Just received an official notice from "The Crunchyroll Team" (not even Shinji -- was he ousted?):

As Crunchyroll continues to evolve, we add new features and remove ones that don't perform well. Recently we've made a decision to discontinue our Download-to-Own service, which lets users purchase DRM-free, downloadable videos of our popular shows. We believe online streaming video is the future will continue to focus on those efforts. Starting March 31, 2010, no new purchases of video downloads will be allowed. However, your existing downloads will continue to work until May 1, 2010. Please download and save your video files by May 1, 2010.

My first impulse was to buy the rest of Precure before too late. But on second thought, why reward the bastards? I already gave them money, and they knifed me in the back.

Anyway, they seem to want to re-enact the obsolete business model of "TV", what with the taking down shows after broadcast. The reason for them is to get publishers like Kadokawa and Media Factory on board, who are less desperate than Toei, and would not agree on DTO. Well, good luck with that. And I'm going to check what's new on Bakabt.

P.S. BTW, it well may be that "The Crunchyroll Team" sent this e-mail only to people who actually bought something. This is why the news is not on any of the usual news sites (Gia's Vice, AnimeNation, etc.). Maybe I should tip ANN.

UPDATE: One of Gia's minions finally noticed the news after a discussion at forums. His sample list of removed shows is not complete (no Precure, for one), but it includes some interesting items. For example, I did not know that Naruto was on DTO. I have most of it on DVD, but perhaps it's a good opportunity to grab some. {Update: Actually, it's a bogus list. Naruto is not available. The only available show is Last Exile (oddly enough, not available for streaming anymore after March 1, but still present on DTO).}

BTW, you know what show is really going to hurt (and by extension, its owners)? Eve no Jikan. It is indie enough to get a significant revenue from DTO, in comparison to DVDs.

Also, regarding Ubu's confusion: indeed, Crunchyroll removed links to DTO from episode pages. Apparently you are not supposed to watch something on stream, decide "hey, I like this, let's buy!" and click to download. Chairman Kadokawa would not like that! You have to go to the main page for the show, then click on the grey "Download" tab (next to "Fans", etc.).