It seems Cablevision / OptimumOnline also started sending out these letters.. at least on the behalf of BayTSP and Paramount... a uhm.. friend.. of mine got one of these... same kinda deal - request a reply and all
sonosubs are very popular in DIY home-theater circles. I built one myself and it's not that difficult at all. Sounds awesome and easily rivals subs that are over $2k +
make sure to search older patents as well. I was in this situation about a year ago, did a quick search found nothing was happy. then noticed that "search before 1996" and there went my idea:)
This whole story just proves the point that copy protection will never work.. I dont know of any succeseful copy protection schemes taht exist. I honestly dont think it's possible. i mean so far we have what?.. ok.. VHS has that phasing in and out "protection"- but u can go to an electornics store and buy n of those boxes that "will clear up picture quality" (yea right) and they will let u copy any video tape (the boxes go for anywhere from $30 to $100). Software has serial numbers - nuf said (lol)... some software has dongle protection.. while this is a little better, ANY software can be re-written using a dis-assembler / assembler.. it's a matter of finding that little "if dongle=true then" statement (ok.. so it's not that simple but u know what i mean). and copy protecting ANYTHING analog is a joke.. the only way i could see copy protection is if the media, the information stored on it and the retrieving hardware are all proprietary and all use some sort of encryption right down to the output device.. of course this would be cracked also - but would be more expensive, would take more time, and less people would be likely to do it (like cable and sattelite cracking boxes/chips). So why does everyone still bother with the feeble attempt?.. the only thing they're accomplishing is igniting some cracker/hacker's imagination and making all those coders' hands itch with excitement of taking on a new challenge. the more of these "methods" out there, the more people are going to turn to other "illegal" ways of getting the information. copy protection will not stop anyone.. when will companies realize that maybe people would pay for media, movies, music, software if these were priced fairly. or maybe if those registration cards didnt cause your mailbox to explode with junk mail? dont get me wrong.. i pay for music cd's, i buy movies... (ok maybe i dont pay for software:).. but sometimes i just want to get a song that i just heard on the radio or get a song that's been stuck in my head all day just so i can figure out some lyric. i think coming out with new versions and ways of copy protection is just a waste of time and money.. why not pass that money onto the consumer and let them get their music free or for a really small charge (i'm sure you'll make up the difference with all the ads you'll stick on the download page)..... case in point - DIVX 'nuf said
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It seems Cablevision / OptimumOnline also started sending out these letters.. at least on the behalf of BayTSP and Paramount ... a uhm.. friend .. of mine got one of these ... same kinda deal - request a reply and all
sonosubs are very popular in DIY home-theater circles. I built one myself and it's not that difficult at all. Sounds awesome and easily rivals subs that are over $2k +
make sure to search older patents as well. I was in this situation about a year ago, did a quick search found nothing was happy. then noticed that "search before 1996" and there went my idea :)
a quick search at the US patent office:
= PT O2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&r=25&p= 1&f=G&l=50&d=ft00&S1=(microwave+AND+barcode)&OS=mi crowave+and+barcode&RS=(microwave+AND+barcode)
.. oh well
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1
seems this already exists since sept 2000 (patent # 6,124,583 )
This whole story just proves the point that copy protection will never work.. I dont know of any succeseful copy protection schemes taht exist. I honestly dont think it's possible. i mean so far we have what?.. ok .. VHS has that phasing in and out "protection"- but u can go to an electornics store and buy n of those boxes that "will clear up picture quality" (yea right) and they will let u copy any video tape (the boxes go for anywhere from $30 to $100). Software has serial numbers - nuf said (lol)... some software has dongle protection .. while this is a little better, ANY software can be re-written using a dis-assembler / assembler .. it's a matter of finding that little "if dongle=true then" statement (ok .. so it's not that simple but u know what i mean). .. the only way i could see copy protection is if the media, the information stored on it and the retrieving hardware are all proprietary and all use some sort of encryption right down to the output device.. of course this would be cracked also - but would be more expensive, would take more time, and less people would be likely to do it (like cable and sattelite cracking boxes/chips). .. ... (ok maybe i dont pay for software :) .. but sometimes i just want to get a song that i just heard on the radio or get a song that's been stuck in my head all day just so i can figure out some lyric. .. why not pass that money onto the consumer and let them get their music free or for a really small charge (i'm sure you'll make up the difference with all the ads you'll stick on the download page) .....
and copy protecting ANYTHING analog is a joke
So why does everyone still bother with the feeble attempt?.. the only thing they're accomplishing is igniting some cracker/hacker's imagination and making all those coders' hands itch with excitement of taking on a new challenge.
the more of these "methods" out there, the more people are going to turn to other "illegal" ways of getting the information.
copy protection will not stop anyone
when will companies realize that maybe people would pay for media, movies, music, software if these were priced fairly. or maybe if those registration cards didnt cause your mailbox to explode with junk mail?
dont get me wrong.. i pay for music cd's, i buy movies
i think coming out with new versions and ways of copy protection is just a waste of time and money
case in point - DIVX
'nuf said
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Mike D.
fiddlerxl@hotmail.com