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MPAA Finds First Actual DVD Copiers in U.S.
MattW writes: "Yahoo! is reporting that the first pirate DVD bust has occurred. Funny, isn't it, how the pirates don't need to crack any encryption to make copies of DVDs, but we have to ban DeCSS anyhow?"
DeCSS *IS* used for lots of DVD pirating. Just not through garages full of burners. And the article says that lots of the DVDs weren't released on DVD yet anyway, which means they were just a bunch of guys using Cams or Screeners from the 'net and burning them onto DVD. Lets face it, DVDs are incredibly easy to rip, and movies are even easier to rip without ever even touching the DVD format, thanks to the internet. What the MPAA needs to do is... Well, I don't know. There aren't any simple answers!
Austin is more fun than Dallas.
While I don't know the specifics of it, if they were burning these DVDs using computer equipment, it is likely that they were burning single layer DVDs, which would mean, given that almost every commercial DVD produced is dual-layer, that they must have pulled the original media, compressed it further to fit in 1/2 the space, and then burned that. If that is the case then it is an inferior copy. The other option is that they either used a two-sided disc, or put the movie on two discs, but either of those options is inferior from a convenience perspective (i.e. having to flip/swap the disc like old sk00l laser discs).
I could be wrong though. Is there such a thing as a dual-layer burner?
I used to get quite a few of these on video, and they were always indivdually coded, so that they could be identified in the event of duplication. They also had a monstrously annoying tendency to put a big "this is a sampler" message all over the screen every fifteen minutes.
Course, if you're getting to see the movie/tv series/whatever months ahead of everyone else, you tend not to complain too much.
No - you're talking about CD-R copies which someone could come with a cam and records the film straight from the screen - in those cases the movie will be spread either in VCD or DivX format...
In this case it looks like it's a byte-by-byte copy, which means of-course a full digital copy including the CSS copy protection info.
Hetz (Heunique)
The proper attribution is clearly written at the top of the article as seen on Yahoo. The story originated from John Borland at CNET News.com. That is who should be given credit for the story, not Yahoo. And you might have actually linked to the original article so that the originating site - a source of many /. discussions - could have realized a little revenue from the referrals. Nothing wrong with Yahoo, it's a very convenient place to find stuff from all over, but very little of the written content there is original to them.
Here is the article at the original publisher's site. Ironically, as I am looking at it right now, the accompanying advertisement is about a CD Burner sale at Gateway.
And of course, the article fails to mention that the LOTR and Ali bootlegs were videotaped in the theater, and that is why they were available before the movies were released on video or DVD. It always amazes me that the MPAA chicken-littles allow us to assume that most of the piracy problem is due to their own insiders bootlegging stuff before it is released. You'd think they'd want to make sure we all knew that this stuff was bootlegged with a camcorder in the movie theatre, not ripped off the production line by one of their own.
Edith Keeler Must Die
I've bought a few pirated VHS tapes while in NYC, mostly out of curiosity if they can actually get stuff that far before it gets released, and it was always some guy in a theater with a camcorder.
"Wholly inferior" is a pretty fair statement.
Actually a lot of movie theaters nowadays use digital projectors, the movie comes on some sort of *gasp* digital media. Who operates the projector? People who more often than not like tech toys. It would take them a couple days to rip a theatrical quality movie to a DivX. :-)
Screeners. Copies of the movies are now often sent in DVD format for review.
There is a 2CD DivX of such a copy of LotR floating 'round the net. The quality of this DivX is excellent (much better than most DVD rips, so I assume that the source material is DVD)
B.t.w. To the MPAA and other interested parties: I've seen LotR twice in the cinema, and yes, I will be buying the DVD when it comes out! The fact that I have access to a DivX rip doesn't change that!
Could someone please explain to me how a digital copy could be "wholly inferior" to the original media?
;)
Two issues I can think of, these commonets particularly apply to the unreleased movies:
- They were probably filmed with a camera in a theatre, possibly with a few heads of other viewers in the picture, plus some coughing and random cell-phones ringing, audience reactions, etc. So, it may be a "digital recording" but it is digital to analog to analog to digital.
- Doing a good master of a DVD is an art-form in itself. I am pretty sure these pirate films do not have 5.1 sound, anamorphic video, or any of the other things that make a good mastering really look and sound awesome. That takes access to the digital source, some really nice gear, alot of time and some very skilled engineers. This is probably not as noticeable on a $100 player and 10 year old TV, but VERY noticeable on a nice player, 5.1 sound, and digital 16:9 TV. Heck, even some commercial releases get re-released with new mastering done as the original was weak and the movie is popular. (Note: and they feel they can get diehards to buy a second copy).
This is one of the reasons they are so freaked out about DECSS, as it allows for a pure copy with all the original quality included (a bit for bit digital copy). Now don't mistake my comments as backing up the MPAA, they could greatly reduce the pirate market by dropping prices and eliminating region codes.....but this is why they freak out about it.
So, yes, I would agree, the pirate copies are almost certainly WAY inferior to a commercial DVD release of a movie. Not even comparable even.
There is a third reason: That is what the MPAA PR guys are supposed to say.
The only athletic sport I ever mastered was backgammon - Douglas William Jerrold
I posted this in a previous DVD thread:
www.cdrecordable.com
$2 blank DVD's.
Once again, not affiliated with them at all. Just a business I have had good luck with.
$2 for a blank DVD, vs. anywhere from $10 - $30 for a store-bought one. I'd say there's a market, sadly.
Chris
The blurb linking to the article makes a reference to DeCSS and how it didn't have to be cracked to copy the movies... says who?
:) hehe.
There's nothing in the article about HOW the movies were ripped. If you visit a site like vcdHelp you can get all the information and software you need to blow past DeCSS and make VCDs, SVCDS, and DVDs at all kinds of quality levels. As long as you have the media to burn to, you can rip and convert those movies easily (but you're still breaking through DeCSS).
In fact by reading the article and seeing reference to movies that are stil in theatres or haven't been released, if we knew the source then it would be easier to divine the method of duplication.
If it leaks from the studio pre-copy-protection, I guess copying would be a cinch. If they taped it at a theatre, then you go back to vcdhelp, and with Vdub, TMPGEnc, and other tools you could custom create the dvd easily. Same with if it was post-copy-protection.
So unless they got it before protection was implemented, I think it would be safe to assume DeCSS bypass tools were used. But then again, assumption got us this story
(not that I recommend going in to this business...)
3 26050 for $4k. Buy one.
v 47gb.html for $250. Buy ten of them.
In traditional Slashdot fashion, I will now pull some prices out of my ass (sorry, that would be the Internet) and will "do the math."
The entry cost is not high. Less than $7k to profit.
Here's a DVD dupe machine with a 100-disc hopper: http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.asp?EDC=
Here's a spindle of 100 DVDs http://shop.store.yahoo.com/spectraimpex1/100pacd
Now load your dupe machine once a day for ten days.
Pick up the DVDs when finished and sell them to your dealers for $700/spindle. (they will then be resold at $10-$15/each, a very healthy profit for a street vendor.)
You have just paid for the DVD dupe machine and have made $500. You probably invested twenty hours in buying the hardware, setting it up, testing, and smoking pot with your dealers.
From now on, for every 5 hours you invest in buying and burning another 100 copies, you'll make $450. Not bad, eh?
The getting busted and going to jail part might suck, but you can get around this by doing the duping in a friendly environment. Of course friendly environments sometimes take a little away from the bottom line, but booze is cheaper in those places anyway.
Cheers,
JB
I could be wrong though. Is there such a thing as a dual-layer burner?
;)
To my knowledge, such a beast should not be possible.
Commercial dual-layer discs are made by "burning" (actually pressing) two separate layers and then glueing them together with a special adhesive that will allow the light through. One layer clearly has to be semitransparent (no pun intended) so that the laser can read the second layer.
In order to "burn" a dual-layer disc, you'd need to have a laser that would puncture the lower layer during the burning process, but leave the top layer intact. Then a second pass would be required to burn the top layer without damaging the lower layer. I can't believe that would be stable, if such a thing is even possible.
The other option would be to burn two layers and then glue them together. Right. That's gonna work
Sancho
-Craig
Corollary to Clarke's Third Law: Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
Actually this is entirely possible. If the two layers of the disk react to different wavelengths you can easily burn the two layers..
Tom
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
Okay. So how do you propose we set up a serious fund that gets the politicians into our pockets? Consider:
"with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
No but they do need to find writable DVD blanks which can be used. All commercially available DVD blanks must have a 'dead-area' on them which cannot be written to (much like the vendor ID area on CD-Rs). Unfortunately this area corresponds directly to the location of the encrypted disk-keys on a DVD so even if you did a bit-for-bit copy, you would have an encrypted disk but no encrypted keys.
Rich