Ask HN: Looking for Feedback on Replacing Your DVD Library Online

[Richallen1]

We have been looking into a new concept to replace your DVD Collection. We think it is crazy that in this day and age if you want to watch a DVD you have to dig out that disc, hope its not scratched and set up the DVD player. Our concept is that you would scan your DVD's barcodes and then send the discs to us. We add a digital copy to your library on the site and then sell the dvd's and send you a cheque.

We are in the early prototype stages and looking for feedback on the concept and what people think maybe missing.

The link is http://www.streamlyapp.com

Any Feedback greatly appreciated.

[f_allwein]

Would be great, except I doubt it could be done legally. Afaik, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act bans me from even copying a DVD I own to my own hard disk...

Are the prices given on your website one-off, or per period of time?

Also, the link in your post is not clickable.

[jjp]

If you sell the DVD what rights do I have to watch something that is no longer mine?

[Richallen1]

Thanks for the comments. We are still looking into the legal ramifications in different countries and territories as they vary quite widely.

The selling of the DVD's and then offering access to the movie is based on the concept of movie rental. We would own a rental copy of the movies which you would have access to under the monthly payments.

This would however mean gaining deals with the major studios and so it may return back to the initial concept which means that it is more like iTunes match for movies.

The Prices are per month.

Thanks for the heads up about the Kickstarter project. Looks interesting.

[joshschreuder]

I don't have much to offer in the way of opinion, but a similar concept popped up on Kickstarter during the week, though more tailored to movie swapping:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1151191861/movieswap-jo...

[Richallen1]

Looks interesting.

[sheraz]

I have not owned a DVD player for 5 years. Even my parents have converted to streaming services and iTunes for purchases.

[brudgers]

1. This might make a good "Show HN" because it is for getting feedback on things the submitter has created.

Guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html

2. How does Streamly deal with the legal ramifications of buying the DVD's and still providing access to the content to the previous owner?

[detaro]

From the guidelines you linked: If your work isn't ready for people to try out yet, please don't do a Show HN. Once it's ready, come back and do it then.

Blog posts, sign-up pages, and fundraisers can't be tried out, so they can't be Show HNs.

Their page has nothing to try yet, only a signup for a beta "soon".

I second the question in 2: I can't think of a way that can be legal. Google Music etc match your offline music collection, but you "have to" keep the originals.