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Until now, movies have only been legally available as pay-per-view streamed video or for a limited time. The new service from Universal will allow Internet users to download and keep copies of the film they have bought. The DRM software will also allow customers to make up to two copies of the movie - one for the standard DVD player or computer and another for a portable device.

The service intends to officially kick off on 10 April with the DVD release of the blockbuster remake of King Kong directed by Peter Jackson - the man behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy - although it is already live today. Costing £19.95, customers

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will not only get the download but also a physical copy of the DVD in the post the next day. Universal says its current business plan only includes the physical version as consumers seem to like to have an actual copy as well as a download.

The service will be offered through Lovefilm.com or through AOL. No doubt AOL's parent Time Warner, no small movie studio itself, will be watching the take up of the download-to-own service with interest.

Along with King Kong, Universal plans to launch the download-to-own service with another 34 titles including Pride and Prejudice, Serenity, Doom and Nanny McPhee with prices ranging from £9.95 to £19.99.

Universal chose to launch the service in the UK because Britain is Universal's biggest market for home entertainment outside the US. The decision was also driven by the take up of broadband in the UK. Around 60 per cent of British homes - about 17 million households - now have a domestic broadband connection. It takes between 40 and 60 minutes to download the average film through a 2 megabits-per-second broadband connection. As faster broadband 8Mbit broadband services are rolled out across the country over the next year, this figure will fall considerably.