The world of downloadable home entertainment took another step forward on July 19^th when a leading Internet provider of videos launched a service allowing people to access movies from their computers. CinemaNow.com announced in a press release that users can “legally download copy-protected movies and other video content and burn it to DVD for playback in a standard DVD player”. Curt Marvis, CEO of CinemaNow said of the new technology: “Today, our customers will experience a true innovation in home entertainment: the ability to obtain a DVD in the comfort of their living room.” Mr. Marvis added that since the inception of CinemaNow in 1999, his mission has been to be at the cutting edge of digital video sales. He proudly stated: “This is a historic day for CinemaNow as we are at the forefront of digital video distribution."

CinemaNow's pioneering technology is based on a relatively new anti-piracy program that is still being put through its paces. The software prevents a burned DVD from being re-burned and copied onto another disc. It was developed in collaboration with ACE, a German company which is a leading developer of products that enable secure, online data transfer. Mr. Marvis said his company already distributes video from ABC News, Disney, MGM, Sony and Warner Bros, among others, and is now looking further afield to gain a firm foothold in the industry. Analysts predict the company will establish a tie-up with Apple Computer and use the popular iTunes store to sell movies. Such a move would appeal to Apple as it could further tighten its grip on the online, digital entertainment market. The service is currently only available in the USA but seems likely to go global within the next year.

WARM-UPS

1. DOWNLOADS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about computers and downloading. Do they burn CDs or DVDs? What kind of things do they keep in digital format? Share your findings with new partners.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

Downloadable / steps forward / Internet / movies / burning DVDs / technology / innovation / missions / piracy / software / data / Disney / iTunes / entertainment

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

3. ONLINE LIFESTYLE: Ask your partner(s) about what they think of these online lifestyle choices. Together, give them a score from 1 (very bad idea) to 10 (wonderful idea).  Share your findings with new partners and justify your scores.

_____ Movie downloads _____ Live music concerts online _____ Online English lessons _____ Online shopping _____ Online libraries

_____ Mail _____ Video conferencing _____ Working from home _____ Online marriage _____ Other _________________

4. QUICK DEBATE: Students A believe going to the movies is infinitely better than downloading a movie and watching it at home. Students B think the armchair is better than a cinema seat. Debate this with your partners. Change partners often.

5. OPINIONS: With your partner(s), talk about the following opinions on downloading movies. Change partners and share your findings.

1. Obesity will increase.
2. You just can’t beat watching movies on a large screen.
3. The head of the person in front of you at the cinema won’t get in the way.
4. Downloading a movie is cheaper than going to a movie theater.
5. It will encourage us to become recluses and stunt our social life.
6. So, so convenient.
7. It’s only good if we can see the very latest movies.
8. We’ll all become movie buffs.
9. Greater choice is always good – download, rental, buy the DVD or the cinema.

6. DVD: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with DVDs. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	Microsoft has started a home movie division of its operations.	T / F
b.	A special DVD player is needed to watch the downloaded movies.	T / F
c.	Customers will experience a true renovation of their homes.	T / F
d.	A CEO said in 1999 that he wanted to cut out digital video sales.	T / F
e.	The downloading technology is still undergoing testing.	T / F
f.	The technology will prevent a lot of video piracy.	T / F
g.	Apple computer has signed a contract to sell the movies online.	T / F
h.	The service will be available worldwide later this year.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	leading	strengthen
b.	standard	vanguard
c.	innovation	grip
d.	inception	regular
e.	forefront	fairly
f.	relatively	link
g.	collaboration	start
h.	foothold	top
i.	tie-up	alliance
j.	tighten	breakthrough

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	took another	global within the next year
b.	burn	new anti-piracy program
c.	…since the inception	edge of…
d.	at the cutting	afield
e.	we are at the	step forward
f.	based on a relatively	of CinemaNow in 1999
g.	It was developed in	its grip
h.	now looking further	it to DVD
i.	further tighten	forefront of digital video distribution
j.	likely to go	collaboration with…

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

Movie downloads from home coming soon

The world of downloadable home entertainment took another step forward on July 19th when a ________ Internet provider of videos launched a service allowing people to ________ movies from their computers. CinemaNow.com announced in a press release that users can “legally download copy-________ movies and other video content and ________ it to DVD for playback in a standard DVD player”. Curt Marvis, CEO of CinemaNow said of the new technology: “Today, our customers will experience a ________ innovation in home entertainment: the ability to ________ a DVD in the comfort of their living room.” Mr. Marvis added that since the ________ of CinemaNow in 1999, his mission has been to be at the cutting ________ of digital video sales. He proudly stated: “This is a historic day for CinemaNow as we are at the forefront of digital video distribution."		obtain burn access edge true leading inception protected
CinemaNow's pioneering technology is based on a ________ new anti-piracy program that is still being put through its ________. The software prevents a burned DVD from being re-burned and copied onto another disc. It was developed in ________ with ACE, a German company which is a leading developer of products that enable secure, online ________ transfer. Mr. Marvis said his company already distributes video from ABC News, Disney, MGM, Sony and Warner Bros, among others, and is now looking further ________ to gain a firm foothold in the industry. Analysts predict the company will ________ a tie-up with Apple Computer and use the popular iTunes store to sell movies. Such a move would appeal to Apple as it could further tighten its ________ on the online, digital entertainment market. The service is currently only available in the USA but seems likely to go ________ within the next year.		global data paces establish relatively grip afield collaboration

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Movie downloads from home coming soon

The __________ downloadable home entertainment took another step forward on July 19^th when a leading Internet provider of videos launched a service allowing people to __________ movies from their computers. CinemaNow.com announced in a press release that users can “legally download __________ movies and other video content and burn it to DVD for playback in a standard DVD player”. Curt Marvis, CEO of CinemaNow said of the new technology: “Today, our customers will experience a true innovation in home entertainment: the ability to obtain a DVD in the __________ their living room.” Mr. Marvis added that since the __________ of CinemaNow in 1999, his mission has been to be at the __________ of digital video sales. He proudly stated: “This is a historic day for CinemaNow as we are at the __________ of digital video distribution."

CinemaNow's pioneering technology is based on a __________ new anti-piracy program that is still being put through its __________. The software prevents a burned DVD from being __________ and copied onto another disc. It was developed in collaboration with ACE, a German company which is a leading developer of products __________ secure, online data transfer. Mr. Marvis said his company already distributes video from ABC News, Disney, MGM, Sony and Warner Bros, among others, and is now looking further __________ to gain a firm foothold in the industry. Analysts predict the company will establish a __________ with Apple Computer and use the popular iTunes store to sell movies. Such a move would appeal to Apple as it could further tighten its grip on the online, digital entertainment market. The service is currently only available in the USA but seems likely to __________ within the next year.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘home’ and ‘entertainment.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT “DOWNLOAD” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about downloading movies and DVDs.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

step access burn true cutting forefront

paces secure afield tie appeal global

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. Are you a big movie fan?
3. Do you think watching a movie at home is better than watching it at a movie theater?
4. Will you visit CinemaNow.com to get movies from your computer?
5. How much would you pay to download a new movie?
6. What are the disadvantages of not watching a movie at the cinema?
7. Do you download a lot of things?
8. Do you think we will be able to download anything we want in the future?
9. Do you like the comfort of your own living room?
10. Do you think being able to download movies will change your life in any way?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. Would you like to be able to watch movies on an iPod or similar device?
4. Do you think the new service is really a “true innovation”?
5. Do you think the new service will really help stop video piracy?
6. What technology do you think will come after burning movies?
7. Would you like to download other things besides movies?
8. How many videos or DVDs of movies do you have?
9. Do you like to watch the same movie more than once?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
2. Was there a question you didn’t like?
3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
4. What did you like talking about?
5. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

ONLINE LIFESTYLE: With your partner(s), write down the advantages and disadvantages of the things in the left hand column being online:

	Advantages	Disadvantages
Movie downloads
Live music concerts online
Online English lessons
Online shopping
Online libraries
Mail
Video conferencing
Working from home
Online marriage
Other ______________

Change partners and share with each other what you wrote. Decide whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in each case.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find information about video piracy and illegal downloading of movies and music. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. SURVEY: Conduct a survey of your family and friends. Find out their opinions on which is better and why - movie downloads or going to the movie theatre. Share what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson.

4. HOME ENTERTAINMENT: Write an essay about home entertainment of the future. Compare the ideas you write about with home entertainment now or in the past. Show your essay to your classmates in the next lesson. Which essay did you like best and why?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. F

d. F

e. T

f. T

g. F

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	leading	top
b.	standard	regular
c.	innovation	breakthrough
d.	inception	start
e.	forefront	vanguard
f.	relatively	fairly
g.	collaboration	alliance
h.	foothold	grip
i.	tie-up	link
j.	tighten	strengthen

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	took another	step forward
b.	burn	it to DVD
c.	…since the inception	of CinemaNow in 1999
d.	at the cutting	edge of…
e.	we are at the	forefront of digital video distribution
f.	based on a relatively	new anti-piracy program
g.	It was developed in	collaboration with…
h.	now looking further	afield
i.	further tighten	its grip
j.	likely to go	global within the next year

GAP FILL:

Movie downloads from home coming soon

The world of downloadable home entertainment took another step forward on July 19^th when a leading Internet provider of videos launched a service allowing people to access movies from their computers. CinemaNow.com announced in a press release that users can “legally download copy-protected movies and other video content and burn it to DVD for playback in a standard DVD player”. Curt Marvis, CEO of CinemaNow said of the new technology: “Today, our customers will experience a true innovation in home entertainment: the ability to obtain a DVD in the comfort of their living room.” Mr. Marvis added that since the inception of CinemaNow in 1999, his mission has been to be at the cutting edge of digital video sales. He proudly stated: “This is a historic day for CinemaNow as we are at the forefront of digital video distribution."

CinemaNow's pioneering technology is based on a relatively new anti-piracy program that is still being put through its paces. The software prevents a burned DVD from being re-burned and copied onto another disc. It was developed in collaboration with ACE, a German company which is a leading developer of products that enable secure, online data transfer. Mr. Marvis said his company already distributes video from ABC News, Disney, MGM, Sony and Warner Bros, among others, and is now looking further afield to gain a firm foothold in the industry. Analysts predict the company will establish a tie-up with Apple Computer and use the popular iTunes store to sell movies. Such a move would appeal to Apple as it could further tighten its grip on the online, digital entertainment market. The service is currently only available in the USA but seems likely to go global within the next year.

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