Universal Pictures International plans to debut the first “download to own” movie service in the United Kingdom, allowing customers to download digital versions of blockbuster movies for keeps when they purchase a DVD of the movie.

Starting in April, the media and entertainment company, in conjunction with U.K. DVD distributor LoveFilm, will offer customers a £19.99 ($34.83) package of products that includes a DVD, a copy to view on a portable DVD player, as well as two digital downloads for PC or laptop.

The first movie to be made available for download will be King Kong, starting on April 10.

Shares of the studio’s parent company, Vivendi Universal, rose $0.44 to $35.05 in recent trading.

Universal is the second major player to announce a digital movie download service in Europe.

In January, Warner Brothers and Bertelsmann subsidiary arvato mobile said they would launch In2Movies, a peer-to-peer service available in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It will allow consumers to download some 80 movies and TV shows from the Warner catalog (seeWarner Debuts P2P Film Service).

Originally planned for a March debut, a Bertelsmann spokesperson said Friday the service will be available sometime next month.

“The entertainment industry is changing rapidly, with the introduction of new delivery channels to consumers and an emphasis on instant access,” said Peter Smith, president of Universal Pictures International, in a statement released Tuesday about the new Universal service.

That’s a change of tune for the media conglomerates, who have long resisted making content directly available via digital download over fears of illegal copying.

But heavy illegal downloading, as well as competitive pressures—with players such as Apple and Amazon rumored to be considering digital movie distribution services of their own—have helped the media giants change their minds, according to Paul Jackson, principal analyst with Forrester Research in Amsterdam.

“I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of these hybrid download models over the next year,” he predicted.

Content Protection

While the movie companies appear to be embracing direct-to-consumer digital downloads, that doesn’t mean the offerings will be completely unprotected.

Customers who want to download Universal’s films, for example, need Windows Media Player 10 on their PCs and a portable device that supports WMV9 SP content, a digital rights management tool that prevents the movie from being copied, burned to a disc, uploaded to the web, or emailed.

And while Warner’s In2Movies service does employ the same peer-to-peer technology used to illegally download films, it also includes technology designed to protect copyrights and licensee requirements.

Notably, the movie companies are experimenting with the new download models in Europe rather than the U.S.

“I think they see a better place to establish their position in Europe” than in the U.S., said Mr. Jackson.

He pointed out that players such as Netflix are already well-entrenched in the online movie rental business. Europe’s DVD distribution market is also far more fragmented and less powerful than in the United States, where chains such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart dominate.