Apple Computer's negotiations with movie studios to add a movies section on iTunes is apparently only plodding along, and consumers likely won't be downloading movies onto their iPods anytime soon, writes BusinessWeek. Apple had hoped to get the store up and running within weeks, but bones of contention - from how much movie downloads should cost to the degree of piracy protection - are blocking that eventuality.

Both sides may be content to play a waiting game. Apple Chief Steve Jobs seems determined to take on the movie business with a fixed-price formula similar to the one that led Apple to create a $1 billion-a-year market for legal music sales.

Some analysts say Apple's big movie move can become reality if it comes out with a new device designed with movies in mind, rather than the iPod and its tiny screen.