CNET has an in-depth report on what is happening between Apple and the major movie studios. Essentially it comes down to negotiating rights and who controls them. For half of the major studios (Warner Bros., Fox and Universal) that would be HBO owned by Time Warner. HBO has the legacy "first-mover" advantage because of its longstanding relationships with the studios and cable operators. Hence, HBO holds the keys for Apple or any other would-be cloud streaming services, from bringing a flood of streaming movies to the masses.

HBO is a powerful brand and controlled by a powerful player in the media ecosystem in Time Warner. It is not going to give up its first-mover advantage lightly. Yet, when it comes to content licensing, the studios might want to rethink their position when it comes to allowing HBO an exclusive window for content.

Think of it this way - all the major tech companies, telecom/satcom operators (like Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, Verizon, AT&T) and media companies (think Netflix, Hulu) want to get their fingers into the digital streaming pie. This creates a huge new market for the networks and studios to license content for cloud streaming.

Call it the Netflix Effect. With 24 million subscribers, international expansion and growing revenues, Netflix is fundamentally changing the way that consumers interact with premium media on the Web. As such, Netflix has the first-mover advantage and so far the tenuous support of the studios to create a deep library of movies to stream and international licensing rights.

Yet, HBO is a big thorn in the side of Netflix and all the players (and would-be players like Apple). That is why it was a big win for Netflix to come to a content distribution license with DreamWorks Animation in late July as it signaled a shift in how the studios handle exclusive HBO exclusive agreements.

Stunted Cloud Streaming Growth While "HBO Window" Exists

Yet, with HBO's agreements with three major studios, it makes it difficult for other companies to move into the space. According to the CNET report, HBO is acting out of self-preservation. It does not want to see rivals come in and sell pay-per-view movies or other subscription-based services in its window. It makes perfect business sense for HBO. Its contracts pre-date cloud streaming and now that streaming has become a multi-billion dollar industry it has to adjust. If that means being stubborn with its contracts and agreements, it is what is best for the company.

Yet, those agreements probably only have a couple more years left on them. If the Netflix/DreamWorks deal is any indication, then HBO has contracts that run anywhere between 2013 and 2016 (in theory). Studios, for the benefit of their bottom lines, might want to lump HBO in with the rest of the content distributors and license content to each player individually.

Until that time, Apple's Replay and the rest of the cloud streaming market will be stunted.

DreamWorks and HBO have a content-distribution agreement that runs through 2014, according to Bloomberg. Yet, the Hollywood Reporter says that HBO is willing to let DreamWorks out of the deal two years early, making the studios' animated movies available to Netflix in 2013. It would be a bit of a coup for Netflix to be the go-to movie distributor over the likes of HBO and a signal both the mid-term future of content streaming.

That is why Netflix, so far, only gets entire seasons or series of older TV shows, like Scrubs (a recent addition) or Cheers and "new releases" come to the service 28 days after coming out on DVD. In turn, that is why the networks created Hulu Plus, to capitalize on the immediacy of shows and movies rather than Netflix's backlog of older titles. Yet, when it comes to premium content, HBO has long been the preferred destination for the big movie studios to make money on their "long tail" of content.

The long tail is now shifting to Netflix and it looks like DreamWorks knows it.

The other half of this equation is timing. For all its explosive growth and innovation, the premium-content streaming market is still just learning to stand on its own feet. The networks and studios are still trying to figure out exactly what their product models will look like and how to best optimize revenue streams of their products. That is why you see the UltraViolet initiative, Comcast teaming with Elemental and the potential sale of Hulu. The industry is fumbling about for the right strategy.

Also, as we see with the HBO/DreamWorks deal, there are licensing agreements that are ending, freeing up partnerships with other entities. Even though DreamWorks itself is a blip on Netflix's radar, it shows us somewhere near 2013 is when the premium streaming market comes into its own.

Those familiar with GetGlue on the Web or on their phones will find the iPad app very familiar. As one would expect, the app lets you check-in to the service's 8 standard categories - music, movies, TV shows, books, games, wine, topics and celebrities. The added screen size of the iPad lets you more efficiently like, rate and comment on items without leaving each screen by utilizing pop-ups and overlays.

The startup hopes these overlays will encourage social interaction on the app as people enjoy things like movies and TV shows. The overlays, which will be familiar to users of the Twitter for iPad app, allow users to chat and discuss the media they are consuming with their friends and contacts in real-time - a practice that has many broadcast channels and movie studios excited.

Stickers from Glee, Dexter, TWiT and More

So excited, in fact, that many have refreshed their campaigns for special GetGlue stickers, which users can collect by watching and checking into shows and events. FOX has agreed to promote its wildly popular show Glee, long-running hit Bones, as well as a pair of new shows - Raising Hope and Lone Star - with special GetGlue Stickers.

HBO is running a unique campaign that rewards users for checking into each new episode of its anticipated series Boardwalk Empire. If users watch each episode on its debut night in succession, they will "level up" and earn a special sticker at the end of the season. Other shows and movies announcing campaigns include Showtime's Dexter, PBS' NOVA and Charlie Rose, Universal Pictures' upcoming releases Catfish and Devil, and Leo Laporte's TWiT podcast network.

According to GetGlue's Fraser Kelton, media networks have been impressed by the results their sticker campaigns have garnered, attracting them back again for expanded programs.

"Within 5 minutess of True Blood airing 2 weeks ago, 5,000 fans concurrently checked-in with an estimated reach of about 1 million people on Twitter," says Kelton. "The benefit of having trusted recommendations coming out from friends and reaching that number of people is a huge win for them."

Kelton adds that shows and movies that run sticker promotions on GetGlue see far better engagement from the platform compared to those that don't. While this is to be expected, it is evidence that the social check-in platform is a viable market for advertising campaigns from big brands, stations, and studios.

The usage capped broadband, meanwhile, is going to be tested sometime in the next quarter in Beaumont, Texas. So for the time being, the two services won't overlap.

According to Time Warner, the reason for the trial of usage based billing net access, is because the growing popularity of online video is causing congestion on their network. Why, then, introduce a service at the same time that will only serve to increase the amount of online video being downloaded over your network? Of course, by tying the HBO service to the Road Runner broadband service, Time Warner is essentially passing the cost of a "free" product to consumers by raising rates elsewhere.

If Time Warner wants to encourage users to stream more video over its network, it can't also penalize users who stream more video over its network.

As Ars Technica points out, the whole thing is short-sighted. Per usage billing won't fly with consumers who have unlimited use broadband options elsewhere, and competition is only going to get stiffer for the cable industry. Verizon, for example, has no plans to try usage caps with its DSL or FiOS services, and on the horizon we can look forward to 4G wireless broadband, a possible wireless broadband service on the 700MHz spectrum being auctioned off starting this week, and Sprint's Xohm WiMAX network. Not to mention continued roll-outs and improvements of Verizon's FiOS and AT&T's U-Verse services.

"Instead of developing plans designed to discourage consumers from feeding at the bandwidth trough, cable companies would be better served in the long run by making investments in new technologies like DOCSIS 3.0 and the kind of infrastructure improvements necessary to meet bandwidth demands," writes Ars Technica's Eric Bangeman. It seems likely that in the face of competition and potential consumer distaste over proposed usage limits and practices like bandwidth throttling, cable companies may be forced to make just that type of investment, even though it might be unpopular with shareholders.