Streaming movie rentals from Android Market blocked on rooted devices

By Adam Rosenberg May 22, 2011

youtube movies — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Android users with a rooted device are learning the hard way that the recently launched streaming movie rental service is unusable. The service, which runs through YouTube and allows people to rent a variety of titles for $3 to $4 via Android Market, is rendered inaccessible due to copyright restrictions, a according to an error message (via Engadget.

“Error 49” pops up automatically when you try to download a movie; a search of the Android Market help center brings a brief description, which lays out the “why” in very little detail: “You’ll receive this “Error 49″ message if you attempt to play a movie on a rooted device. Rooted devices are currently unsupported due to requirements related to copyright protection.” Someone with more expertise would need to confirm it, but the blockage likely ties to the worry that a rooted device, with it’s relaxed app restrictions, could conceivably be used to record rented material…? Maybe? Just spitballing here– any Droid-savvy readers want to chime in? Other video rental services seem to work just fine on a rooted device.

For now, this restriction really only affects the Motorola Xoom tablet, since Honeycomb 3.1 is the only Android OS that supports streaming rentals. It’s coming to other versions of Android soon though, so a choice will have to be made.

Google has taken a pretty enlightened stance toward embracing an “open” platform with its Android OS, even outright encouraging modded operating systems. As Engadget notes, the Xoom’s free 4G LTE hardware upgrade even still applies to rooted tablets. All of which suggests that there may have been some external pressures that fueled the decision to cut off streaming rentals.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

Mobile

You can pick up the Google Pixel 7 Pro for only $500 today

The Pixel 7 Pro with its display turned on, showing the home screen.

If you've been holding out on buying a new phone for a while because prices are still expensive, then you may want to consider going for one of the older flagship phones. For example, while the Pixel 8 Pro is out, the Pixel 7 Pro is still a powerful and viable alternative, and even better, it has quite a few great deals on it. In fact, you can buy a brand new and sealed Pixel 7 Pro from Woot for just $500, rather than the usual $1,100, and that's for the 512GB version of the phone, so you get a lot of storage with it as well.

Mobile

A new Google Pixel Tablet is coming, but it’s not what you think

Google Pixel Tablet on its charging dock.

It's been almost a year since the Google Pixel Tablet went up for preorder, leading many Android tablet fans to wonder when the inevitable Pixel Tablet 2 will arrive. A new rumor suggests that Google could release a new Pixel Tablet as early as next month, but it's probably not what you were expecting or hoping for.

According to @MysteryLupin on X (formerly Twitter), Google is planning to "relaunch" the Pixel Tablet without the charging/speaker dock included in the box. As you'll likely recall, the speaker dock is the Pixel Tablet's standout feature. You can use the Pixel Tablet on its own as a traditional Android tablet when you want, and when you're done, you throw it on the dock to transform it into a smart display. The idea of Google selling the Pixel Tablet without its claim to fame is an interesting one.

Mobile

Anker sale: up to 40% off portable chargers, cable, and more

The iPhone 15 Pro Max being charged by the Anker MagGo Power Bank.

If you've been looking to pick up a new charging cable, charger, or all-in-one charging station for your Android phone or iPhone, then you'll be happy to know that Anker is having a rather large Earth-Day sale that you can take advantage of. There are a ton of discounts that you can take advantage of, too, with up to 40% off in some cases. I that wasn't enough, you can even snag yourself some free gifts, for example, one of the best accessories for a Galaxy S24 is the Anker Nano Power Bank if you spend more than $90, or even an Anker 621 Magnetic Battery if you spend over $120. Either way, there are a lot of options, and while we've shared some of our favorite deals below, it's also worth taking a look at everything Anker has to offer by pressing the button below.

What you should buy during Anker's Sale
One of the most basic things you may need for any device is a charging cable, and Anker has a couple of great options for that. If you're on an older iPhone with a lightning cable, you can grab Anker's Anker 641 USB-C to Lightning Cable that's 6 feet long using the coupon WSPEV2KENJP2. On the other hand, if you need a USB-C to connect and charge your devices, you can grab the 6-foot Anker 543 USB-C to USB-C Cable using the code WSPEV2EHDR0C.