Thanks a lot, Amazon.

[Brainonska511]

Over the past few years, I’ve used Amazon and the associated Unbox Player to purchase and download tv shows to my HTPC. For a time, that’s worked quite well. The Unbox player is a little bulky, but I used it only as a download manager. I was free to watch the videos through WMC. Today, that seems to have come to a screeching halt.

I decided to upgrade my 4 year old budget HTPC running W7 with some fancy new budget hardware – a cheap SSD to supplement the single HDD I had in the machine, and some other new stuff, including a copy of W8.1. I had reformatted the HTPC with W7 a year or two ago and never came across any problems with those purchased videos, so I had no reason to suspect that today would be any different.

After screwing around for hours, between hardware installation and cable management, trying to figure the ins-and-outs of my new system, between various non-working EFI-BIOS settings and dead-end internet answers, getting W8.1 installed and configured, along with some other media center software, and then triumphantly watching some Netflix with the Netflix app. On a side note, the Netflix app for W8.1 is much nicer than the one in WMC7. However, WTF Netflix?! You made a media app that doesn’t work with a remote?


Finally, I decided to see if the videos I purchased and downloaded from Amazon would play, after all, what could go wrong?

First attempt: WMP opens and says it needs some security upgrade. Okay, that goes smoothly. Time to try again: Now a box pops up for "media usage rights acquisition.” This also seems moderately reasonable, up until the point that the box simply loads the home page of Amazon.com. I didn’t realize Amazon keeps the DRM licenses on their home page (they don’t).

The next logical course of action was to look back towards the Unbox player. It probably has some symbiotic relationship between the files, Amazon’s licensing server, and the lords of hell – I mean lords of copyright. Once again, that turns out to be a dead end: all the links for Amazon's unbox player are useless. All the others talk about how you can watch videos on all these amazing devices, from your toaster, to your tv, to your internet connected blu-ray player. All those amazing devices except computers.

So I turn to Amazon’s help reps. According to Zain, supposedly "many of their customers are facing this issue" and that the unavailability of the unbox player is related to some ambiguous problem that has cropped up in the software that hasn’t seen an update in 4 years. As my helpful chat rep put it, "There might be some problem with the unbox software, the pages will be updated, once it's fixed."

Of course, I'm informed that I can always stream it through a browser . That kind of defeats the purpose of being able to download things and watch them as I had once been able to do. Or I can get trapped in a some circular logic:

Zain(Amazon): Unfortunately, the unbox player is no longer available for download
Me: ok. Is there another way to get these videos to play?
Zain(Amazon): you will need the unbox player

Thanks Amazon. As one other person having this trouble put it, I can download the video I own, but only if I’ve already downloaded the program I can’t download.


/rant


Cliffs:
-Purchased TV shows on Amazon in the past
-Had downloaded copies to HTPC
-Reformatted & Upgraded HTPC recently
-Downloaded files no longer play
-To play downloaded files, I need to download a program I can't download

 

[lxskllr]

Ain't DRM great? It provides the function of not functioning. I don't know why anyone wouldn't want everything DRMd. When it prevents you from doing what you want, it frees up time for other things; like work. I know I've been looking for ways to fit more work in my life...

 

[Kneedragger]

That sucks a lot! How many movies have you purchased like this from Amazon?

 

[Brainonska511]

That sucks a lot! How many movies have you purchased like this from Amazon?

Thankfully, no movies. Just a handful of Doctor Who episodes (whichever new ones came out from 2011 and now)

 

[phucheneh]

That's what you get for paying for digital content. If everyone stuck to buying stuff on disc and/or pirating, this DRM shit would be dead by now.

I have vowed to never to pay for a download again. More than anything else, I learned my lesson with Microsoft (Xbox) and Steam. I will not depend on someone's remote service to tell me what I own.

 

[lxskllr]

That's what you get for paying for digital content. If everyone stuck to buying stuff on disc and/or pirating, this DRM shit would be dead by now.

I have vowed to never to pay for a download again. More than anything else, I learned my lesson with Microsoft (Xbox) and Steam. I will not depend on someone's remote service to tell me what I own.

I'm ok with paying for unencumbered downloads, and prefer it to physical media. I *won't* pay for anything that restricts my use of the item, either now, or potentially in the future.

 

[Sonikku]

Thanks a lot, Obama.

ftfy

 

[akugami]

I know the OP is trying to do the right thing but this is just Exhibit #13870491328 on why DRM sucks. Every single one ends in "it was easier to pirate a game/music/movie/show than pay for it legitimately."

 

[gorcorps]

I'm ok with paying for unencumbered downloads, and prefer it to physical media. I *won't* pay for anything that restricts my use of the item, either now, or potentially in the future.

That's the thing though, I don't think there's a video service out there that lets you download and play however you want to. We finally got to a point where our MP3s aren't so restricted, but I don't know if we'll ever get there with video... regardless if it's TV or movies. If I could legally download movies and TVs shows and know I could play that file on a phone, tablet, PC, XBMC/Plex without any network connection, then I'd probably buy a lot more. As it stands now I just wait for discs to drop in price enough to be worth the inconvenience.

 

[olds]

... I can download the video I own, but only if I’ve already downloaded the program I can’t download.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Video-Players/Unbox-Video-Player.shtml

 

[Brainonska511]

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Video-Players/Unbox-Video-Player.shtml

Yeah, I came across that link. I haven't tried it yet, but I've seen a lot of people complaining that the Unbox app doesn't work right in Windows 8/8.1.

 

[OverVolt]

So you mean my shelf of movies, some of them like a decade old, was a good idea?

 

[Newell Steamer]

Yup, Amazon isn't perfect - confirmed.

Another example, how they handled the Comixology buy. Since Amazon doesn't want to give a % of each digital comic sold to Apple, they came up with an awful 'solution' to buying comics from said app.

Now, the Marvel and DC Comixology apps work as they always have - buy it, Apple charges you via in-app purchase and the suckers are yours.

They certainly have a disconnected and unharmonized plan/approach at times,...

 

[mmntech]

I know the OP is trying to do the right thing but this is just Exhibit #13870491328 on why DRM sucks. Every single one ends in "it was easier to pirate a game/music/movie/show than pay for it legitimately."

Yep.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

If there's no streaming option, buy it on Bluray or DVD. Then just rip them to your HTPC using AnyDVD HD. Digital copies should be avoided like the plague.

The music industry went fully DRM free 5 years ago. Doesn't exactly seem to be killing iTunes sales. So I don't know why the video industry is still holding out. They need to pull their collective heads out of their asses.

 

[Brainonska511]

So you mean my shelf of movies, some of them like a decade old, was a good idea?

Seemingly. Thankfully, I never bought a lot. Just Doctor Who episodes, since I don't have cable and Amazon always had them available the day after airing to download.

 

[Strk]

Yep.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

If there's no streaming option, buy it on Bluray or DVD. Then just rip them to your HTPC using AnyDVD HD. Digital copies should be avoided like the plague.

The music industry went fully DRM free 5 years ago. Doesn't exactly seem to be killing iTunes sales. So I don't know why the video industry is still holding out. They need to pull their collective heads out of their asses.

I usually do that anyways. If anything, I just occasionally check out the Bluray deals on Amazon. They are frequently cheaper than the streaming option.

 

[DigDog]

whatever you do, dont' go on the pirate bay to get a DRM-free copy of the movies you paid for already.
That would be ILLEEGL !!

 

[ElFenix]

Yep.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

If there's no streaming option, buy it on Bluray or DVD. Then just rip them to your HTPC using AnyDVD HD. Digital copies should be avoided like the plague.

The music industry went fully DRM free 5 years ago. Doesn't exactly seem to be killing iTunes sales. So I don't know why the video industry is still holding out. They need to pull their collective heads out of their asses.

... bluray is digital...

 

[Raduque]

I like Windows 8.1, but an HTPC OS it is not, now that Microsoft killed Media Center.

 

[Brainonska511]

I like Windows 8.1, but an HTPC OS it is not, now that Microsoft killed Media Center.

Some things I do like so far: the metro interface works with a remote and you can set up PIN login, which can also be done with a remote. But there aren't many options when it comes to an HTPC OS, especially if you have something that would only work in Windows.

XBMC seems to be a fine replacement for WMC, at least at the moment. And I was already using PowerDVD for Blu-ray playback. The Netflix app is also better organized in W8.1, but it's really freakin' stupid that it doesn't work with remotes.

The main reason I have it was for DVD/Blu-ray playback, watching internet videos (eg: The Daily Show) which you couldn't easily get with a set-top box type device, Netflix, and an OTA DVR. It's a shame that it seems like there is a push to abandon the PC market in favor of specialized, more locked-down devices.

 

[Ichinisan]

... bluray is digital...

You know he's talking about the code that you register to download a DRM-restricted copy.

 

[alkemyst]

AFAIK but I am not a Lawyer you can download your stuff if you bought it already.

There are some TOS things like buying things only good for X time and the like that supercedes this.

Amazon cannot know the future of OS's, this is not their fault.

 

[Raduque]

Some things I do like so far: the metro interface works with a remote and you can set up PIN login, which can also be done with a remote. But there aren't many options when it comes to an HTPC OS, especially if you have something that would only work in Windows.

XBMC seems to be a fine replacement for WMC, at least at the moment. And I was already using PowerDVD for Blu-ray playback. The Netflix app is also better organized in W8.1, but it's really freakin' stupid that it doesn't work with remotes.

The main reason I have it was for DVD/Blu-ray playback, watching internet videos (eg: The Daily Show) which you couldn't easily get with a set-top box type device, Netflix, and an OTA DVR. It's a shame that it seems like there is a push to abandon the PC market in favor of specialized, more locked-down devices.

I use my HTPC mainly for format-shifted tv shows (that I'm paying for via Cable TV subscription) and DVRing. WMC is more than adequate for both.Netflix also works "well enough" in 7MC.

I do BRD via my PS3.

It is a shame, but the specialized boxes are a way to generate a revenue stream that may not be there with PCs.

 

[Ichinisan]

I use my HTPC mainly for format-shifted tv shows (that I'm paying for via Cable TV subscription) and DVRing. WMC is more than adequate for both.Netflix also works "well enough" in 7MC.

I do BRD via my PS3.

It is a shame, but the specialized boxes are a way to generate a revenue stream that may not be there with PCs.

Netflix in WMC doesn't do it for me. One reason: No closed captions / subtitles.

 

[smitbret]

That's the thing though, I don't think there's a video service out there that lets you download and play however you want to. We finally got to a point where our MP3s aren't so restricted, but I don't know if we'll ever get there with video... regardless if it's TV or movies. If I could legally download movies and TVs shows and know I could play that file on a phone, tablet, PC, XBMC/Plex without any network connection, then I'd probably buy a lot more. As it stands now I just wait for discs to drop in price enough to be worth the inconvenience.

QFT