Can't Rent Movies from Google if Rooted

[wraith404]

There's also an app in the Play Store, Temp Root Remover.

 

[TenshiNo]

As several users have pointed out here, this is not entirely Google's decision. The movie studios have historically been very reluctant to even allow digital rentals of movies for fear of piracy.

In order to get the movie studios onboard, Google had to demonstrate a certain level of DRM technology built into Android that would prevent users from pirating the movies they rented. This is why Android versions prior to 2.2 can't rent movies in the Market (or Play Store, I guess now). This is also why software like Netflix (at least when it was first released on Android) only allowed certain devices to install it and only after they had been fully tested to support the DRM technology.

Google probably doesn't have a choice here and, as other users have mentioned, those of us who root our phones *are* the minority. I can think of at least 15 friends off the top of my head that have Android phones and *none* of them have their phones rooted but me. Hell, most of them think I'm nuts for tinkering with mine as much as I do

The movie studios are paranoid and (I believe) don't fully understand the technology yet. Digital movie rental is still a pretty new concept in the grand scheme of things, after all. They want guarantees that Google has control over the DRM framework in place on the other end, and Google can't promise that on a rooted phone.

It's unfortunate, but it's not Google's fault. They might lose a small percentage of income, but the alternative is to have the studios pull the licensing entirely.

 

[bear_lx]

The situation here is crap. As Android users, we pretty much need to root to get anything done. But in order to rent movies, we're not allowed to root. Would people give up rooting for movie rentals? No. So the only other paths are either pirating, or no rental at all, which means no monetary transaction. Ball's in your court, Google.

i would challenge that comment... i ahve been rooted and stock... given rooting has some benefits but you certainly dont have to root to get anything done. for me personally , rooting doesnt give me any benefits that make it completely neccessary. i can deal with the bloat. custom roms are nice, but just makes the phone "high maintenance".

i actually prefer a stock phone with a custom launcher, never have to worry about bricking, or flashing just to get an update either.

also google play is going to be huge, i firmly believe this will be the next itunes... but better

pretty extreme opinion

 

[Dovahkiin]

also google play is going to be huge, i firmly believe this will be the next itunes... but better

pretty extreme opinion

Yeah...listen, no. I like Google, and I love their services, but at this point iTunes has grown too much to be dethroned by anything else. There's pretty much a perpetual cycle of products and programs aimed at iTunes and none have been successful in grabbing a significant chunk of the market share.
I'm not saying this because I think iTunes is great or anything, it actually sucks. I'm saying this because millions of iPods, iPads, and iPhones out there pretty much require iTunes, which has been around for years before its competitors were even established.
Google has a chance, I'm not denying this, but they'd have an easier time if they launched this from the get go and marketed the hell out of it.

 

[MrSmith317]

At this point I think the DRM thing I think has been discussed to a fault. However I must point out that I think the Google Play store is a joke. Google will hopefully realize(quickly) that they've made a horrible mistake and revert the name back to Android Market. Android Market is a name that a business can stand behind making purchases from. Android Market gives off an air of commerce. Google Play sounds like something that a one year old lets dribble from their mouths like a teething ring.

 

[bear_lx]

i didnt say dethroned, but maybe another option. zune is nice but microsoft doesnt know how to market it. google has a chance here given they still hold the largest marketshare in the mobile OS world. itunes will always be around because there will always be isheep...