Can someone determine if you ripped a movie?

[X-treme]

As silly as this may sound, is there any way for a movie company such as Blockbuster to 'read' their dvd's and determine if they have been copied?

In other words, when you copy the data/media from the movie from your burner, does it alter the dvd movie at all? Or is it just reading the movie as a 'normal' dvd player.

I just thought i'd ask. Never knew the answer

Thanks

[ZippyP.]

Simple answer...Nope. It's just reading it like any other DVD player.

[mats.hogberg]

No. Ripping is the same as playing, and neither action can be retrieved from the original.

/Mats

[Jayhawk]

No, even though copying Blockbuster rented movies is illegal and could result in arrest or fines, Blockbuster (or anyone else) cannot tell whether a movie has been copied from the original to your hard drive. The original is a "finalized read-only DVD" and cannot be written to by your burner.

They could tell a copy from the original, but not whether the original has been copied.

[X-treme]

Thanks.

The only reason I asked is because I hear about all the time, but I thought some how that companies could 'read' their movies to determine if they were copied.

But if someone were to decrypt a movie as I have read, that 'finalized read-only DVD' is no longer 'read-only'?

I guess I should have asked that first. That's why I thought someone could determine if it's been copied because it has been 'decrypted'?

[Jayhawk]

X-treme, I might have misunderstood. Just so we're clear. If you make a copy of an encrypted movie (Blockbuster) you can tell if the COPY is a COPY because it would have no encryption. The original remains the same, the copy is different now and can be identified as a copy.

Is that what you needed.

[X-treme]

Jayhawk, Thanks for helping out.

That all makes sense now.

I was confusing myself for nothing.

I believed that after you decrypted any movie that the original is somehow altered because you broke that 'seal', and therefore can be traced, and determined that it had been copied.

[FulciLives]

Jayhawk, Thanks for helping out.

That all makes sense now.

I was confusing myself for nothing.

I believed that after you decrypted any movie that the original is somehow altered because you broke that 'seal', and therefore can be traced, and determined that it had been copied.

The stuff of science fiction and most probably the happy dreams of those at the MPAA but of course this can't be done.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Supreme2k]

They can tell if you've ripped a movie. I used to work at Blockbuster, and there is a bit written to the Blockbuster discs called "seamless I.D.".

The way it works is that normal players have a very light laser, since it is merely reading the disc. When you rip a disc, the laser has to intensify, so the sensitive bit is destroyed. Once that bit it destroyed, the disc can be checked in the specially made Blockbuster player to see if it has been ripped. Employees are required to check each disc to make sure that they are not being pirated. This is fairly new technology. Netflix does not have this (yet).




Famous Latin proverb:
norom eurt si evoba eht fo enon

[powaking]

So you mean to tell me if I watch a movie from Blockbuster on my PC then they can determine that I'm pirating a movie? Hmm, wonder how they can determine that. Even if you just use a DVD-ROM drive?

[garryheather]

Bloody hell.

[duhmez]

norom eurt si evoba eht fo enon

Good one, LMAO.

[Sugar]

Supreme2K, you are a funny guy

Actually, it is not the laser intensity that changes, it is one of santa's dwarf that makes the disk spin in your DVD writer, that does it. If he sees that you put an original movie in your driver, he then checks if a ripper software is being used to read the disk. If so, he licks the disk in the middle leaving a special dye with his saliva. All that Blockbuster needs to do is to put the disk under a special ultra red light to detect any mark of saliva.
The good news is that the dwarf dries up after licking too many DVDs. The number of lick depends on the brand of your DVD recorder and the quality the media. The better the media, the longer the dwarf will live.

To shorten the life of the dwarf, try to buy cheap dvds, that are normally made of poor quality media, and copy all of them. My dwarf dried up after 10 copies of cheap stuff.

[ricky1756]

I read that netflix embeds a tiny microchip in their movies. It can sense the different intensity of the laser. When it senses a dvd being ripped it sends an alarm to netflix, who then give the name of the dvd renter to the mpaa. Have you seen strange guys in sunglasses hanging around your neighborhood lately?

[holistic]

Magnus frater spectat te...

[FulciLives]

Magnus frater spectat te...

Did you just make this up or is it something real like LATIN?

[ZippyP.]

Did a search:

Magnus frater spectat te
Big Brother is watching you

[handyguy]

People who get a zillion dvds from BB do get attention sometimes.

[SLICK RICK]

Did a search:

Magnus frater spectat te
Big Brother is watching you

ZippyP,

What site did you go to, to translate that?

SLICK RICK

[ZippyP.]

What site did you go to, to translate that?

Found it here.

[Defcon]

Dude....

Blockbuster cannot accuse anyone of that because it is not illegal to use your pc to play/read DVD's (Regardless of laser strength)

I am not saying I know the dynamics of the laser beam in my DVD burner, But I have my doubts that the laser produces a "stronger" beam to decrypt a DVD....

Actually what I hear they are doing is putting in a "secret code" in the encryption that acts like spyware on your pc, and sends your IP information to their HQ. Your DVD backup tools cannot recognize this and even the best spyware removal tools and firewalls are unable to detect it or stop it !!!!

[Sifaga]

Funny Post this one

[Roundabout]

There's also some paranoid people that have used DVDXCopy Express - because of the fact it connects to the internet before you can make a copy and sends your IP and registration info to 321 Studios. They claim it's to prevent pirated copies of their software from being used, but others are more suspicious...

Read this thread from Afterdawn forum for more info.

[bdf24]

Yeah and the CIA has camera's hidden in all TV's and monitors! And also have your PC and phone lines tapped. So they know what your doing anyway right?

[Alan69]

Yes they can see you from your monitor, might want to pull up your pants a bit..




Also note that most normal renters will tend to rent a good movie a second time now and then. Someone who has no duplicate rentals with lots of use stands out noticably over those that have a small percentage of dupes.

Alan

[LanEvo7]

I don't think the underpaid employee at your local blockbuster gives *hit regarding what you do with movie you rented.

[jimmalenko]

Simple answer: No. Any DVD once pressed or burnt is Read Only.

[Supreme2k]

The reason this thread was started is because X-Treme wants to know if people can find out when he pirates rental DVDs. He does not want to purchase DVDs that he enjoys enough to keep, but does not want to suffer any consequences.

[jimmalenko]

The reason this thread was started is because X-Treme wants to know if people can find out when he pirates rental DVDs. He does not want to purchase DVDs that he enjoys enough to keep, but does not want to suffer any consequences.

Yep, that about does it.

[offline]

Blockbuster Australia is installing a new system in agreement with MGM
and Times Warner where high levels of single hires are flagged and placed in a special database at the Austrasian Video Securities Office.
Indvidual employees can also report any unusual activity they see.

Once collected, the data is to be pair-matched with other government
databases and the resulting target list to be sent to the AVSCO's enforcement arm - the men in black.

This trial, if successful, will lead to a similar system being installed
in the United States before January 2005.


antecursoris A06 aequo basilicus