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RFID To Track Play of DVDs And CDs?

jayp00001 writes, "A Taiwan-based maker of DVDs and CDs for major studios is about to begin putting RFID chips in disks. The eventual aim is for DVD and CD players equipped with an RFID reader to prevent copied or out-of-region disks from being played."

13 of 237 comments (clear)

  1. What a bargain by LividBlivet · · Score: 3, Informative

    Costs more, does less.

    1. Re:What a bargain by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Informative

      Costs more, does less.

      Sony ... is that you?

      Seriously, I've always told my friends to steer away from name-brand dvd players for exactly that reason. My supposedly crappy Apex is region-free out of the box, plays everything I can throw at it, and "just works". Other brands that my friends and relatives bought AFTER I WARNED THEM NOT TO just don't.

      And when I go "I told you so" they go "yeah, but its a name brand and it costs more. It SHOULD work better."

      People don't listen. The worst part ... when their name brand unit dies ... AND THEY DO IT AGAIN! Rrrrr! (And its not even Talk Like A Pirate Day until tomorrow)

  2. Warning Label by celardore · · Score: 4, Informative

    As long as they include a warning label on the CD case (like the 'copy protected' ones), so we can choose not to buy it that will be fine.

  3. Re:If it won't play in my DVD player, it's not a D by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    HD DVD doesn't have region encoding YET, but they're planning to add it via firmware update.

  4. Article at ArsTechnica doubts if it will work by Krishna+Dagli · · Score: 4, Informative
  5. Re:Aluminum foil over the RFID detector? Burn a co by gigne · · Score: 2, Informative

    yeah, that should do it.

    A place I worked at a couple years ago had problems with people "deactivating" the RFID tags on sales tags using a similar device to a bulk eraser. As long as you can induce sufficient current to destroy the aerial traces, or the silicon you are fine. I don't think it would do much for any electronics nearby though. The CD should be fine!

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  6. Re:what about backups? by Petrushka · · Score: 2, Informative
    What happens when I try to legally copy my DVD (for backup purposes)?

    Then you're in violation of the DMCA and may well be arrested. Have you been asleep for the last six years?

  7. Re:Aluminum foil over the RFID detector? Burn a co by gigne · · Score: 2, Informative

    The RFID destroyer would be no larger than a small matchbox. There is no need for a MASSIVE (as in size) electromagnet, only a small, strong, directed em pulse.

    The RFID-Zapper project uses a camera flash coil to induce enough current in the aerial to kill the silicon. I have tested something similar using a CCFL backlight inverter coil.

    RFID-Zapper

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  8. Re:If it won't play in my DVD player, it's not a D by Zontar_Thing_From_Ve · · Score: 3, Informative

    On another, rather important, note, they mention it for HD-DVD. HD-DVD doesn't even _have_ region encoding, so they can't tell me the disc is from the wrong one; that's why I want HD-DVD rather than Blu-Ray.

    This statement needs to be changed to say that HD-DVD doesn't have region encoding now. The fact that it is not being imposed now does not mean that it won't be imposed in the future. A web search can provide some interesting comments on this.

    The thing that I find most interesting about HD-DVD is that the whole idea of PAL or NTSC discs is going away. At least so far it appears that HD-DVD's standard will be 24 fps video and it will expect the hardware (HD-DVD player and TV) to correctly display the image in whatever format is necessary.

  9. Re:Dear USA and a couple of others.... by 91degrees · · Score: 3, Informative

    You'd still sell the different format discs, encoded for the appropriate country. Just not the region coding. I don't think it would matter though. Australia (PAL) and Mexico (NTSC) are in the same region. And Europe (PAL/SECAM) is in the same region as Japan(NTSC). There have even been a few NTSC region 2 encoded discs sold in Europe. Many people in England import US discs, and they don't complain about the drop in quality.

  10. Re:Are they trying to encourage piracy by networkBoy · · Score: 2, Informative

    You need a solid conductor on the walls/ceiling/floor for a proper cage./i?
    no you do not.
    You need a conductor of a mesh size smaller that the minimum (smallest) wavelength you want to block. Mesh of 1" squares is more than adequate up to the low GHz range. Screen door mesh (assuming metal and not plastic) is good for the mid to high tens of GHz.

    You will also gain a ton more by having two 1" square meshes offset and at less than one wavelength apart (for the target of ~2.5GHz and lower) than you would for a single solid copper foil.

    natch ;-)
    -nB

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  11. Re:Are they trying to encourage piracy by networkBoy · · Score: 2, Informative

    Damn botched close itallics tag. shoulda used priview :)

    Anyway, the concrete/rebar thing actually works quite well up to a couple hundred MHz. Think of the old 900MHz cell phones and how much trouble they were inside buildings (esp. parking structures).

    The true parinoid, have a double insulated enclosure with both a floating faraday and a grounded faraday. Each of these faradays are in a sealed enclosure, the foating faraday has Brown/Pink/White (IIRC order of preferance) noise coupled to it while the outer cage, like I said is ground. The enclosures are thus also filled with a distorting gas (SF6 or He) and pumped with acoustic noise as well.

    Finally any windows you have should be red/purple type metallic tint (uses gold) and subsequently grounded.
    -nB

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    whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
  12. Re:The right to steal? by pla · · Score: 2, Informative

    It is "illegal copying", not stealing. These are materially different.

    Actually, no - Failure to obey region coding doesn't even count as copyright violation. It doesn't break ANY laws (except, in just a few countries, if you circumvent the access control mechanism involved) whatsoever.

    Industry cartels (generally illegal, but somehow they've gotten away with this in the movie and video game industries) have NO authority of enforcement whatsoever. Thus the "need" for various forced region coding schemes on their part in the first place.