ZML is for movies what Allofmp3 was for music
The developers of the now defunct Allofmp3 website announced a new website called ZML - The Movie Library - that offers movies in three different versions for prices that will cause the concern of the MPAA. The lowest price for a full movie begins at $1.99 which is the version for iPods with a width of 320 pixels.
The middle version with a resolution of either 580 or 610 pixels costs $2.99 each and the high quality versions with a resolution of 720 pixels cost $4.99. This is really low ff you compare that to the usual $9 - $10 at Amazon Unbox or other websites. The main question is of course that of legality.
I can only say that this is a completely legal service in Russia paying the usual 15% of the earnings to the Russian Organization for Multimedia and Digital Systems. The MPAA will most likely not accept the royalties from ZML with the same lame excuse that the RIAA used.
So, what can you expect besides the low prices ? The site uses a very straightforward user friendly layout with several ways to browse and search the movie library. The currently 1500 movies are sorted by genre, letter and can also be found by using tags or ratings.
All movies come with 20 screenshots from the movie and soon a two minute sample of what you can expect. Each movie website lists information about actors, the plot, the format and related movies that are worth exploring.
Movies are provided in DivX v5 or Ipod format and can be paid by Credit Card or SMS. The SMS option sounds interesting because it can be used to download a movie without signing up to the website at all.
The movies seem to be about two weeks behind the official DVD release date. What's your opinion regarding this new website ? Do you think it is legit and would you download movies from it ?
I personally think that this site is offering way more than all those other movie download sites are offering combined in terms of quality, usability and of course pricing.
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Seems to me they use “scene” released movies which are illegal at the best of times as they normally come from p2p sites.
I can not see this sticking around too long either.
Downloading newly released movies and downloading dvd’s are two separate ideas. This article is about the latter in the context of movies, not tv. So let’s keep this targeted to that.
While they could have overlapping reasons, they are usually done for different reasons… downloading a dvd movie from ZML, or pay-per-view, or Amazon Unbox, or renting the dvd at netflix/blockbuster/localjoint are all options for the sake of convenience.
Me? It’s not convenient to watch a movie with my family on the computer. I won’t do it. Now the price of ZML is not attractive enough to make me look at it. I used blockbuster online to rent a physical dvd until they raised the rates, and now I use a Redbox to do the same. It’s $1 a day (plus tax where you live).
Even with insane gas prices, it’s more economical and convenient for me to use redbox ($1 plus some less than $1 in gas) than to download from ZML ($3-$4). With redbox, I can watch the movie on my big screen tv with my family and not on the smaller monitor on my computer.
The pricing would need to be a LOT cheaper for me to even consider ZML… regardless of the legit factor.
Copyright vs. fair use, and blah blah. Consumers will do what they want, and the mpaa/riaa will do what they want regardless of the consumer. I’m happy to see that consumer-oriented options continue to surface despite that it may have to come from outside the USA.
Allofmp3 fans may want to check out http://www.mp3sparks.com/
i happened to come across zml’s website by accident and thought it could be useful but i’m reluctant to buy a movie becauce of legality issues…can anyone tell me whether or not it’s legal to download from that site?
Russians don’t have any issues with the americans. But, beware, if you sign up with SMS or your credit card, your info. WILL be handed over to the Commeees.
BEWARE OF SITES LIKE THESE!!! THEY ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN TORRENT SITES.
AND DON’T, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, PAY ONLINE FOR SITES LIKE THIS!
i got ripped off by zml big time, they gave other websites my debit numbers in russia, i almost lost all of my money out of my bank account, fortunatley my bank has fraut protecting and refunded my money, stay away from zml.com
Why would you not pay for these sites? The only thing that can happen is that the site goes offline, and that you can not contact them to refund the money you still had under your account. As far as customers are conserned this is legal. In some contries it’s illegal to distribute movies/music, but not to download them, no matter from what source.
Is this website lejit??(zml) I put $20 on my account, downloaded one movie and now I can’t get into my account. I’m getting an error message.
I put $69.95 into the account & have not been able to download 1 movie. I was told that the site has been de-activated. Trying to get money back from in2video.net.
Tried zml2.com & get first page up but try & get movie or customer support, screen blanks off.
zml2.com may be a cloned site. Don’t assume that is the same people
I put $40 on my account and downloaded with no problems. I use a mac and download the movies with igetter
I even had a question for support and they responded right away.
Redbox may be $1, put you have to drive to the thing twice and your only renting. ZML sells movie. For $3 I have a great copy of the dark knight I can watch on my computer or export to m4v to watch on my apple tv
Got a notice after i logged in to ZML this morning saying my account was inactive. I just dropped 19.95 in 2 days ago. Sent their customer support group the problem and they certainly got back to me pretty quickly saying that they were aware of the problem and that they are working on it. Let’s see what happens
after I read your post, website seemed to be down. It seems to be working again and my account still has the same balance. sometime sites do go down.
i want to know if zml is legal and legimate. i cant find a straight-forward answer anywhere
You can’t find an answer because they are in a grey area. So be quiet, don’t bring too much attention and enjoy
I just cancelled my visa transaction twice, because it always says 29,90 USD. But nowhere on that site can I find any clue about the fee for the movies nor about what the 29,90 USD shall be paid for. Can anybody help ? I wrote to customer service already but haven`t got an answer yet.
its a pre paid account service. So you put 29,90 into your account. everytime you select a movie they deduct from your balance. most divx movies are 2.99, so you should get about 10 movies
zml – really worldwide site
i subcribed to zml for a couple of months and downloaded over 300 movies, they changed their layouts of the site and now when i click on download when im signed in nothing happens, did i get ripped off now for 39,99? i have written to them and i havent gotten an answer yet, im very dissappointed, also after i paid them i found two websites on my bank account for that amount that committed fraud to me, did zml give them my debit card number? probably, well i have changed my numbers and reported fraud to my bank. good luck to u guys, stay away from this site.
I USED SITE FOR 5 MONTHS DOWNLOADED HUNDREDS OF MOVIES , THIS MONTH IT DONT WORK BUT PAYMENT WAS TAKEN OUT AND CREDIT CARD P[AYMENT WAS TO DIFFERENT COMPANY , ALL MY HISTORY GONE , WTF , WAS GOOD SITE NOW SCAM ARTISTS I THINK COSTUMER SERVISE REPLIED WITH A ANSWER THAT MADE NO SCENSE, CANT GET MONEY BACK OR STILL TRING
BE CAREFUL NOW ON THIS SITE IM NOT USING ANY MORE
100% totally illegal to pay for movies on this site and 100% totally illegal for them to host them.
Movies are free. Just download them for free. They are everywhere. :)
Or go to the theatre and enjoy the $10 popcorn…lol
I heard this news before. here is an another website where i prefer to download mp3 songs. beemp3.com
Does anyone know any more about ZML ?
I heared about it from Legal Sounds but no more.
zml is ban due to some legal issues. and there is some more sites that also banned by USA government.