Veoh.com, a Web site known for its presentation of thousands of homemade videos, is now offering some of the old cult classics that include some with Bruce Lee, John Wayne and the ubiquitous horror classics.
With the increasing use of broadband Internet access these downloads are become very popular to the consumer. Another great thing is that they are being offered for free of charge.
While Veoh started last year as a venue for home movies, there is an increasing demand for some of those cult classics that can no longer be found by the average person. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find them anymore. Just like books, old movies can fall out of copyright and become available for purchase or free use.
This is actually becoming very popular as anyone is allowed to upload films to the site with posting and viewing being free. Although Veoh's model is to make money from certain sections of the site that have pay-to-download offerings and also through advertising.
At this time there are around 90 movies that have been posted on Veoh's cult classic page.
When asked who would be able to view these movies if they weren't available on the Internet, Veoh CEO Dmitry Shapiro replied "Nobody, just collectors who were fortunate enough to have access to the movies. Once in a while somebody would have a viewing in some old theater, or they'd get on the TV in the middle of the night. But for the most part they just disappeared."
The most popular classic video downloaded at this time is "Bruce Lee the Invincible" with close to 300 downloads in just a few days.
Shapiro, who is from Russia, remember the days where there were only three options available to watch there, and two were propaganda channels and the third nothing he had an interest in, and this is one of the things that has motivated him to create the type of business he has where movies can also be "democratized" and people can see a much broader view of the world than could ever before be seen.
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