RE:

POSTED BY: Howard
UPDATED: Thursday, October 27, 2005 22:50
VIEWED: 10000
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HOWARD

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 10:53 PM

Now that all the major studios have announced that they will release films on both high-def DVD formats this marks the death-nail for HD-DVD. SONY Blu-Ray is already the clear winner with the PLAYSTATION machines due to put BLU-RAY into the hands of so many young people who will then be hooked as BLU-RAY consumers. On the AV/HomeCinema front SONY's Blu-Ray is clearly the far superior quality format and this is also why the games people want it, more data better graphics.

But there is something very sinister about the new version of DVD. The leading reason why Rupert Murdoch's NEWS CORP aka FOX endorsed BLU-RAY is due to the technology that assures anti-piracy
and command control of both your player and the
discs that you will put into the player. The current system of region coding is to be dropped.
This is because it has not stopped any of us from watching what we want from where we want. This is due to ALL change. BLU-RAY players will be connected to a phone-line. SONY has not admitted this to the consumer press but in the business press the guys from FOX have made it clear that this is what they want and why they decided to go with BLU-RAY.

Take myself as an example I live in the UK but buy my movies ( of all national origins and languages ) from North America because I want my movies running at their correct speed. North American technology runs at 60HZ while European technology runs at 50hz speeding up movies by 4%.

There is NO way I would ever be able to enjoy a 60hz movie on BLU-RAY because the system will insist that I am only authorized to play European product and the European phone-line clearance centre will only authorize my would-be player to play European issued discs. The reason why Murdoch backed SONY is that the remote command and control will have the capability to locked down and shut off any player perceived to be attempting an "illegal action".

You will not be able to watch say your DVD of SERENITY in BLU-RAY without going through a clearance procedure. They will of course spin this to be an amazing expansion of the format with bonus materials on websites that you will only be able to unlock via your BLU-RAY machine. They will tell you all the "benefits" while in reality it is about one thing and one thing only. Total control.

The studios and retailers will not say anything about this until as late as possible. Until they have managed to establish a beach-head for the same kind of audacity that exists in the PC market. Where no matter who makes your PC or that you own it, when you bring it home from the store or default back to factory setting, nothing works until you registered with MicroSoft. Ever tried clicking "I disagree" on one of those grey boxes?
Ever tried using your PC after saying no. This is the model the movie business is seeking to replace the existing DVD format with.

FEEDBACK PEOPLE: LET's Talk about this!

KRYCIS

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 11:01 PM

Until I hear/read/see anything conclusive, I'll be keeping my tinfoil wrapped around leftovers instead of on my head. Anyway... I highly doubt they'll have any queer dial-in authorization process, every product (beyond home security) I know of has moved away from it.

HOWARD

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 11:09 PM

(CENSORED FOR ALLEGED DUBIOUS CLAIM).
...I am telling you that NEWS CORP who own Fox
have made it perfectly clear this is what they
want and why they backed SONY.

As I have stated they will not reveal this
aspect until they have achieved a foot hold
among the more go-along type consumers.

All aspects of home entertainment ARE going
this direction. The IS the big corporate plan.

You can make ridiculing remarks but you need to
understand the technology exists to constantly
update the codes so no hacking device will be
able to over-come it.

This is the future that the mega-corps want to
impose but of course if the consumers say NO!
they'll have to eat it!!

MOHRSTOUTBEARD

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 11:27 PM

I've read about all about this prior, on The Digital Bits, but it's good to know that the word is getting out to them as need it told.

I think region encoding has always been a bit bollocks, frankly, but at least there were easy ways to circumvent it. But the thing these companies fail to realize is: what if something isn't available in a certain region? A year or so ago, I bought Spaced from Amazon.co.uk, because it's only available in Region 2.

The way things are currently heading, this might be impossible in the future. With control of my player wrested violently from my hands, I would be forced to retreat to the seedy underbelly of the Intertron to download my fill of British comedy, just to stick it to the Man. Of course, in this hypothetical situation, I'd probably divy up the price of the DVD and send a little bit to Simon Pegg, Jessica Stevenson, et. al. through clandestine means, but, obviously, this just illustrates the silliness of the whole situation.

Tycho over at Penny Arcade wrote a good news post recently regarding software anti-piracy measures, and how they only end up messing with the consumer, rather than the pirate (yarr), and I think it applies to pretty much any media:

Quote:
Someone needs to emphasize this in such a way that the right people see it: people who pirate software enjoy cracking it. The game itself is orders of magnitude less amusing. And their distributed ingenuity will smash your firm, secure edifice into beach absolutely every Goddamn time. There are no exceptions to this rule.

I think the only people this copy protection jazz is going to hurt is the consumers. Besides the inanity of region encoding, the idea that the studios might have physical control over your player is kind of creepy, anyway.

------------------
"Remember, there's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over."

KRYCIS

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 11:30 PM

Regardless of your dubious background and current employment, I will not be "scared" into a knee-jerk "ZOMG!" reaction. If you have such solid proof that we're going to be dialing in for permission to watch movies for you to post on a back-water fansite, pony up the data. Show us tech specs, or product white papers. Until then, your "theory" is half-baked and anyone with any amount of common sense will leave you to your wiles.

MOHRSTOUTBEARD

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 11:37 PM

Howard's not pulling it out of nowhere. He may be going about it a bit heavy-handed, but it's been talked about and pretty well known on a lot of reputable sites, so there's no need to be so snarky.

From the 9/9/05 update on The Digital Bits:

Quote:
Interestingly, one of the reported reasons that Blu-ray Disc went with a more restrictive copy-protection scheme than just Advanced Access Content System (AACS) is that it only allows for revoking hacked encryption keys on software-based players - not set-top, stand-alone hardware. HD-DVD uses only AACS, while Blu-ray Disc has added the Self-Protecting Digital Content (SPCD) system (which verrifys "the integrity of both the disc and the hardware before playback" and presumably allows the remote disabling of either if said "integrity" is compromised). There are also other content-protection schemes being discussed, including one that would allow future DVD players to recognize watermarks imbedded in the video image of camcorder-pirated theatrical films (and presumably refuse to play burned discs containing such content). It's a fascinating editorial, and it illustrates a concern we've had here at The Bits about these new formats for a while now.

Look... the need for Hollywood to protect its film and TV content from PROFESSIONAL video pirates is undeniable, particularly as better and better quality video is encoded on the discs. But what about your average, well-meaning consumer? Just how intrusive are these measures going to be on the fair use of that content by the rest of us... those of us who AREN'T criminals? That remains to be seen. Also yet to be seen is how willing the studios and manufacturers are going to be to offer consumers guarantees and protections against the excessive or unwarranted use of these copy-protection measures. It's worth being concerned about, lest these new formats turn out to be just another version of Circuit City's Divx, where the industry has as much control over your players and discs as YOU do, even after you've opened your wallets and purchased them. The last thing WE want is yet another scheme where players monitor our viewing habits and report them back to the studios, and where we end up having to rent DVDs from our own purchased collections. Or worse, a system where some of your movie discs (if their encryption keys have been hacked by pirates) can be revoked without your knowledge, so they no longer play normally. In other words, discs you've already paid for and legally own can be made coasters, with no guarantee of replacement, all though no fault of your own. You can bet we'll be watching this issue closely in the months ahead.

It may turn out to be nothing, but then again, it may not.

------------------
"Remember, there's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over."

KRYCIS

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 11:54 PM

The reason for any snark is purely his heavy-handedness. I have fully envisioned future anti-piracy moving toward tighter controls, but as I stated previously...there are no "check as you go" security formats that have lasted long--as your article points out with CC's Divx. There is no need to fearmonger.

In other words, we're not a herd of mugs. We vote with cash.

HOWARD

Wednesday, October 26, 2005 12:10 AM

It is most interesting how I am somehow
"dubious" when I am one of the few if only
person who identifies himself by my actual
name on this site. How interesting it is
that you feel more loathing toward me than
toward the corporations in the attempt of
trying this on.

Who the bloody hell are you anyway?

It may well be that SONY/NEWS CORP etc
are eager to con the public into this
situation. But if they fail they'll just
tell retailers to punch a code into the
player freeing it up and future players
will work as existing DVD players do.

I do not see why I am being heavy handed.
I was just telling it like it is and giving
some examples.

FEARMONGERING has nothing to do with it!!!

There is a difference between raising an issue
for discussion and fearmongering.

As I stated this situation already exists with
the PC. MICROSOFT knows every website that you
have ever visited via your PC.

They know your cookie!

HOWARD

Wednesday, October 26, 2005 12:16 AM

MOHRSTOUTBEARD

Thank you for your articulate and thouhtful
response. Yes you are correct. It just hurts
consumers. In theory it could wreck DVD which
would hurt them too. So the control freakery is
quite mad.

Are they pushing us toward the WEB?

In a few years 60mgb broadband will be common
place. Capable of HD downloading.

I still prefer a nice prerecorded disc with
the packaging though.

I think they want to end cost of physical
manufacturing. An iMovies version of iTunes
means no production. Fewer jobs. A far worse
economy.

HOWARD

Wednesday, October 26, 2005 12:28 AM

Like with any issue the future can be altered
from some mad corporation's plan. If we reject
it they'll have to change it.

HD DVD also works this way. But if the HD DVD
camp (who are now losing the war before the
first battle) were smart they could make this
their campaign issue. They could dumb external
control and launch a ad-prop campaign about
their competitor's system.

In my opinion this is the only strategy that
the HD DVD camp has left but I doubt if they
will use it. They were planning the same but
they could change track and be the format that
respects the consumers privacy and rights.

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