Ultraviolet Update and iTunes

Since my last post on Ultraviolet, the company has added more features and more movie companies have jumped on board.  Here is an update on these new features, their pluses and minuses.

The Good:

• You can now download the movies and TV episodes to your computer for offline viewing which was not possible before.
• More movies are now available on the platform 
• To get more users, the companies are offering a lot of free movies when you sign up - Sign up with every company and get up to 35 movies free.
• VUDU (run by Walmart) lets you put DVD's you own into your computer and pay $2 each to have them converted to the cloud.  It is so easy and takes no time to do, it's legal and if you are like me and own tons of DVD's you don't have to spend a fortune to re-buy all of your movies in the cloud.  Best Buy's CinemaNow also has this feature and Flixster has it in beta.
• This is a legal way to have your movies in the cloud without torrenting which I don't believe is right

The Bad:

• Every company makes you sign up for your own account with them plus you have to have an ultraviolet account.  So each time you sign in, you sign in twice.  Pain in the butt!
• There are 5-6 different companies that you can sign up for to use this service and each company has different movies in their library that you are allowed to watch.  Even though the movies you bought are ultraviolet compatible, you can't watch them all with every service.  This means you have to have multiple apps on your computer to view all of your ultraviolet purchases.  Another pain in the butt!
• Copy Protection, UGH!

Now to iTunes...
 I really like the ease of the format and purchasing.  However, it still isn't perfect.

The Good:

• You only need one account and everything is stored in the same app.
• I can download purchases to view offline 
• This is a legal way to have your movies in the cloud without torrenting which I don't believe is right

The Bad:

• Certain companies that put digital copies in their Bluray's and DVD's don't give you a copy to store in the cloud for iTunes.  So you have a digital copy but it only works for UV compatible systems so in reality you have to use both systems.
• Copy Protection, UGH!

What I would really like to happen with these two formats is a combination of the two.  I want the movie studios to combine their catalogues and offer buyers the best of both worlds.  If you buy a Bluray, then you get the ultraviolet and iTunes codes with it and you can use both.  Some companies do that now, but it is very few.  If you have a movie you purchased in iTunes, it will show up in your Ultraviolet library as well and vice versa.  I am tired of consumers having to purchase and repurchase the films they love every time there is a format change or they buy a new device.  Lets put the consumer first for once!  Maybe if the studios focused on what their customers want instead of just trying to thwart piracy, they might not have as much piracy to combat.