DVDShrink or ... ?

[Braveheart1980]

I agree 100 % with u northcat_8!!!

[Braveheart1980]

I've just looked @ the results of the poll.WoW! Dvdshrink 75% - Dvd2one 10% - Other 12% !! Quite impressive.. Seems that dvdshrink is quite qood and popular after all...

[Nilfennasion]

When they first brought out the DVD-Video format, they went with an encryption system that was quite obviously designed only to stop casual copying of the contents. The mass piracy industry of South-East Asia laughed at the DVD Consortium, and stamped out bit-for-bit copies by the palette. It is only when the studios get serious about stopping said mass piracy industry that their problems with lost revenue due to copyright infringement will be solved, and that means getting the governments of South-East Asia to cooperate.

Honestly, I can't see them discouraging determined videophiles like ourselves. Now that programs like DVDShrink and DVDDecrypter are easily available, the floodgates are open. Bringing out DL recorders is only going to make it worse for them.

[Capmaster]

When they first brought out the DVD-Video format, they went with an encryption system that was quite obviously designed only to stop casual copying of the contents. The mass piracy industry of South-East Asia laughed at the DVD Consortium, and stamped out bit-for-bit copies by the palette. It is only when the studios get serious about stopping said mass piracy industry that their problems with lost revenue due to copyright infringement will be solved, and that means getting the governments of South-East Asia to cooperate.

Honestly, I can't see them discouraging determined videophiles like ourselves. Now that programs like DVDShrink and DVDDecrypter are easily available, the floodgates are open. Bringing out DL recorders is only going to make it worse for them.

Remember way back when - the PC software industry started copy-protecting everything they sold. A popular method was intentionally damaging a sector on the floppy so it would generate an Int13, and tell the program the key floppy was inserted. DBase and Pspice did this. Easily circumvented with an Xacto knife and a dial caliper on the copy. Then they put a software counter on the disc so you had to uninstall before backing up your HD. Lotus 1-2-3 did this for a while.

Then there was a flood of hacker tools that hit the market. Every BBS had a file section where you could copy and write hex and even reproduce "damaged" sectors. There was even an aftermarket ISa card called CopyPC (I think) that circumvented copy protection at the hardware level.

Finally the software vendors gave up and instead went after the large-scale bootleggers. It had become too expensive for them to try to stay a step ahead of the hackers.

I had one of Jon Johansen's earliest releases of DeCSS - the one that got him in trouble.

Maybe DVDs will go this route once they accept the fact that there will always be hacks for their protection schemes.

[Nilfennasion]

The whole DeCSS mess could have been avoided, at least theoretically, if the DVD Consortium had realised that in order for a video format to become truly universal, they had to get their tongue out of Bill Gates' butt. Which, of course, meant implementing solutions for playback on a Linux platform, and as early as possible. DeCSS was just a case of one technically-skilled user deciding that he didn't want to have to sign his computer over to Bill Gates in order to use his own software.

Inflation is at such a level in Australia that bootlegging non-essential goods is considered a right by the average earner. When DVD-Video was first released, prices ranged from $35-40. There are some stores, such as in the area I am unfortunate enough to live in now, who think they can charge $50 for a DVD. If the MPAA really wants to stop piracy, then they should have a word with such stores to make them realise that no customer in their right mind will pay that much if they can help it. Or even if they couldn't help it in some cases.

I remember all the fuss about Product Activation when Windows XP was first released. Being just barely old enough to remember most of the schemes you describe, I often wondered if they managed to stop a single copy from being duplicated that way. As annoyances.org puts it, it was ironic that early adopters were the ones being punished the most with the PA hassle, because they were the bread and butter of the industry. What I find ironic is that they still haven't learned their lesson after all this time.

[Capmaster]

The whole DeCSS mess could have been avoided, at least theoretically, if the DVD Consortium had realised that in order for a video format to become truly universal, they had to get their tongue out of Bill Gates' butt. Which, of course, meant implementing solutions for playback on a Linux platform, and as early as possible. DeCSS was just a case of one technically-skilled user deciding that he didn't want to have to sign his computer over to Bill Gates in order to use his own software.

Inflation is at such a level in Australia that bootlegging non-essential goods is considered a right by the average earner. When DVD-Video was first released, prices ranged from $35-40. There are some stores, such as in the area I am unfortunate enough to live in now, who think they can charge $50 for a DVD. If the MPAA really wants to stop piracy, then they should have a word with such stores to make them realise that no customer in their right mind will pay that much if they can help it. Or even if they couldn't help it in some cases.

I remember all the fuss about Product Activation when Windows XP was first released. Being just barely old enough to remember most of the schemes you describe, I often wondered if they managed to stop a single copy from being duplicated that way. As annoyances.org puts it, it was ironic that early adopters were the ones being punished the most with the PA hassle, because they were the bread and butter of the industry. What I find ironic is that they still haven't learned their lesson after all this time.

Well with the industry minus one anal-retentive mouth-breather, aka Jack Valenti, maybe they will suddenly get an attack of mental health and realize that alienating potential customers is not the most effective method for boosting sales :P

[Nilfennasion]

I think it is the mentality that is holding them back. To most members of the MPAA and RIAA, it is still the 1950s where they can tell the customer how much they want them to pay. The consumer has moved on. While I support the right of the studio to be paid for bringing the artist's work to us, I certainly don't support them in making the artist's work unaffordable, which is what would happen if we somehow stopped foiling all their copy protection schemes.