Chinese video platform Youku.com launched legal streaming of the Hollywood blockbuster "Inception" this week after reaching a licensing agreement with Warner Bros., giving viewers in China a legitimate path to watch one of 2010's top-grossing releases.
The film is available for five yuan (about 75 cents) through Youku Premium, the company's paid on-demand tier, which also carries other licensed Hollywood titles and educational content. Viewers on the regular site can watch licensed TV series such as "Desperate Housewives" free of charge, with advertising.
The move comes against a backdrop of widespread digital piracy in China, which the United States has long criticized as costing the film industry billions of dollars. Youku and rival platform Tudou have both pursued formal licensing deals to set themselves apart from services that stream unlicensed material.
The two companies differ from US platforms like YouTube in that roughly 70 percent of their libraries consist of professionally produced films, television series, and music. Both also stream live events, including concerts, stand-up comedy, and sporting matches.
Youku completed its US stock market debut last month, with shares rising 161 percent on the first day of trading, the strongest NYSE opening in more than five years.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in January 2011, in its own words.