[TeMPOraL]

> If you take this line of thinking to movies, it leads to dangerous ideas like "everyone but my favorite streaming service should just close down" which is totally ridiculous, but still when I talk to friends about this issue they are quick to propose that as the solution!

Honestly, this is the solution I'd like. Because I don't care about who is serving the movies, I want the movies. All of them in one place.

There's probably some law in economics that amounts to this, but it seems to me that competition is only useful if the goods/services being sold are commodities. Movies, or games, are an extreme example of non-substitutable goods, so as long as providers can get exclusive rights to sell/license them only on their platforms, competition becomes against customer interest, and monopoly is a better option. People are rational to observe that they gain nothing by Origin existing next to Steam, just like they don't gain anything by Netflix existing next to HBO and Amazon.

[meditate]

That is exactly the problem I was addressing, which is that the reason monopoly looks good is because the current systems we're looking are so entrenched and require DRM, which is a tool that actively and deliberately prevents platforms from innovating. Following this, it's no surprise that Netflix and Amazon are turning to making their own films, and that Origin only exists because Steam's monopoly means that EA couldn't negotiate acceptable licensing terms with Valve. Get rid of the DRM and there is plenty of reason to compete in ways that help customers. Then give them a way to easily transfer ownership between supporting platforms and everybody wins.

[scarface74]

There is a solution for purchased movies - Movies Anywhere. You can sync purchases between iTunes, Amazon Prime, Google Play Movies and Vudu.

Four of the six studios are in. Blame the other two studios.