Ameibo is a web-based video on demand (VOD) company that allows its users to legally download and share movies with other paying customers. It is the only website in the world that pays you cold hard cash when you legally share/seed the movies you Buy or Rent from the website. The company aims to combat online movie piracy by imitating the common BitTorrent (protocol) technique as a way for users to only share the content with other paying users. [1] Users earn money when legally sharing the movies bought or rented from Ameibo.
Ameibo was founded in April 2008 and is based in Stockholm, Sweden.[2] The company has 20,000 members in 150 countries and distributes about 4,000 digital downloadable movies from such major studios as Paramount and Warner Bros., and also from more than 100 minor and independent studios from around the world.[3] The following genres are available on the website: sports, action, adventure, drama, comedy, animation, horror, war, western, special interest, Swedish, thriller, music, musical, children and family, animation, science fiction, suspense, and documentary.[2]
When users go to Ameibo they are given the choice of either renting or purchasing movies from a growing database. These movies are directly provided to Ameibo by legal movie distributors. Ameibo allows downloading of approved BitTorrent programs, making legal sharing of movies with other users possible and legal. Ameibo works with the following BitTorrent clients: Azureus, uTorrent, BitTorrent.[4]
Ameibo offers three ways to download movies:
Some movies on Ameibo may be burned to DVD – it will depend on their technical specifications. Movie trailers and comments and reviews on Ameibo are available to assist in choosing which movie users should Rent or Buy.[3]
Recently, Ameibo added a new service where Filmmakers, (including both indie and major productions) can upload their movies to The Content Bay.[5] Production companies may sign non-exclusive deals without starting fees – movies may be sold on Ameibo or anywhere else. These production companies can choose the selling price and what territories movies will be sold in and which will then be published on Ameibo.com.[6]