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DVDs w/ Built in USB Ports for Copy Protection
An anonymous reader writes "Aladdin has come up with a new way of restricting the data stored on optical discs. It's 'XCD' format has a chip built directly into the disc and which fits into a USB port. So, a user needs to plug the disc into their computer to access a cryptophic key before being able to use the data stored on the disc (presumably in some sort of proprietary player)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongle
we don't need them back, they sucked originally..
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Okay, this one's hilariously bad, to the point of hurting anyone that even thinks about trying to sell it. I can only presume this might be intended for some sort of distribution of classified... no, that doesn't make sense either. But it's just a patent application, a good example of people throwing every idea against the wall to see what sticks. Hint: This won't.
Different organizations working to prevent the erosion of the distribution based market. I have a hard time that this will ever catch on.
1) It adds no value to the content of the delivery.
2) It makes it more difficult for customers to use the product.
This might hit some nitch market. It might work acceptably for software sales (infact, the dongle trick has been used for years on software), where the interface and consumer expectations differ. But this will never work in the entertainment industry with out industry wide adoption (read: will never happen).
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
I know I want to buy a movie format that I:
a. can't play on my existing PC (running Linux)
b. can't play using my existing DVD players
c. will lose the god damned dongle for
d. will not obtain any benefit from. In fact, I'll LOSE my fair use rights.
Thanks, but after thinking it over really hard, I decided to pass on it.
Hint: drop the DRM.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
A DVD with a USB dongle. It's bad enough that I have to break open the shrink wrap, cut open the security tape on three sides, and undo the pair of latches on the case to get to the DVD. Now they want me to plug in the dongle?! I don't think so!
MP3 players, iPods, media centers (and the soon-to-arrive Apple "iTV")... We don't want to handle media. When I buy a DVD, I rip it in H.264/AAC and add it to my "movies hard drive". The last thing I want is a media that makes me handle it twice to watch its content, not to mention the software compatibility issues (I run OS X, not Windows).
Another case of "just because you can doesn't mean you should".
"Hey Bob? I know how we spent millions of dollars developing this technology and all. But the cryptographic key that's in the USB part of the disc is data right?"
"Yeah... and?"
"Well... They can't change the key that's on the USB part, because the encrypted data itself on the disc will have to remain static right?"
"What's your point?"
"Then wouldn't we have saved ourselves millions and millions of dollars by just having that key on the optical disc part to begin with?"
"..."
Actually, I think it's becase a whole bunch of companies want to invent the "holy grail" of copy protection schemes (the connotation of the word scheme makes it fit well here, I think), so they run around making up wildly rediculous stuff that either doesn't work, noone wants it, or is easily bypassed (using magic markers, the shift key, etc.). In the end it just annoys people, but these companies must be getting paid by the so-called content providers, because they never stop trying to think of silly new ways to do things, not realizing that their complicated schemes just annoy legitimate consumers and barely begin to challenge the "pirates".
So a key needs to be installed before a CD can be read. How will this solve any copy protection issues once it is "unlocked"? Despite the probable DRM; a way will be found to somehow copy the data. The only purpose it will serve is an extra hassle to the average consumer and yet another reason to download illegally.
Er, no.
That's like saying "eh, that DMCA bill is just a bunch of Congresscritters doing some research into ways to make a buck. Until it's on the House floor for a vote, it should just be considered interesting thoughts."
By the time Hollywood is trying to push something down your throat, it's probably already too late. This sort of stupidity needs to be nipped in the bud; the idiot executives who spend millions on these systems and millions more buying laws to force them on us, need to learn that no DRM scheme will last against the concerted effort of thousands of people. It's fundamentally flawed, irretrievably broken, and it doesn't matter if they put the decryption key on a USB dongle, or a special sector of the disc, or over the Internet.
All DRM is broken, it's just a question of how obnoxious it is to legitimate users. Systems that just reek of stupidity, like this one does, should be killed quickly before they can gain any traction.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Until they start using encrypted connections.