You might think that the IMDB (Internet Movie Database) owned by Amazon and one of the best sources for information on any film you might imagine on the web, would be a great place to launch an online movie service, as it is the authoritative source of information on movies, but as we understand it the fact that it now features 6,000 movies free to view (to Americans only) fosters feelings of disappointment not elation.
Reports suggest that each of the long tail movies are poor quality versions of those already playing on Hulu and the poor quality is supposed to drive people either back to Hulu, or to respond to offers to buy the DVD.
Had the IMDB simply offered quality streaming, it could have sold a ton of adverts, but instead the site seems to have missed a trick. The films have been contributed by Hulu, Sony Pictures and 500 independent studios but also include TV series such as 24, CSI, Heroes and House.