Posted on 05/24/2007 10:43:42 AM PDT by ShadowAce
San Francisco (IDGNS) - Under a licensing agreement in its final stages, consumers may get the right to make several legal copies of HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc movies they've purchased, a concession by the movie industry that may quell criticism that DRM (digital rights management) technologies are too restrictive.
The agreement, if supported by movie studios and film companies, could allow a consumer to make a backup copy in case their original disc is damaged and another copy for their home media server, said Michael Ayers, a representative of an industry group that licenses the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) copy-prevention system.
AACS is used on HD DVD and Blu-ray discs, the new high-definition DVD formats, to prevent unauthorized copying of the discs.
The concept, called "managed copy," would undercut one the strongest arguments against DRM technology, which critics say deprives buyers of their legal right to fair uses such as moving their content to other digital systems and devices.
The licensing agreement is under negotiation between the AACS Licensing Adminstrator, which Ayers represents, and companies using AACS technology, including film makers. AACS LA members include Sony, IBM, The Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros., and Microsoft.
AACS LA is pushing the studios to support managed copy and offer consumers the option of making at least one copy, Ayers said.
"We want to be able to maximize the number of movies that are able to be offered," he said.
The idea is that the content companies could charge a premium according to how many copies are allowed, Ayers said. It remains a possibility that consumers, if given the chance to make three copies of "Spider-man 2" could give those copies to their neighbors, which technically would qualify as low-volume piracy.
But AACS LA believes that movie studios will see higher sales with the managed copy option, even with the chance it could be abused, Ayers said. "Studios will have to take that into account when they select pricing," Ayers said.
On the technology side, a system of servers, run by the studios or third parties, could enable the authorization of copies. Newly minted discs could be prevented from further copying by employing DRM technology from companies such as Microsoft, Ayers said.
AACS LA is now working out what rights studios and film companies would have under the complex licensing agreement. "We are optimistic that the studios will see this as a benefit that will drive sales," Ayers said.
I wish them luck with that, none the less, what I do with my property is my business, as long as I don’t go giving it away to people.
If I’m going to pay that inflated price for a DVD, I should have the ability to keep a copy on my laptop for when I go on trips and don’t feel like carrying around my DVDs.
What choice did they have, the technology has already been compromised. People are already ripping their Blue-ray and HD-DVD disks to their hard drive.
Or an extra copy or two for when the kids decide to play Frisbee with your DVDs or use a couple of them as skates on a hard floor(mine have done this).
Is there a way to write these files,bit-for-bit,to an HDDVD-R or BD-R?
LOL - skates. That’s one I haven’t heard of yet.
No, thanks. I don’t want DRM on my discs any more than I want ‘Printed Rights Management’ on my paper-and-ink books.
There should be, but I am not ready to invest $750 into buying a burner for my PC to find out.
I think that should be possible... CloneDVD does something like that.
It’s not DRM, it’s “Digital Consumer Enablement.” At least that euphemism was one pathetic industry idea in the attempt at quelling the consumer anger over the anti-consumer and anti-rights restrictions commonly found in DRM schemes.
A little bit of light shines through, finally. But this would have better been done if the Copyright Office would just get a clue (they have shown they are clueless) and add circumventing in the exercise of Fair Use to the DMCA exceptions.
This is a lame attempt at compromise. It will change nothing. Those who rip and distribute videos will continue to do so whether they have title to 1 legal copy or three. Most users have little interest or knowledge of the technology involved with copying, ripping, burning etc., and so would not make extra copies even if they were legally entitled to 3. That’s my opinion, anyway.
That is not and has never been the industry's problem, and they waste their time and money when they focus on it. It's the high-volume pirates - many behind the unbreachable walls of China - that pose the problem.
You might be right; the idea might have finally gotten through their thick skulls that the tighter they try to hold on (through restrictive DRM, anti-copy crap) the more slips through their fingers. They're not losing money on illegal copies; they're losing money on costly encryption schemes that keep getting broken.
My young son apparently thinks they're quite tasty given all the tooth marks on my DVDs.
Notice they depend upon their Microsoft to be their useful idiot to make sure consumers have as few rights as possible.
That is not and has never been the industry’s problem, and they waste their time and money when they focus on it.
-Buy Season Two.
-Buy their own copy of Season One.
-Subscribe to HBO.
-Buy a HD player.
-Buy a better TV.
-Consequently, build a larger video collection of their own.
Seems like a reasonable compromise.
Let me guess. This story is false.
Managed copy is a good idea, to help Blu-ray. First off, hddvd needs to just die off. Sorry fans, but lets just unite behind the 50gig and more stupid/CES option.
Then, lets see how this goes. The PS3 just got a MAJOR upgrade last night that turns it into one of the best DVD upconverting players there is, and improved even the Blu-ray playback with high-end white/black level enhancement.
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