Blame Disney

Congratulations to Disney on successfully bullying an entire industry. DECE has announced that they will be shutting down UltraViolet. I didn't want to give up hope, but this announcement was not all that surprising. Disney convinced the major studios to give control to them. How? By being the lone holdout from UltraViolet.



For anyone who doesn't know, Disney owns Movies Anywhere. This is an inferior platform that was essentially based off UltraViolet. This also means that all your digital rights, regardless of studios, will now be controlled by the single worst of the major studios.

After embracing UltraViolet, I will be losing some of the features that drew me in. I will lose my ability to share my collection. I will lose the ability to use my existing DVDs to acquire low-cost digital rights. I will lose all protections from the few television series that utilized the service.

I can't blame DECE. This is clearly not what they wanted. It is clearly what Disney wanted. There are a lot of people who are upset about this decision, but let's put the blame where it belongs. This was all Disney's doing. Die-hard Apple and Disney fans might be happy, but consumers are the biggest losers in this announcement. Movies Anywhere simply doesn't live up to what we were getting from UltraViolet.

As much as I hate to say it, I will be using Movies Anywhere. I have spent enough on digital content that I would prefer protection. This protection was previously provided by UltraViolet. With UltraViolet going out, Movies Anywhere is my only option.

Obviously, the studios aren't the only ones being bullied by Disney. Consumers are also being bullied. I am among those bullied. Thank you Disney and your crappy Middle Finger Anywhere platform.