You are watching TV one evening scanning through the reruns thinking it is pathetic how few there is to watch anymore when a fantastic film trailer comes on. It is everything you love - the right actors, the wit, the action - and your heart beats a few faster in anticipation - if only you could watch it RIGHT NOW!
Well, the movie industry has heard you. Along with the speed of the internet, consumers have now come to a new stage of demand. It used to be that we WANTED everything immediately - now we Suppose it.
During a meeting at the Cannes Movie Festival, Culture Ministers from across Europe, movie industry representatives and Internet Service Providers were among those who met to discuss the possible policies needed to distribute movies online.
BBC news reports European Union media commissioner Viviane Reding as stating: “In Europe, as in another continents, the opportunities for people to enjoy films online are set to magnify tremendously over the following little years”.
Naturally there are still much issues to be resolved till movies are readily accessible to the popular online. Piracy and broadband capabilities are still being questioned.
Piracy became the prominent issue when music files were being illegally shared over the internet. While the music industry fought against such services as Napster, they are still far from recovering their market revenue and the movie industry is not anxious to join them.
What cannot be debated is that there IS a market, and no industry likes to bypass that because of possible problems.
Right now European broadband may not be up to the task of downloading such big files but has plans to proceed with distribution soon.
In America there has already been film distribution with the inevitable legal proceedings against individuals facilitating unauthorized downloads.
Although the fight against piracy is being taken very seriously by the industry, it is still parents who are at the forefront of setting the example and instructing children on the ethics of downloading such material. Responsibility is learned.
In any event, the following time you see a great film advertised and you are handy to the internet, probably you must remain in, avoid the lines and the traffic and check it out online!