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.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    dorpus, 16 Oct 2003 @ 1:00am

    Squeezing the Rabble Anyway

    Perhaps the movie industry, in cahoots with electronics makers, figures that the current generation of DVD's with red lasers will soon be replaced by:

    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".


    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Rick, 16 Oct 2003 @ 6:02am

      Re: Squeezing the Rabble Anyway

      Macrovision hasn't stopped DVDs from propogating online so far, so perhaps the $0.05 savings/DVD is just smart business sense. The pirates will figure out a way regardless, so why bother? Makes sense to me.
      -R.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Newob, 16 Oct 2003 @ 6:04am

    Other movies not copy protected

    Lord of the Rings: Fellowship, and Two Towers, aren't copy-protected either. But I didn't tell you that.

    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?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      AMetamorphosis, 16 Oct 2003 @ 7:44am

      Re: Other movies not copy protected

      Should you have waited @ the 8 track ?
      or the Audio Cassette ?
      or Vinyl ?
      Or VHS ?
      Mute point because technology will always advance and waiting for the future is a pointless endeavor.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Bruce, 22 Dec 2003 @ 6:13pm

      Re: Other movies not copy protected

      I just tried to copy Lord of the Rings Fellowship and the Towers...no luck, says they are protected

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • Re: Other movies not copy protected

        I have a suggestion, i have found that older magnavox and fisher vcr's will record the colorstripe, but when you play the movie on another vcr like sony the copy is clear and can be copied again to another tape to the vcr that did the original recording so copy at sp, then whatever speed after that.. the magnavox or phillips magnavox have to have all 3 speeds to work, the 2 speed models have copy protection agc circuitry.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          wayne, 8 Mar 2004 @ 5:59pm

          Re: Other movies not copy protected

          i need to word my last rephrain. i have found that older magnavox, philips magnavox and fisher vcr's will record the agc without any distortion, but will have the colorstripe effect. however when you play the tape on another machine, the color stripe dissapears and is perfectly fine. then i would suggest using that tape in another machine and make copies on the machine that did the original recording. i reccommend the master tape be in sp. the vcr's have to have the lp recording speed to record the dvd without flashing, if it has only sp and slp speeds, it will only work as a monitor and once the record button is engaged the agc circuit pops on. I hope this will clear up the first response.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 16 Oct 2003 @ 9:29am

    Are we talking Macrovision here?

    I don't see that as copy protection - hey all that does is prevent you copying a DVD to VHS, jees, why do that when you can copy it to DVD-R?

    RCE is copy-protection, at least it takes a few seconds to break it ;o)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    LittleW0lf, 16 Oct 2003 @ 12:15pm

    Why Steal?

    What self respecting hacker would steal Matrix Reloaded anyway? It is such a good movie that I, and just about every other hacker I know, stood in line at Circuit City with our $14.95 in hand to pick it up the first day it was on the shelves. (Not that I steal movies anyway, I'd much rather buy the good ones and not waste my time with the not so good ones, since time is better spent coding.)

    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.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Michael Chaney, 16 Oct 2003 @ 1:45pm

    "copy control" is dead, anyway

    First, a clarification. What they call "copy control" is actually "content encryption". The encryption does nothing, nor can it, do deter copying.

    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

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    John, 26 Dec 2006 @ 7:20am

    copy control

    Back in the 60s the auto & truck rental companies decided to save millions by no longer putting hidden odometers on their rented vehicles because studies showed that there were not enough dishonest people out there to justify the extra cost of catching them. Maybe the same is true for the entertainment industry.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    rucus, 24 Nov 2010 @ 1:37am

    Thanks dude, this is really nice info, much appreciated.share you a cool dvd copy software for mac

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.