iTechNote

The new Wal-Mart Video Downloads website (still in beta) imposes tons of restrictions on the movies or TV episodes you purchase from them.

1. You must be 13 years of age or older to register for the service. Wal-Mart Video Downloads complies with the Child Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and no adult content is available on the site.

2. The service is not Mac friendly. The video that you download requires Digital Rights Management 10 (DRM 10) software, which is not compatible with the Mac OS X.

3. There are two formats on offer - PC Format and Portable Format. The Portable Format enables you to play the video in a portable player. The PC Format has 640 X 480 resolution, 30 fps and 1,500-1,700 kbps average bit rate. The Portable Format has 320 X 240 resolution, 30 fps and 500-810 kbps bit rate. You can purchase movies in PC/PC & Portable Format but only Portable Format is available for TV episodes.

4. A license file is associated with each video you download from Wal-Mart Video Downloads. You are free to backup the video in external hard disk or DVD. However, the backup video cannot be played anywhere outside the PC registered to the download or the portable devices that have been synchronized with that PC. If you want to watch the video on your TV, you need to connect the PC to the TV. The license is considered a “download to own” license and it never expires. This means the video download is yours to store for as long as you wish.

5. The Portable Format is not compatible with Apple iPod, Sony PSP or Microsoft Zune portable video players due to technology licensing restrictions. I wonder what portable video player are left in the market to play the Portable Format?

6. There is no time limit on downloading the purchased video. Once you have confirmed the purchase and the download automatically starts, you can no longer cancel it. Wal-Mart Video Downloads will only provide you a single successful download of your purchased videos. If you lose your video download, you need to purchase it again.

7. You can only download a maximum of two videos at a time. The others will be held in queue until the first two have completed. There is no way to accelerate the download.

8. You can play the movie while the remaining portion is still being downloaded. This feature has a name - “progressive downloading” provided by Wal-Mart Video Download Manager, a mandatory software to install to use the service.

9. You can transfer videos to a portable player only 3 times. Wal-Mart may be suggesting the customers to get a dedicated portable video player for the service.

10. You are not allowed to buy the videos outside the United States. How bizarre is that?