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Avatar Blu-Ray DRM Issues
geekd writes "Once again, DRM only hurts legit content purchasers: 'An unusual glitch has angered some Avatar Blu-ray owners. For these unlucky people, since the disc won't play on their Blu-ray players, their new Avatar DVD serves no real purpose other than to sit idly on the coffee table. ... It appears the main culprit concerning playback issues with Avatar is, ironically, the disc's DRM (digital rights management). ... Even with updated firmware, a lot of Blu-ray players weren't prepared for these security measures. Despite the security problems, bootleggers are having a field day. Pirated copies of Avatar, according to Los Angeles Times, were available as early as January.'"
Reader Murpster adds that this problem isn't specific to the Blu-ray version: "Got a regular Avatar DVD and it won't play on either of my DVD players. It will play on one computer DVD drive, if I want to watch it on a 12-inch screen."
The stable release of AnyDVD HD (6.6.3.4) doesnt support Avatar, but the beta version does ( http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=40115 ). It took me longer to update the firmware on my bluray player than it took me to update AnyDVD HD. Though the actual ripping still takes about 4 hours...
Price premium = $2 more at Target.
LOL!!!
Nice try though!!! Keep playing!!!
FTA:
In reality, the disc works fine; the problem stems from the Blu-ray players themselves. In order to run optimally, the firmware for these fancy Blu-ray machines needs to be updated regularly via a download from the Web.
Of course they need this, to try and avoid the problems with older DVD encryption that had to store the keys on the disk and the player.
Hence easily broken.
Still, it's a bit of stretch to think that everyone who has a Blueray DVD, (especially a stand-alone one), will be able to keep it updated via the tubes.
As always, DRM punishes the honest customers, and is busted fast by the hackers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AACS_encryption_key_controversy
Quite right. I think the OP thinks that 'ironically' means 'predictably'.
"This is not from the master. This is from an analogue print"
Mods, the parent is bull-shitting. I own an Avatar blu-ray and the audio and video quality is outstanding. In the latimes interview, James Cameron even stated that he wanted to use all the available space in the disk just for the movie to ensure highest possible bit-rate
This is not from the master. This is from an analogue print...
I worked on the movie. Parent post is utter bullshit.
To be fair, they'll exchange it for a closed version of the same movie. Were it a more reputable shop, this would be useful since the store would have to deal with the return to the manufacturer. As each Best Buy has a shrink wrap machine on-site, they'll just wrap it up and stick it back on the shelf.
Actually the word is perfectly used. The irony here is that DRM is *supposed* to protect legitimate use of the copyrighted content.
Except that the people who ripped it and uploaded it did so in January.
No they didn't. That part of the summary is misleading. The stuff available back then was either recorded off the screen with a video camera - some pirates use high-def cameras so those recordings can look pretty good - or it was a rip of a DVD released in region 5 where bootlegging has actually forced the studios to release barebones DVDs early and for relatively cheap (a couple of dollars which is still a lot more than the bootlegs but a lot cheaper than what they used to price at).
Either way blurays were not ripped until roughly a day after public release and it is the blurays with the brand new and buggy DRM scheme that the article is talking about.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
Just call it "copy protection" when you talk to average Joes.
No sig today...