Visitors to Wal-Mart's video download site are being greeted with the message "The Wal-Mart Video Downloads Service closed on 12/21/07" after the retail giant quietly canned the service because "Hewlett Packard discontinued the technology that powered it".

According to Reuters, Wal-Mart spokeswoman Amy Colella added that the company "will not look for another technology partner", meaning the permanent closure of the initiative less than a year after its launch. HP spokesman Hector Marinez said it had pulled its video download-only merchant store services because the market hadn't performed "as expected".

Colella declined to say how many downloads the site had delivered. Those who did avail themselves of the service can, of course, keep the vids they've bought, but can only play them on the computer onto which they downloaded them. Wal-Mart is not, the faq note, offering refunds. ®

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