CinemaNow Inc., the Internet-based movie service, is a rarity in Hollywood - a company that eagerly embraces Microsoft Corp. technology and relies on it exclusively to transmit, protect and display the movies it rents to customers. Then again, Microsoft is a major investor in the company, which is also owned by independent studio Lions Gate. The majority of entertainment companies, unsure of Microsoft's motives and wary of its cutthroat tactics in the battle for the computer desktop, have preferred to maintain an arm's-length relationship with the software Goliath.
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