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Thursday, February 17, 2005

I Hate Macrovision
The company's RipGuard DVD, launched this week, is designed to thwart cracking programs that get around the encryption system used in standard DVDs.

Macrovision also claims a related system to be used with RipGuard can foil attempts to make analog copies of DVDs. Such copies are made by connecting a video recorder to a DVD player's video and audio output jacks, a method that previous DVD copy protection software has failed to prevent fully. DVDs fitted with the new Macrovision technology do not require new software or hardware to be played and should be compatible with nearly all existing DVD players and DVD computer drives, the company says.

Okay, so we all know that work on the better mouse has probably already started just about now as well, right?
# Permalink Posted at 2:45 PM 6 comments Email this Link

Comments on this Item:

Goodness - seems like we wouldn't even be able to make 'fair use' copies of our own DVDs. Doesn't seem very fair.

On the other hand, someone out there will certainly come up with a freeware prog that will bypass even this new encryption. I'd PayPal a few bucks to the coder who comes up with a worthy program. =)

# posted by Jason in Oregon 5:40 PM

Why don't they just do like when the betamax came out? Dosn't the movie industry get like 10 cents for every blank tape sold? Tax blank DVD's and get their millions that way.

# posted by JD 6:06 PM

JD, please don't encourage the movie industry to be able to "tax blank DVDs". The problem is that it wouldn't appease them. They would want to have it both ways, ie copyprotect AND tax. All the more money for them...

# posted by ClarkBHM 9:07 PM

Why, Bill - the Market suppports Macrovision. If the almighty Free Market decided NOT to buy Macrovision encoded products, they would fail.

America and the Western World NEED Macrovision to protect the workproduct of Hollywood from the Godless Communist Copyright-ignoring Chinese.

Anybody who says otherwise supports: terrotists, Communists, Democrats, Jon Johansen, and the forces of darkness. Why, I hear that porn could be copied and used to destroy our great nation's very Moral Fiber - Thank God for Macrovision. Even the mighty Rush wants his DVD's encoded so that free dittoes can't be made by dittoeheads....

Death to video pirates. For that matter, nobody should be buying and watching this stuff - we need to work to keep our nation strong - to pay our war debts - to save for our retirement. Every waking moment must support the homeland or we will be subverted from within by the Godless Hollywood producers - supporters of democrats - all!!!

# posted by Anonymous 4:33 AM

If I bought any DVDs with this crap on them I'd make sure to return them, post haste. If enough people did that it might get the industry's attention.

Of course this would only happen if I were actually BUYING DVDs instead of abusing Netflix...

# posted by Sir Not Appearing in this Blog 9:15 AM

The only thing beneficial about the technology is that retail stores won't have an excuse not to take back crappy software any more. If it's that well copy protected, you couldn't have possibly made a copy for yourself before you returned it.

# posted by Anonymous 9:07 PM

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