According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, YouTube is outstretching its hand to major movie studios to potentially open a movie rental service for streaming online. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., Sony Corp., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. were among the studios that may be in talks with YouTube.

This does bring many questions to mind with the first being how much a movie rental will be and are users willing to pay for the service? Most people expect the price to stick around that of a typical rental of $3.99 What type of quality can we expect and will the price be discounted due to what will most likely be a sub-DVD resolution? Netflix offers streaming of movies online as well but not many of them are new releases. YouTube, however, may be looking to release some as soon as the same day of the release.

But what does this say about YouTube and their cash-generating efforts? Are they proving fruitless? YouTube’s motto is to be a "free online video streaming service that allows anyone to view and share videos that have been uploaded by our members." Based on that definition, it’s quite clear that the major studios are not "members".

And streaming full-length movies via YouTube is nothing new. The difference being in that the movies now available tend to be older, less well-known, and generally don't include new releases. But, they are free.

Streaming new releases via the Internet in general is nothing new either. Many studios sell and rent movies online through services such as iTunes, Amazon.com, Netflix Inc. or Blockbuster Inc. However, the service has yet to be more widely accepted and proven profitable. And exactly that are Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., Sony Corp., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Warner Bros. hoping to accomplish through a partnership with YouTube, which has a monthly audience of over 400 million global visitors.

Are viewers willing to pay for the service? Stay tuned...