Movie companies vs. major retailers. While this may sound like a royal rumble, it’s really posturing of the worthless kind. Wal-Mart is rumored to have plans, which it denies, that will punish movie companies who release films on iTunes and other downloading services. Movie companies seem to be scared of this.

Even as Wal-Mart denied these rumors back in September, stock of Apple and Walt Disney Co., the only movie company with films on iTunes, fell 2 percent (Sept. 22 to be exact).

It seems no one is making the right decisions here. Movie companies seem to be hesitant about releasing movies online for fear of alienating retailers, not making enough profit, and risking more piracy. Retailers want their brick and mortar monopoly to last forever. And shareholders think Wal-Mart’s going to win. They are wrong.

New media and liberalization win in the end, and this benefits movie companies. But it seems movie companies haven’t learned from their failed fight against VHS. The changing media demands changes first by the media companies. This means, unfortunately, a possible dip in stock value over a few quarters until consumers understand whatever changes occur. But, also unfortunately, stock price is everything. Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone had his 2007 compensation cut with future pay tied to stock prices.

The internet market allows for greater access to more people with specific interests. As Chris Anderson shows in “The Long Tail,” online retailers like Amazon and iTunes are able to offer more products and reach more audiences than Wal-Mart and Target’s brick and mortar stores. But for now, this business model is scary. For non-blockbuster releases (which Anderson shows are no longer as blockbuster-y), revenue has to be looked at long term. A small movie release might only sell 2 copies a month, but over a few years. Wal-Mart and Target would never sell a title that sold that little.

Movie companies need to realize this technology shift provides consumers with more information and this includes information about their entertainment. Choice is empowering, whether choosing how to access, buy, or enjoy entertainment. The result might be less profit per unit (or feature film), but the internet will allow for a greater number of those units. And through online, these will always be accessible to a hungry audience.

Let movies be downloaded. Let them be downloaded inexpensively (as in less than the price of a takes-up-shelf-space DVD). It’s okay to put special editions in stores. Or offer coupons for in-store purchases to be used online, and vice versa. Some how, some way, embrace the new technology. That’s what the retailers are scared of. That movie companies will discover there is a better way to do business.