The future is almost here for Boxee. A few months ago the company announced plans to bring premium for-pay content to the platform. This goal is now one step closer thanks to an agreement with Vindicia who will handle the payment transactions.
The goal is to provide a one-click payment scheme using Vincdicia robust CashBox system as a back-end. The powerful solution currently handles currency exchanges, VAT, and GST automatically, and allows users to pay via credit cards, gift cards, or PayPal. Other sites such as Blizzard’s online gaming store, DeviantArt, Symantec already use the payment system.
The solution will allow content providers flexibility to price and package their wares as they see fit. This could bring subscription models or pay-per-view-type to Boxee, which in theory could turn the platform into a legitimate cable alternative.
Just think, perhaps sometime soon you’ll be able to pay for the TV you want with a subscription to just a few shows with the option to pay for other episodes on the fly. Of course it could go horrible wrong as well, too, once the evil networks get a taste of this sweet, untapped revenue source and start charging for all of their content. Hulu already announced a for-pay service so they days of ad-supported Internet video might be coming to an end.