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Avatar Blu-Ray DRM Issues

Posted by Soulskill on from the revolutionary-zero-d-technology dept.

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."

4 of 376 comments (clear)

  1. Already cracked. by brunascle · · Score: 4, Informative

    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...

  2. Consequence of copy protection; is a fail by Bearhouse · · Score: 3, Informative

    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

    1. Re:Consequence of copy protection; is a fail by JavaBear · · Score: 4, Informative

      To make matters worse, the first few generations of Blu-ray players don't have any network connection at all.

  3. Re:No matter by vivek7006 · · Score: 4, Informative

    "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