Protective Mechanisms To Stop Copying DVD

Movie producers have greatly benefited from the evolution of modern technology. It enabled them to create commercially successful movies using the latest in technology to incorporate special digital effects saving them not only money and other physical resources but also, money. Recently, however, the same technology paved way for actions that threaten the entertainment industry, as a whole. In particular, copying DVD or DVD piracy has been a cause of concern for many industry movers.

Presently, the DVD has become more popular as the chosen format for copies of distributed movies or television show episodes compared to the CD because of its bigger data capacity. Because of this, a DVD can typically store seven times more data than an ordinary CD. Likewise, it provides better horizontal resolution that leads to superior picture quality. The problem concerning copying DVD rose due to the availability of software or computer applications that made it possible for people to copy copyrighted DVD content to blank discs or to certain Internet sites where they can be downloaded for free.

Anticipating the need to protect the copyright of commercially distributed movies and other entertainment programs, copy protection mechanisms have been set in place years ago. These are implemented to inhibit consumers from copying DVD or compact discs (CDs), especially those that are commercially distributed. Copy protection schemes may differ on how they are presented but most of them rely on the premise that CDs or DVDs not complying with certain standards will have playback problems on certain devices. Devices, also called “medium”, which read DVD or CD data, are normally installed upon manufacture, a feature that will allow them to distinguish whether a material is protected or unprotected. Copyright protection mechanisms may take the form of among others, dummy files, physical errors, bad sectors and others. The Content Scrambling System (CSS) and the Content Protection for Pre-recorded Media (CPPM), in particular, are two copy protection mechanisms that are used to prevent users from making digital copies of commercial movies and audio albums. Copying DVD tools are not capable of reproducing material from protected discs as certain information such as decryption keys and album identifiers will be required to gain access of the protected zones in the disc.

Much to the dismay of television networks Hollywood studios, these mechanisms may no longer be as effective as before. Copying DVD technology has taken a boost since a code that can break through the Content Scrambling System (CSS) copy protection technology was posted online some years ago. This code, labelled as DeCSS, had been the subject of legal battles between software companies and Hollywood studios. Despite winning the lawsuits which resulted to the prohibition of making these tool accessible to consumers, these copying DVD tools are still distributed through peer-to-peer network and online. Likewise, at present, it is already possible, and convenient for any television viewer to make copies of shows that are being broadcasted and upload them, making them accessible to a larger audience. This compromises future profits from sales of DVDs and foreign programming licensing.

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