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New copy-proof DVDs on the way?
news.com.com ^ | February 14, 2005, 9:00 PM PST | John Borland

Posted on 02/15/2005 9:07:16 AM PST by RicocheT

Macrovision is expected to release a new DVD copy-protection technology Tuesday in hopes of substantially broadening its role in Hollywood's antipiracy effort.

The content-protection company is pointing to the failure of the copy-proofing on today's DVDs, which was broken in 1999. Courts have ordered that DVD-copying tools be taken off the market, but variations of the software remain widely available online.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: copyprotection; digitalrights
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To: bill1952

I give it 3 weeks, tops, until some kid cracks it.


21 posted on 02/15/2005 9:28:52 AM PST by MTD
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To: RicocheT

Name one, just one, anti-piracy technology that hasn't been cracked by enterprising teenagers...


22 posted on 02/15/2005 9:39:54 AM PST by pabianice
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To: Phantom Lord
"Will this multi-million dollar be defeated by a 69 cent Sharpie marker as the anti-copying tech put on CDs was?"

I had that very thought. You know, the problem here is that the digital world offers so many challenges and opportunities for clever people who wish to showcase that cleverness. I suppose that it's really just an ego thing, but that doesn't make it any less a crime.

23 posted on 02/15/2005 9:41:55 AM PST by davisfh
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To: RicocheT

I have a DVD copying question I hope someone can answer. What stops me from using a DVD burner to copy a DVD image to another DVD? How would encryption stop me? If I made a exact copy of the DVD image how would my DVD player know the difference?


24 posted on 02/15/2005 9:44:44 AM PST by ElTianti
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To: general_re
Sure. A lot of DVD players and such aren't really intended to be field-upgradeable anyway, so it's a short step to the sort of tamper-resistant hardware that's been used in cable boxes and the like for ages now.

I meant can you stop a TIVO from receiving firmware upgrades and still have it function.

25 posted on 02/15/2005 9:50:29 AM PST by ClintonBeGone (In politics, sometimes it's OK for even a Wolverine to root for a Buckeye win.)
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To: ClintonBeGone
You mean, can you, as an end-user stop it from grabbing new software? Dunno, but I suspect not - it has to get listings from somewhere, and that somewhere is where it'll get new "upgrades" as they're made available. Unless you can block it from getting listings too, that is.
26 posted on 02/15/2005 9:58:23 AM PST by general_re ("Frantic orthodoxy is never rooted in faith, but in doubt." - Reinhold Niebuhr)
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To: RicocheT
New copy-proof DVDs on the way?

There is, and never will be, a "copy-proof" DVD.

A DVD is nothing but a megatude of binary codes which can be reduced to a single number made up of an extremely large string of 1's and 0's. This string of 1's and 0's is what a DVD player needs to know to play the movie and is also the same string of 1's and 0's needed to make an exact digital copy. Any DVD that can be played, will be able to be copied with relative ease and with the help of fast acting computer geeks, in a manner that can be made user friendly.

27 posted on 02/15/2005 10:07:00 AM PST by True Capitalist
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To: general_re
Sure. A lot of DVD players and such aren't really intended to be field-upgradeable anyway, so it's a short step to the sort of tamper-resistant hardware that's been used in cable boxes and the like for ages now.

Cable boxes tamper resistant for ages? I don't think so ...

28 posted on 02/15/2005 10:10:11 AM PST by WildTurkey (When will CBS Retract and Apologize?)
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To: RicocheT

The real crooks in this sorry scenario are not the hackers and crackers that download music and videos illegally, but Hollywood itself. Built into their business model is the extraordinary excesses that find their way into movie, rock, and athletic star's pockets so that they can lead a life style far more affluent than any emperor throughout history, i.e. Michael Jackson as but one lone example.

When we pathetic schmucks stop subsidizing that corrupt system by buying that Hollywood drivel will prices come down to more realistic levels so that illegal consumer behavior will become diminimus...but I'm not holding my breath!




29 posted on 02/15/2005 10:16:29 AM PST by infocats
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To: RicocheT

Well if you want to play DVDs from different regions without having them blocked by your DVD player, first you have to get a different DVD player:

http://www.lfvw.com/dvd_players.html

Code free DVD Players. This is no scam. Order now before they get shut down by some over-eager regulatory body.


30 posted on 02/15/2005 10:30:32 AM PST by Mad Mammoth
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To: Always Right
How are they gonna stop me from running my DVD's through a copy-machine....

The new DVD's weigh 80 pounds and are 18" thick with a diameter of around 2'...

31 posted on 02/15/2005 10:37:29 AM PST by Andonius_99
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To: ken5050

Not dead, but slow to market. The HDTiVo is supposed to be out next year.


32 posted on 02/15/2005 10:41:27 AM PST by bobwoodard
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To: Andonius_99

Well that would make it difficult.


33 posted on 02/15/2005 10:41:27 AM PST by Always Right
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To: js1138
What's up with the DVD region stuff. I'd like a DVD of "Eric The Viking" but it's not available for region 1.

I have it. Or do you mean that it's out of print? Or is region "0"?

Since players are available for less than $40 I suppose I could get one just for out of region DVDs.

Get one. They're really are cheap and it beats waiting for a US release that may never come.

34 posted on 02/15/2005 11:06:28 AM PST by balrog666 (A myth by any other name is still inane.)
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To: ClintonBeGone

Tivo is history, and so are these DVRs bundled with the cable boxes. There are going to be so many restrictions built into them regarding what you can record, even to the point of having self destruct timers built into some recorded programs - that it isn't going to be worth it.

These DVRs with recordable DVD drives are the way to go, the newer ones will have access to TV guide program lineups. They still have some copy restrictions in them, but at least its reasonable and the cable company or TIVO isn't re-flashing them when Jack Valente commands it.


35 posted on 02/15/2005 11:12:04 AM PST by oceanview
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To: WildTurkey
Years, anyway. Crack one open sometime - they like to surface mount all the ASICs, so you can't just yank one out of the socket, and then they cover the boards with goopy tar-like stuff, to keep people from messing with them. It's been like that for quite some time now.

It's not tamper-proof, but that's not the object. The object is to raise the barrier to keep all but the most dedicated from getting in there and messing around.

36 posted on 02/15/2005 11:13:09 AM PST by general_re ("Frantic orthodoxy is never rooted in faith, but in doubt." - Reinhold Niebuhr)
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To: True Capitalist

but the only thing the media comapnies worry about is whether that technology is easily accessible by the "masses". the average person isn't going to search the internet for software hacks and DVD player flashes, they will just swallow whatever is commercially available. if 1% of the people engage in defeating this, the media companies have achieved their goal.


37 posted on 02/15/2005 11:16:18 AM PST by oceanview
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To: Phantom Lord
Will this multi-million dollar be defeated by a 69 cent Sharpie marker as the anti-copying tech put on CDs was?

Or will it just not play on any DVD Players or Computers...

38 posted on 02/15/2005 11:19:13 AM PST by Paul C. Jesup
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To: RicocheT

bttt for later read.


39 posted on 02/15/2005 11:21:10 AM PST by RadioAstronomer
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To: RicocheT
You can't use non Region 1 DVDs

So when you burn your pirated movies onto DVD for watching on your home system, make sure you add region 1 encoding. QED.

40 posted on 02/15/2005 11:23:43 AM PST by killjoy (Michael Jackson is proof only in America can a poor black boy grow up to be a rich white woman.)
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