No doubt this is US only... Like the PS3 NetFlix access (yes, despite what Microsoft want you to believe, you can get NetFlix, and the full range of movies, on PS3, not the cut back 360 list that does not have the Sony pictures movies).

So, if loads of people take up the offer and the ISP sees regular multi-gig downloads, how long before your favourite movie is out in the remainder bin before your paid version gets downloaded?

(Pub Landlord icon required -- 'They really haven't thought this through')

yeah - cos our BB in england is THAT good...

You have to use Blockbuster. There is a reason why Blockbuster is dying a rapid death, and that is because they treat customers poorly. I'll never forgive them for charging me a late fee for coming in 1 minute late. The worst part is they moved the time you had to return a movie back 12 hours from midnight to noon but they said in the ads they were giving you 12 extra hours. Malfeasance like that is why Blockbuster is crashing. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Regardless of where it is launched, the significant thing is this shows the seriousness of net streaming vs optical. So much so that Blu-Ray manufacturers are prepared to include it in their players.

I am thoroughly convinced that the true successor to DVD will be net play. However DVD has a good 5 to 10 years to run yet (if you look outside the blinkered world of Home Cinema and think about the normal living room that is). Blu-Ray is a stop gap. Much like laserdisc, though a little more successful.

Erm, it does now. The Sony Pictures blackout on the 360 was only temporary.

Shame we don't have such a service in the UK though.

The future is with write-once SD cards or USB keys. Package the suckers into plastic boxes the size of old slim-line audio cassette cases.

50gb - Like BR generally takes a whole 50gb for just the movie (long ass stuff like LOTR excepted). Besides, there will be initially some compromise to compress down to acceptable sizes. As a hint of what's to come, just take a look at the Beeb's beta "HQ" streamed content on iPlayer. Yes not High Def, and not flawless, but on our currently slow broadband it's quite amazing for such a low bandwidth. Then think how fast net speeds have increased in just 10 years. Project forward, improve compression, and ignore the small minority of people who are *that* fussed about true HD quality (yes sucks for us, but the majority couldn't give a rats)... and there you have it.

Throttling - ISP + deal with relevant movie company / blockbuster-like-outfit = QoS priority for streamed content. Problem solved, especially as the money will pay for bigger pipes dedicated to it. ISPs are generally only concerned about things outside of their control that consume resources without financial compensation. Add money and Hollywood to the mix, and the problem goes away.

Flash cards - definitely another potential way forward. Think a few years from now: credit cards with 100s of gigs of flash. Pop into Tesco, pay for your goods at the till and pick movie while you're at it onto your card. Stick the card into a reader connected to your TV, computer, mobile phone, games console, fridge, whatever, and play. All DRM'd (keeping Hollywood happy) and portable because it's just all on a little bit of plastic in your wallet! Want on-demand or overnight downloads? An extra card in your TV (complete with credit card details for purchase), pick what you want to watch, and off it goes.

Optical? Limited formats. Expensive to distribute.

History has shown that convenience over quality wins in the mass market. It's the same with music, and even the same with food.

..it's highly unlikely to be 50Gb in size, it'll be compressed in some way, a 1080p compression using h.264 will come down to around 10Gb for your "typical" film... and if you've got a fast broadband connection (like Be for instance) then this will come down in less than 90 minutes

Shame all of this is US only :(