Net Firm Aims to Sell Downloadable Movies

Wippit, a pioneering online music service in London, wants to take cut-rate pricing to a new field: downloadable movies.

Chief Executive Paul Myers said the company planned to give customers two options late this summer: buy movies for about $1.90, or download an unlimited amount for an as-yet undetermined annual fee.

Unlike other video download sites, Myers said, Wippit expects to sell movies, not rent them. To let customers take advantage of a burgeoning array of portable video players, Wippit plans to allow movies to be burned onto DVDs or transferred into a portable player’s memory.

Whether Myers can persuade Hollywood to support his service remains to be seen. Several online movie services in the U.S. would also like to sell downloadable films in addition to renting them, but the major studios have not permitted it.

Stumbling blocks include the studios’ concerns about piracy and the exclusive contracts they have signed with other distributors, such as Time Warner Inc.’s HBO. But Myers said studios might have more freedom and desire to experiment overseas than they do in the U.S.

Studio executives also have a growing fear that as Internet connections become faster, movie fans will start downloading bootlegged movies as frequently as they do songs. Making illicit copies “is not rocket science, and they know that,” Myers said.

Wippit is in talks with two major studios and one distributor, who have shown interest in distribution deals for England or all of Europe, Myers said. The company also hopes to add television shows to its lineup, although the initial offering probably will consist just of movies.

Selling movies is a “logical extension” for Wippit, whose music customers probably will be interested in downloadable video, Myers said. Just how many of those subscribers will go for the new service is hard to predict, he said, which is one reason Wippit has yet to set a price for unlimited movie downloads.

The privately held company, which launched its music service in 2001, charges about $95 a year to download from its catalog of about 60,000 tracks. It has fewer than 20,000 customers, Myers said, adding that the company has yet to break even.