"Harry Potter" DVD to Include PC, Portable Files

Fri Oct 12, 2007 8:19AM EDT

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Attention, Harry Potter fans: The upcoming DVD version of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" will include downloads of the movie for your PC and portable player.

Movie studio Warner Brothers, which releases the Potter movies, made the announcement earlier this week at the DVD Forum conference in Universal City, California. It's an interesting plan, although the studio was light on details. There's no word on whether the PC and portable files will reside on the DVD itself, or what kind of copy protection will be used. Ars Technica guesses that a Windows Media-friendly DRM scheme is the likely scenario (given that no Warner Brothers movies are available on iTunes), which means that Linux, Mac OS X and iPod users will be out of luck. That said, the move represets yet another baby step toward toward digital downloads by the movie industry, which is still deathly afraid of piracy. (Of course, you could probably go and download "Order of the Phoenix" over BitTorrent right now if you really wanted to, but that's another story.)

Look for the new Potter DVD to hit stores on December 11. No details on pricing yet; I'm curious to see whether WB offers the movie for the typical $20-or-so price tag or ups the ante because of the downloadable extras. We'll have to wait and see.

Related:
New Harry Potter DVD to come with PC, portable versions [Ars Technica]

Comments on "Harry Potter" DVD to Include PC, Portable Files

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  • 1 Posted by sgrmba on Fri Oct 12, 2007 4:19PM EDT Report Abuse

    I would love to see DVD purchases come with a portable file for portable players such as Zune, Creative Labs, and Archos. If you have to travel for your job, this would be a great way to take a little more of your 'home' with you. Most hotels that cater to the business traveler have limited channels and being able to take my DVD's with me is a way of bringing my personal tastes with me also. I own several different types of players for different situations so being able to put video and audio on those players is a wonderful treat. I don't see why they cannot build a technology that let's a customer place the video file on any of their players but prevent them from unethical sharing. We can put people on the moon, right?

  • 2 Posted by ytech_patterson on Fri Oct 12, 2007 5:05PM EDT Report Abuse

    sgrmba -- I hear ya. It sounds like the "Potter" video files will work on any "PlaysForSure" compliant players, so that would cover the Zune, Creative Labs, Toshiba, etc.; the iPods use FairPlay DRM, so unless that version is included (I doubt it) or there's a DRM-free version of the movie on the disc (which I *seriously* doubt), you won't be able to watch on your iPod.

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