Internet Business Optimization Tips and Ideas | Movie Download Memberships: Are They Really Worth It?

Movie Download Memberships: Are They Really Worth It?

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by Marc Sandford

The drive to the local video rental store to get our movies is truly unnecessary thanks to the advance of technology and the growth of the Internet. We can have our favorite movie delivered by mail after making the selection online. However, selecting and watching the movie online is an even better option.

There are two ways to go about this. We can pay a fee and use a movie download site or get the movie without paying for it by whatever means. This article will compare offline video rental stores as well as the various ‘free’ online alternatives against the benefits of a movie download membership.

The enormous selection in movies that are available is one clear benefit of a movie download site. From these extensive movie archives, you can download as often and as much as you please. Because of a limited amount of physical space, no offline video store will ever be able to match this.

This means that they are forced to cater to popular tastes. Online memberships can have an extremely varied and extensive movie selection because they aren’t limited by shelving space. If you have your own unique tastes but also enjoy the popular movies, you can get both online.

It is often an easier task to search online than browsing through endless shelves for a particular movie in a brick and mortar store. A search box that will search by director, title, actor, or any keyword will make your search for a movie online very easy. There are also lists that split movies into various genres and categories.

These lists also include movies categorized by latest additions, critic choices, popularity, and alphabetically. Members themselves are sometimes allowed to rate and write reviews for the movies. Nothing beats a user’s review when it comes to judging the pure entertainment value of a movie.


A large selection of movies in their archives is typical of online memberships. Any movies that are legal and free are almost always public domain which means that they are no longer copyrighted. These are the golden oldie film classics.

The web sites of the major TV networks have free television shows that are recent and popular. However, only a select few of these series are available and only for a limited time.

Movie download memberships are safe from worms, viruses, mal ware, and spy ware. By contrast, there is a real risk to the health of your PC when you get free movies from questionable sources. For instance, you will be sharing files with a multitude of strangers and will be trusting that none of them will infect your file with spy ware or viruses if you use peer to peer for your downloads.

In summary, a list of some of the advantages that paid online movie sites enjoy over the ‘free’ online and offline alternatives were presented. The economy, speed, and convenience of getting entertainment directly off the Internet is nothing short of amazing. However, any of the inconveniences of the local video store are greatly overshadowed by the potential risks that ‘free’ downloads pose to your computer.

About the Author:
Check out my review of two of the best known legal movie download sites that do not rely on p2p networks. One has a big movie collection because it cooperates with the big Hollywood heavy hitters. The other doesn’t. If you want to download legal movies, see this review.