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Wal-Mart Shuts Down Movie Download Service

by Will Safer on December 31, 2008 at 09:56 AM

Wal-martWal-mart announced Thursday that it shuttered its movie download service less than a year after introducing it to consumers. The service gave access to movies the same day they were available on DVD, with Wal-mart hoping for high traffic (and high revenues). According to reports, however, it was not Wal-mart's decision to pull the plug but instead Hewlett-Packard's, maker of the technology that powered the system.

Apparently, sales were just not high enough.

This comes at the same time a reported deal between 20th Century Fox and Apple to make movie rentals available via iTunes. It seems someone still thinks online downloading of movies is still a viable option.

Wal-mart's FAQ (frequently asked question page) on the canceled service states that previously purchased and downloaded movies cannot be refunded, nor can they be played on any other device but the initial PC used to make the purchase. This strikes us as a bit odd, since Wal-mart is intent on forcing DRM-free music for it's music download service.

From AOL News.

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Tags: wal-mart download video movie cancel itunes, Wal-martDownloadVideoMovieCancelItunes

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