YouTube dipping its toe into rentals...

It will be interesting to see if they can manage the transition because, while the underlying tech may be there, there is a pretty big branding gap for them to overcome because youtube isn't traditionally known for providing a high-quality viewing experience.

The quality of the image, the buggy flash player and the general clutter of the site don't really hurt them when people are there to discover free, short form video content but it's a huge brand perception problem to overcome once they start asking people to pay money and sit back on the couch to watch an entire film.