Netflix hits pause on movie download plan:

However, due to problems obtaining license agreements with Hollywood studios, the test phase of the service has not been postponed. Hastings said the company would hit the play button on its plans “when the content climate beings to thaw.”

The studios’ reluctance to let Netflix squirt their movies down the wire is no great surprise. Because of its paranoia about unregulated distribution of its content Hollywood is currently about as keen on the internet as it is on thoughtful, foreign language dramas featuring real, unaugmented people. Perhaps Netflix would have more success if it courted Bollywood instead of Hollywood.

It seems funny how far apart Silicon Valley and Hollywood can be. They are only a little over 300 miles apart in sunny California but they might as well be on opposite sides of the planet. The software geeks are stumbling over themselves to create new video distribution sites too numerous to mention while the studio execs struggle to find new ways to restrict digital distribution.

The only solution is the California Republic civil war. North vs. South. We’ve got front row seats.