Burning Downloaded Movies to DVD Begins--iTunes Movies Likely to Come Soon

Portending movies being added to Apple's iTunes Music Store, CinemaNow has struck a deal with major movie studios to allow downloading and burning movies to DVDs. The technology to prevent piracy keeps the burned DVD from being copied but it should play on most DVD players. The studios signed up with CinemaNow include: Sony, Universal, Disney and MGM. Still on the sidelines are 20th Century Fox and Paramount.

CinemaNow's deal includes 100 titles but does not include any major current hits. Basically, this deal is a test of the technology with movies costing from $9. Downloading will take about 3 hours with the average high speed internet connection.

Apple is expected to announce a deal allowing movies to be downloaded from its iTunes Music Store but no studio nor Apple is commenting on the prospect. The CinemaNow deal virtually guarantees that Apple's movie service is coming soon. [Dana Baggett]