The Little DVD Driver That Could Change Movies

AnnaBlack writes "DVDSynth is a (currently prerelease) low-level driver tool that can sit between your physical DVD drive and any software that accesses it. So far so what, but the extremely clever thing about this is that it can filter the DVD data on the fly. The example applications included currently allow new subtitle sets to be provided for existing films (which could spawn a whole new activity for movie buffs!) but also a very neat little filter that will remove region codes on the fly from any DVD you play. Supplied with full sourcecode and programmers documentation." Wonder how long before this is contraband code like DeCSS.

Comments

"legal" dynamic edits

[wfmcwalter]

Perhaps (IANAL, naturally) this would enable one to perform edits to a movie legally, as no altered copy of the original work is ever instanciated.

One could distribute the edits alone online, and someone else could play their DVD filtered through that editset.

So everyone can remove the "dirty bits" of DVDs. For the right-wingers, that's kissing, nipples, evolution. For the test of us - Jar Jar.

not long at all.

[Em Emalb]

"Wonder how long before this is contraband code like DeCSS."

Based on the way things are going, I'd say not long at all. It seems once something hits /., the big guys pick up on it and [Emeril voice]BAM![/Emeril voice] Down it goes, in a fiery ball of death.

Folks, the powers that be won't sit idly by while new means of circumventing their devices gets published. the only way to defeat them is to beat them at their own game. Politics, politics, politics.

Jar-Jar?

[codexus]

So that means that we'll finally get the Episode I without Jar-Jar Binks?

filter that will remove region codes

[Alsee]

Damn terrorists.

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Re:filter that will remove region codes

[Anonymous Coward]

"If you remove the region coding from DVDs, the terrorists have already won"

Hahah.

[Xacid]

"Wonder how long before this is contraband code like DeCSS." Until it gets onto the front page of slashdot...oh wait..

contraband code like DeCSS

[dirvish]

Somebody should condense it into about 30 lines of perl code and print it on t-shirts...

future features

[Lazarus_Bitmap]

An excellent start, to be sure, but her are a few more features I'd like to see: -Automatic coherent plot insertion. To finally add a compelling story line to those lame new Star Wars movies. -Friends cast declothinator with male/female preference settings. -De-Teshinator. To overwrite awful soundtracks. -Anti-Green mode, to remove annoying bit characters like Tom Green or (as mentioned) Jar Jar Binks. -Anti-Bruckheimer mode, to remove intense close up and schaltzy slow mo scenes backed with Aerosmith songs. So many possibilities....

Re:Not so fast.

[Anonymous Coward]

So nobody will probably see this, but I'll post anyways.

This ignores the growth of virtual machines. Very few corporate programs require direct access to the hardware, Microsoft could (in the name of trustworthy computing) add restrictions to code running directly on the processor without restricting the use of code that runs on top of .NET (where these low level hacks wouldn't work).

Only software engineers?

[Andy Dodd]

I think you're being a little unfair there... ANY engineer with a screwdriver should be considered armed and dangerous to any electronics nearby.

Myself included. :)