Google Video kills paid downloads and your video collection

by Brad Linder Aug 11th 2007

It looks like Google Video's transition from a video hosting service to a video search engine is pretty much complete. Yesterday Google sent out an e-mail to the two or three customers who had actually paid to download premium videos from Google Video.

In a nutshell, the messages said that Google would no longer be offering paid video downloads. Oh yeah, and if you've already bought movies from Google, they won't play anymore. Sorry, have a $2 Google Checkout coupon.

If you forgot that Google even offered paid videos, you're probably not alone. But back when Google Video launched, that was one of the things that set it apart from YouTube. You could get user generated videos or professionally produced content, much of which was from independent producers, for a fee. The only problem is there was hardly any content worth paying for, and Google stopped playing up that feature ages ago.

Tags: drm, google video, GoogleVideo, online video, OnlineVideo

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dr Rumble said 10:00PM on 8-11-2007

I can't believe all the NBA games I bought are useless now! Aw dang!

ahoier said 9:28AM on 8-12-2007

Aren't there tools and such that can "download" google videos? Sure, it's probably not too legal...but it'll suffice? :)

Paul said 1:47PM on 8-13-2007

newteevee.com is reporting:

update: refunded amount seems to be however much the customer spent on Google Video

Thomas Ciarlone said 10:44AM on 8-20-2007

My law firm is investigating Google Video and the fairness of the "rebates" that Google has offered its customers. If you made purchases from Google Video and would like to discuss your experiences with us, please e-mail me at tciarlone@lawssb.com or call me at (212) 239-4340.

Thomas G. Ciarlone, Jr., Esq.
Shalov Stone Bonner & Rocco LLP
http://www.lawssb.com
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