IS IT? First you say you don't share personal information with any third party (you actually spelled it "paty", was this done on purpose?) and then you say you will share the information with any third party.

In another section of that same Privacy Policy it states:

"If you choose to provide us with your Personal Information on the Web, we may transfer that Information within MovieKlub or to MovieKlub's third-party service providers, across borders, and from your country or jurisdiction to other countries or jurisdictions around the world. However, please note that any services provided by MovieKlub are intended only for residents of the United States."

WHY IN THE HELL WOULD YOU HAVE A NEED TO TRANSFER OUR PERSONAL INFORMATION TO ANOTHER COUNTRY IF YOU ARE IN THE UNITED STATES AND YOU ONLY DO BUSINESS IN THE UNITED STATES?

Rest assured I have copied your so-called Privacy Policy and have forwarded it to various law-enforcement agencies.

If anyone here wants me to, I will post the entire Privacy Policy for all to read.

[sykoboy]

The reason why his Privacy Policy is a mish- mash is because he used a boilerplate Privacy Policy policy he cut & pasted from some other site without making sure that it reads correctly in the context of other portion of his site. These guys come across as amateurs -- big ideas, hired-out brainwork, and ad-hoc business plans. A great example of this (as someone alluded to before earlier) is their not filing a trademark application for their BuyByeDVD mark. It costs $325 to at least get your mark on file with the PTO. Lief, if you had consulted with your attorney, you would have been advised that pimping your product on the Internet is not necessarily sufficient to establish a national coverage scope with respect to common law usage rights attributed to your mark. And your common law rights mean jack-squat with respect to foreign rights where first-to-use rights trump use-based rights. I mean, we're talking $325 to definitively protect your rights. If you hold your product in such high esteem, the least you could do is make a concerted effort to protect the accompanying IP. Please tell me the law firm/lawyer that gave you your misguided advice so that I can 'recommend' them to their respective state bar to be brought up on incompetency charges. Did you file a provisional patent application on your technology or did you file a regular application? I'm hoping you filed a regular non-provisoinal application since the backlog for the 2100 and 3600 Art Unit Patent Examiners is about 4 years, so you're going to be delayed only so much more by filing a provisional application that won't be examined on its merits. Did you attempt you file a petition to make special to expedite the examination process? Did you preserve your foreign filing rights? When did you file your application, as it doesn't seem to be published yet (assuming you filed a non-provisional application more than 18 months ago). So I'm sure your attorney went over all this with you? If you can afford an attorney to go over ALL this with you, then there is no way you can tell me you're strapped for cash to not be able to file a $325 trademark application.

And yes, I am a patent attorney.

[sykoboy]

correction: I meant to say first-to-file trumps first-to-use rights abroad.

[Bogarts_Falcon]

Hey Lief:

I'm not done yet.

Your response to Skyoboy;

"Skyoboy, I believe your mother did not hold you enough as a child. I'd be happy to talk with you on the phone any time to discuss features of our product."

Seems you are a bit thin-skinned. Is this how you talk to a possible customer? What would you say to a customer who has a problem, would you tell them to "Go to Hell"?

It seems to me that if you treat a potential customer with such disdain before you have their money, how in the world are you going to treat them after you get it??

You also suggested Skyoboy call you. Why didn't you ask everyone here to call? I sense a bit of a threat or attempted intimidation or even a possible attempt at a con job.

In you post you stated:

"I'm a 30 year old futurist and technologist with a successful track record of entrepreneurship."

How about letting us know what you have been successful in. This way we can try to see if you are just bullsh***ing us.

Btw...if you feel my postings are the result of something to do with my mother, father or anyone else why don't we discuss it in person? If you want to discuss ANYTHING with me LET'S DO IT!! Is this a threat? No it isn't. Threats are against the law, and unlike some people I don't intend to break the law!

[sykoboy]

Tester:

The reason he's antagonistic is because he's a cocky kid. If he had mad business skills he would be successful in getting venture capital for his little endeavor. I know these types of guys. I see them every day in my practice. He asks his affluent parents for the money so that he can start up some business (He admitted to scrounging up money from family/friends outside of VC circles). Then, when it fails, he just closes up shop, goes back to his parents for more money, and buys into the next technology and tries to run with that. The cycle continues. Lief, don't take this as an insult, but I can see your circumstances. However, I agree with Tester in that your response was totally unprofessional.

I do not come on this board and represent myself as speaking on behalf of my firm/business. Half the stuff I say on here is said to get a rise out of people for the benefit of discussion, make people chuckle (i.e., childing insults like calling you 'VC whores') and to yank their chains. Notice how bland it all of a sudden became once Mike turned on registration (I applaud him for that since some of the stuff posted here was just plain offensive, which caused me to stop reading any threads once the swearing insults started).

You on the other hand, need to maintain that professional image and keep that in mind prior to posting. You are representing your company and product. Anyway, I'm done with this topic. I wish you good luck with your product, but as an engineer/patent attorney, I do see flaws with your product and IP philosophy. Maybe you'll do better in your next venture.

Can I now return to my out-of-character punk-attitude that I normally display on board?

[Bogarts_Falcon]

To Sykoboy:

I am sorry for refering to you as Skyoboy. I used the name that Lief referred to in his post. I should have checked it for myself.

[ConsumableMedia]

Interesting, but I'm not provoked and am not looking to provocate. Just want to introduce my product. Thanks for the legal advice, but I feel our law firm Fredrikson & Byron provides ample legal services (www.fredlaw.com). I'd also like to thank you for the warm reception. I'm sure a simple google search would provide you plenty on my background.

P.S. Is it just me or is tester and sykoboy one in the same?

[Bogarts_Falcon]

"Can I now return to my out-of-character punk-attitude that I normally display on board?"

I don't mind. ;)

I may have some very interesting information tomorrow. Please check back.

[Bogarts_Falcon]

"P.S. Is it just me or is tester and sykoboy one in the same?"

Looks like you are wrong again!

[Bogarts_Falcon]

" I'm sure a simple google search would provide you plenty on my background."

Why make us search for it? Why not provide it yourself?

Look, you may be legit, I don't know for sure, but it damn well doesn't seem like it. I would think if you were legit you would be willing to provide the information instead of telling us to search for it. Telling me basically to find it on my own is antagonistic and further lowers your professional image.

[thecrow]

I gotta agree with tester,this whole thing looks and sounds like a rip off. I don't trust this guy one bit.

[NetflixShill]

Forget all the smoke and mirrors. $25 a month for 8 self-destructing new release DVDs is a rip off, any way you cut it. You could get at least twice as much with Netflix or Blockbuster for the same money - or less. Why do business with dubious punks like Lief? His shills were spamming this site from the instant Mike K. turned off registration. They are offering product that is ecologically unattractive and gives less value than the competition. They are spamming this site (and others) to get their message out. In short, they deserve to fail. Boycott the bastards.