Forgive me if I'm wrong, however isn't this what Kim Dotcom was going to do with his music service? Hit the labels where it'd hurt them the most (less profits) - then the raid came.
I also wonder if Microsoft is currently thinking of something like this. I recently watched 'Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn' whilst I've never played a Halo game or anything (I've just known about it), and instead of making a movie directly to theaters they release it free on mediums people enjoy (bit-by-bit on YouTube then released it as a movie). They definitely have the distribution and technology to do more of this. I hope they do, I really liked that Halo movie, I kind of want to buy an Xbox and play the games now... :)
I also wonder if Microsoft is currently thinking of something like this. I recently watched 'Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn' whilst I've never played a Halo game or anything (I've just known about it), and instead of making a movie directly to theaters they release it free on mediums people enjoy (bit-by-bit on YouTube then released it as a movie). They definitely have the distribution and technology to do more of this. I hope they do, I really liked that Halo movie, I kind of want to buy an Xbox and play the games now... :)