LIBRARIES PROVIDING FREE MOVIE DOWNLOADS

In many areas of the country, movies and television shows can already be downloaded free -- and legally -- a blogger on the tech site Slashdot.org observed Wednesday. The blogger, who uses the handle ScuttleMonkey pointed out that a recently launched service from Recorded Books and PermissionTV, available from some public libraries, provides numerous movies and TV shows for downloading. "Selection is pretty mediocre," the blogger noted, but the two companies are promising to allow library-card holders eventually to download movies on the same day as their DVD release. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart's new movie downloading website was continuing to take a drubbing from critics. Marketwatch.com's Bambi Francisco wrote: "It took me more time to set up Wal-Mart's movie-download service, register and choose a movie than it would have taken for me to drive to the Wal-Mart store, buy the actual DVD, pick up lunch, return to the office and watch the entire movie."

08/02/2007