DIVX kinda worked like that. You'd rent a disc and it'd work for a few days and then stop. You could pay for a few more days, or pay more to make it permanent.

It sucked and was one facet in Circuit City's slow motion collapse (good riddance).

[–] AeonFelis@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

I'd argue that that's still better that that shutting-down-digital-purchases deal, because with DIVX (and Flexplay, which was mentioned in another reply) you'd at least know in advance, before you buy, exactly how long you have to watch the DVD. Much better than buying things to add to your backlog and having them taken off the digital library before you get to consume them.