Movie downloads on the way from AOL

America Online will launch a promotion Wednesday that lets its members download full-feature films through Movielink for 99 cents a title, company representatives said Tuesday.

The service to be essentially lets people rent downloaded movies. Once downloaded, viewers have 30 days to watch the film and 24 hours to complete it once viewing begins. Titles offered for download include Hollywood hits such as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

AOL is betting on digital media as a way to persuade people to pay an additional $14.95 for its service on top of their existing broadband bill. AOL has pursued a strategy to market its broadband service in hopes of stemming the defection of members out of their dial-up service, which has witnessed heavy losses over the past year.

AOL last quarter lost 688,000 dial up customers in the third quarter 2003, most of whom pay $23.90 a month for service. That's down from second quarter dial-up losses of 846,000 members. However, AOL reported 2.6 million broadband subscribers, many of who subscribe to AOL's $14.95 a month plan.

Internet companies are aiming to fuel demand for subscription video services, a market expected to grow from about $991m in 2003 to more than $4.5bn during 2007, according to recent research from In-Stat/MDR.

The promotion will last until 26 February, although both companies do not have specific plans to extend beyond that.

Movielink is a joint venture between Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, MGM, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros.

In separate news, Movielink will announce a partnership on Wednesday with Ball State University to form a research lab within the school's Center for Media Design. It will be charged with studying the online habits of college students as it relates to films and piracy.

Jim Hu and Stefanie Olsen write for CNET News.com