No Copy Protection On New Matrix DVD
from the mixed-messages dept
The movie industry seems to be sending mixed messages lately. Last week, all the fuss was about how they wouldn't even send out DVD screeners to voters for the Academy Awards, because they were afraid that the voters would quickly upload the movies to the internet. Yet, this week, the big story is that new DVDs are being released without any copy protection at all. Last year, we wrote about how Warner Brothers was releasing some copies of the Harry Potter DVD without any copy protection as an experiment. At the time, I suggested we'd never hear how well this "experiment" worked - but it appears we now have our answer. According to the LA Times, the DVD for The Matrix Reloaded won't have copy protection either (free registration required). When the Harry Potter experiment happened, Macrovision, the makers of the DVD copy protection technology Warner Brothers normally uses, was furious. They apparently changed their license to say that if you used their copy protection on some DVDs, you had to use it on all. It looks like Warner has responded by not using it at all. Someone in the article suggests that this is just a way to squeeze a little extra margin ($0.05 per disc) out of something that's guaranteed to be a top seller. However, it does say something interesting about how the movie industry views copying of their DVDs. For all the hype and worried rants from Jack Valenti, when it comes to saving $0.05 per DVD, they're willing to ditch the copy protection.
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Squeezing the Rabble Anyway
1. TV's with photographic resolution
2. blue-laser optical discs that can store the photographic-resolution images
When such technologies arrive, people will rush to throw away their embarassing low-resolution movies. Thus, no point in squeezing consumers who are already suffering from the VHS vs. DVD dilemma. Let the rabble think that DVD's are the new standard, so they eagerly buy them up, then make them empty their wallets again on newer machines. Meanwhile, the movie industry can play the Robin Hood act by not imposing copy protection, and techies will worship their "conscience".
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Re: Squeezing the Rabble Anyway
-R.
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Other movies not copy protected
BTW, when WILL those blue-laser discs (and recorders of course too) be available, anyway? I wonder, Is it worth my time to buy DVDs, or should I wait for future technology?
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Re: Other movies not copy protected
or the Audio Cassette ?
or Vinyl ?
Or VHS ?
Mute point because technology will always advance and waiting for the future is a pointless endeavor.
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Re: Other movies not copy protected
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Re: Other movies not copy protected
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Re: Other movies not copy protected
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Are we talking Macrovision here?
RCE is copy-protection, at least it takes a few seconds to break it ;o)
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Why Steal?
That would be roughly equivilent to stealing an Open Source software product such as Linux...only stupid idiots and megolithic, has-been, dinosaur-like companies (such as The Canopy Group/SCO) would be interested in doing that. And neither are the company I'd like to keep.
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"copy control" is dead, anyway
The problem is that millions of DVD's and players have been sold, people aren't going to go for a new format for a long time, and the encryption that DVD's use has been broken. In other words, it's useless.
So we have an industry that bought and paid for the DMCA as a legal means to shore up their weak technical defenses of their content. But the law is mostly too slow to catch people copying movies.
I don't blame these companies for releasing unencrypted versions. If someone wants to decrypt the DVD's, it's easy. There's little use in trying to stop them. And if they're saving a nickel on each DVD that they sell, it's worth it.
Michael
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copy control
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