Why can't I purchase movies from my Apple TV? When searching not all available movies even show up!

I've had my apple tv for a while now, but have never actually purchased anything from the itunes store directly from the device. A friend recommended "Sleepless in Seattle" to me, and since it's not in Netflix or On Demand, I decided to buy it from itunes.
In doing a search in the Movies section of my Apple TV and typing in "Sleepl", I got no results. Bummed, I went onto Amazon to see how much the DVD would cost. On a whim, I opened itunes on my computer and did a search for the movie. To my shock, it is available for purchase on itunes for $9.99!
Once I found this out, I went back to my Apple TV and searched again. The movie still didn't appear to exist. I noticed then that every movie on the apple tv only gave me the option of renting, not buying. I was going to purchase from my computer, but then thought better of it because I wasn't sure it would be made available for me to watch on the apple tv.
Is there something wrong with my system? Why can't I buy movies from the device? I can buy tv shows, so it just seems weird to me that this is limited to the movies!

Ha, ha, you are such a tool!
That profile was written in 2007 and never updated. Unlike you, I don't live on this forum. I have one 5 year old Dell gathering dust, waiting for the trash that has some kids software on it my kids never use.
Currently I own a 27 inch iMac, and a 21 inch iMac used by my wife. I just sold my MacBook Air, which replaced my MacBook Pro of two years ago. I have an AppleTV v2, and unfortunately gave my AppleTV v1 to a friend before I realized they stripped out the movie purchase feature. We also own an iPad, two iPhones, and 4 iPods, two of which are used as digital music storage for our cars.
So yes, all of my factual posts concerning Apple's shocking decision to try to hide the fact they removed significant functionality from AppleTV when they revved it, are just driven by the fact that 4 years ago I used almost no apple products. Apparently I harbor a twisted desire to hurt the company that provides me almost all of my technology of choice today, despite being an early software developer for the Mac, helping start two Macinotosh software companies in the 1980s and 1990s, and working at Apple for 2 years in the early 90s.
The truth is, Apple's products weren't so good 15 years ago so I gradually switched to Windows for professional reasons. About 4 years go I bought an iPhone, and started to wake up to the fact that Apple had done a tremendous job moving the Mac platform to the intel architecture, and was very happy to replace my crappy dells with Apple products.
But that doesn't mean I wear blinders when their product teams and marketing department makes mistakes, or does something deceptive.

Similar Messages

Why can't I purchase movies on my iPad? When I hit buy it doesn't download.

Why can't I purchase movies on my iPad? When I hit buy it doesn't download.

Ok. That's strange. The download should show up immediately in the lower right. Even if it is stuck, you will se the red number. So something is blocking the purchase. Take a look at setting, restrictions, and see if something there is turned on that might be blocking you.

HT2589 why can I only purchase content from the store in my home country. Sometimes the dont have the content im after but other countries stores do

why can I only purchase content from the store in my home country. Sometimes the dont have the content im after but other countries stores do

Because this is how the itunes store works.

Why can't i purchase music from an overseas store

Why can't I purchase music from the US ITunes Store when based in AUS. I can't even find the music I want in searches unless i search overseas.

This has been covered here many times already, but once again: Apple has no choice in the matter. It's due to restrictions placed on Apple by the record companies and other rights holders. Quoting from This Business of Music (10th Edition) (by M. William Krasilovsky and Sydney Shemel et. al, Random House LLC 2007) (and thanks to the Mimico Kid for the reference) :
The difficulty of establishing workable business models for digital files (...) extends to where they are sold and where they are played. This is the issue of territoriality, and it is an illustration of how the Internet makes it necessary to reexamine basic assumptions that have been taken for granted (...).
(....) In the music business the primary problem is that copyrights are national and therefore specific rights are tied to national laws and the interpretations of national courts.
(.... T)hough we can one day hope to see the development of common standards with respect to copyright, the fact that the music business is building upon a history of nation-specific contractual relationships means that the goal of universal international standards is not, for the forseeable future, a practical one.
(...) Adding to the difficulty (...) the copyrights themselves may have been assigned to different companies in different territories. The best hope for a cleaner start and a simpler future is worldwide recognition that digital uses are in fact - and should be in law - totally new.
The content owners don't like cross-border sales of CDs either, but there's nothing they can do to stop such sales. They can, though, and do stop cross-border download sales, since if the download stores refuse, the rights holders won't license the tracks to that store.
So unless and until the record companies, et. al, all get together and agree to allow download stores to sell cross-border, there's absolutely nothing Apple or any other download store can do.

Why can I only purchase movies from within my own country?

Or moreover, Why can't I buy movies from the ITunes family in other countries?

You can ONLY buy from the itunes store of the country of your residence ( proven by the billing address on your credit card) and ONLY while inside the borders of that country.

Why o why can I only purchase Apps from my country's app store? Better apps in other countries!!

I am sorry, but we have crap apps in South Africa!! I want to know why I cannot purchase apps from the US or Canada stores. I can purchase items over the internet with my credit card from stores in the US, so why not apps?

Yes, I know. It's all a bit silly in some ways, but even major countries seem to have problems dealing with the digital world. That world changes quickly, while governments tend to lumber on like the long dead giant herbivores. But in the evolutionary scheme of things that seems the rule: the bigger you are, the slower you move!.
From my travel experiences of 20 or 30 years ago, I can remember when you would be hard put to find Visa accepted widely outside of the US. Everyone preferred MasterCard or American Express. The latter was not overly liked because of the fees they charged vendors. Fortunately, that's not the case anymore, but it took those changes a while to happen. I recall my first trip outside of the US for which I had my Visa and AmEx cards. Then I discovered that no one took Visa. Even the local ATMs didn't accept Visa, and most did not like AmEx. Went to a local bank in order to get cash using the Visa card because that was my only recourse at the time. They told me I should have used a MasterCard. Who knew? Next trip I had a MasterCard in my wallet.

Why can't I purchase movies or tv-shows in Norway?

I was wondering why I can't purchase movies or TV-shows from iTunes. I'm from Norway, so my account is registered i Norway. Apple don't sell Apple TV i Norway either. WHY?!

Because Apple doesn't have permission to sell enough movies and TV shows in Norway to open sections for them in its iTunes Store.
(58694)

Why can't I purchase ringtones from Verizon?

Purchased two ringtones from Verizon Media Store. Text said successful purchase then same text said content removed because my Galaxy S3 does not support purchasing copyrighted content. What's gong on? I have always purchased ringtones from Verizon.

Hello keisenhour,
I'd be happy to clarify this problem for you. I'm sorry you were unable to purchase the ringtone. Some of our devices do not allow the ability to purchase ringtones through the VZW store. Since your phone will not allow this, you can purchase ringtones using other ringtone apps in the Play Store. I apologize that this feature is unavailable for your device.
Thank you,
MichelleH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

Germany: Can't redownload purchased movies/TV shows from the cloud

iTunes in the cloud for movies and TV shows launched yesterday in Germany. Everything purchased appears online in the purchased items section of the iTunes Store, but when I want to redownload somehting I get the error "This item is temporarily unavailable."(Mac OS) or "The item you tried to buy is no longer available."(iOS). This happens with all previously purchased movies and TV shows. I checked that they are really available in the iTunes Store, rebooted, deleted the iTunes Store cache, logged out and back in in the iTunes Store and this issue still exists for me (and other people I talked to). Has someboy an idea how to solve this problem?

After over 24 hours this issue seems now to have been resolved But not exactly the smooth feature rollout you would expect from Apple...

HT5557 why can i bye a book from itunes libery but it will not open on this pc

why can i not open a book that i got from itunes on itunes

The iBooks sold at the iTunes Store are only for iOS devices such as iPads and iPhones. They cannot even be read on a Mac, much less a PC!
If you wish to download books to read on your PC, get the Kindle Reading App for PC, and buy your e-books from the Kindle Store.
The Kindle books can be used on PC, Mac, Kindle readers, and iOS devices, by use of the corresponding apps.

How can I transfer purchased music from one Apple ID to a new one I created?

How can I transfer music off my old Apple ID to a new current Apple ID I have today? I want my old purchased music in my new current itunes account.

Kidcko wrote:
How can I transfer music off my old Apple ID to a new current Apple ID
Anything Downloaded with a Particular Apple ID is tied to that Apple ID and Cannot be Merged or Transferred to a Different Apple ID
Apple ID FAQs > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5622

Why can't you purchase stuff from the itunes store if you're not in that country? I'm in South Africa and most of the best things I want to download are on the US itunes, so I try switch to it but it won't let me download or purchase? I don't get it?

I don't get why? What's the harm if you're in a different country? We all pay the same way and the internet was made to connect people over the world, stuff is downloaded from different global destinations millions of times a day. So what's the point of having an itunes store and App Store that limits you to the boring stuff in your own country? You read about these great app's, bands etc and find them in search engines, you have all the Mac products, but then you can't use them coz of where you're currenlty living? It's like a horrible tease!
Is there a way around this? Or what can be done in order to access the things I want?
Any advice, suggestions anyone?

The reason is licensing - artists/record companies/TV networks/movie distributors all have separate licensing deals in different countries (or no licensing deals at all). It isn't mysterious or secret.
The only way around this is to have an iTunes account in the other country - either a valid credit card with billing address in that country, or an iTunes gift card from that country (though you'll still be asked for a billing address in the country for which you've purchased the card).

HT3951 Why can't I purchase songs from other countries?

I am currently residing in Singapore, however there are artists releasing songs from the US and I can't seems to purchase them as my account is only limited to local purchases. What can I do about it??
Please assist.
Thank you,
Jason

Why? Licensing from the media companies. If an agreement hasn't been set up then Apple cannot sell the media. You can probably bet that if Apple can sell something they will because they are probably very happy to take your money.
You can see if another vendor in your country does sell the item.

Why can't I purchase chips from zynga poker?

It is not able to complete my purchase.

This has been covered here many times already, but once again: Apple has no choice in the matter. It's due to restrictions placed on Apple by the record companies and other rights holders. Quoting from This Business of Music (10th Edition) (by M. William Krasilovsky and Sydney Shemel et. al, Random House LLC 2007) (and thanks to the Mimico Kid for the reference) :
The difficulty of establishing workable business models for digital files (...) extends to where they are sold and where they are played. This is the issue of territoriality, and it is an illustration of how the Internet makes it necessary to reexamine basic assumptions that have been taken for granted (...).
(....) In the music business the primary problem is that copyrights are national and therefore specific rights are tied to national laws and the interpretations of national courts.
(.... T)hough we can one day hope to see the development of common standards with respect to copyright, the fact that the music business is building upon a history of nation-specific contractual relationships means that the goal of universal international standards is not, for the forseeable future, a practical one.
(...) Adding to the difficulty (...) the copyrights themselves may have been assigned to different companies in different territories. The best hope for a cleaner start and a simpler future is worldwide recognition that digital uses are in fact - and should be in law - totally new.
The content owners don't like cross-border sales of CDs either, but there's nothing they can do to stop such sales. They can, though, and do stop cross-border download sales, since if the download stores refuse, the rights holders won't license the tracks to that store.
So unless and until the record companies, et. al, all get together and agree to allow download stores to sell cross-border, there's absolutely nothing Apple or any other download store can do.

TS1368 why can't i purchase tunes from itunes store

After i have signed into the itunes store with my apple id and password, i can't purchase any tunes. When i try to, it ask for my apple id and password again. Whe i supply this information AGAIN, i get directed to a page that ask me 2 security questions. I do not know the answers to the questions, because i have never set up any security questions for purchasing tunes fron the store. I have had no similar problems in the past, at least not until this latest itunes store upgrade.

Hello there, Geri-Lynn.
The following Knowledge Base article provides some great steps to follow to troubleshoot the issue you're describing:
Can't connect to the iTunes Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1368
Specifically:
Troubleshooting on a Mac
If you haven't been able to connect to the iTunes Store, a software conflict or your internet service provider (ISP) may be blocking your access.
Update iTunes to the latest version.
If you have a firewall, your settings may be preventing you from connecting to the iTunes Store. To configure your firewall, please refer to the "Blocked by firewall" section in this article.
You may need to reset your keychain. Connection issues are occasionally caused by keychain issues. Click here to find out how to use Keychain First Aid to resolve any issues with your keychain.
If you are receiving a specific error message you may want to see, the "Specific Conditions and Alert Messages" section in this article as needed.
If the issue still persists, contact your internet service provider and confirm that the ports and servers in this article are enabled over your network.
Additional Information
If the steps above did not resolve your issue, be sure that your specific alert is not listed in iTunes: Possible iTunes Store errors. Then, if your issue is still unresolved, follow steps in iTunes: Advanced iTunes Store troubleshooting.
Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
Pedro D.

Why can't I purchase movies from my Apple TV? When searching not all available movies even show up!

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for