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Macrovision now owns BD+ for protection of Blu-ray Disc movies

Macrovision, the long-standing provider of copy protection for home video entertainment, will be jumping straight into Blu-ray Disc following its acquisition of SPDC (Self-Protecting Digital Content) protection technologies from Cryptography Research, Inc.

In a deal worth about $45 million USD in cash plus warrants for stock, Macrovision will own the patents, technologies and agreements of BD+, a small virtual machine technology embedded inside Blu-ray Disc hardware for the purpose of digital rights management.

“We are a research organization dedicated to solving difficult cryptography problems,” commented Paul Kocher, president and chief scientist of Cryptography Research Inc. “We developed SPDC to enable consumers to experience content across a broad range of devices while simultaneously providing content owners with the control to manage the security of content in this dynamic environment. Macrovision shares this goal and now that SPDC has entered commercialization, we are confident Macrovision will take it to the next level.”

“The integration of SPDC into our product portfolio will enable us to continue to provide innovative technology to our customers as they expand their distribution vehicles,” said Macrovision CEO Fred Amoroso. “Not only is BD+ critical for content security, but it also supports value-added features that enhance the consumer playback experience, such as potentially unlocking bonus content.”

BD+ technology allows content providers to include executables on Blu-ray Discs to perform specific, content protecting functions. For example, the BD+ virtual machine could run diagnostics on the host environment to see if the disc player has been modified, or to verify that the media keys have not been changed.

As part of the BD+ scheme, video may be deliberately corrupted or modified to prevent the ripping of the data stream for piracy purposes. The BD+ environment, once verified, will correct and descramble the content to render it viewable.

The BD+ protection technology is cited as a reason for Hollywood studios such as Fox and Disney to side exclusively with Blu-ray Disc over HD DVD.

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And you wonder why...
By masher2 (blog) on 11/20/2007 12:16:20 PM , Rating: 4
...why some people have long supported HD-DVD over BD. Broken or not, BD+ is a more intrusive and potentially troublesome scheme than HD's implementation.




RE: And you wonder why...
By TomZ on 11/20/2007 12:22:17 PM , Rating: 2
I agree, and I think that HD-DVD stikes a better balance between the needs/wants of both consumers and content producers. BD/DB+ is overly restrictive, in my view.


RE: And you wonder why...
By Locutus465 on 11/20/2007 12:47:00 PM , Rating: 3
In the end, consumers will choose the winner... I hope they will choose the technology that is actually best for consumers rather than buy into the hype.


RE: And you wonder why...
By noirsoft on 11/20/2007 1:04:06 PM , Rating: 4
For more than 99% of consumers, the presence or absence of copy protection has nothing to do with the perceived benefit of either format.

It only matters to the small number of people who are paranoid about making backups, and pirates. One of which should rightfully be prevented from doing their business, and the other, like it or not, consists of insignificant numbers to affect corporate policy.

Most people treat digital the way the did analog: The medium is interchangeable with the data. When an LP becomes scratched, you buy a new LP, and the same with DVD. Very very few people see a purchased disc only as a master copy from which you make every-day playable copies.

It's only the ease of making perfect digital copies that has led to the current debate of fair use vs copyright, as well as widespread piracy.


RE: And you wonder why...
By ChristopherO on 11/20/2007 1:10:53 PM , Rating: 5
I wouldn't make that assumption. Mandatory Managed Copy is a fantastic idea. I'd rather have a media server in my house (with a couple TB of disk space), copy my entire HD collection over, and be able to stream video to every set-top box in my house.

That's one of HD's biggest "unknown" features, and it has nothing to do with "backups or pirates." I don't care if 99% of users won't take advantage of this... *I* will, and that's the only thing important to me.

I can already stream MP3s to every TV in my house, why not HD video?

The reality is that HD's copy protection is fine for studio use. Insiders have said that's really all they need. The BD layer gets in the way. From a content protection perspective, all you need to do is discourage casual piracy. You'll always have determined guys who break any encryption you throw at them, and thus, trying to fight them is sometimes pointless since you'll spend ever greater money and still walk away the looser.


RE: And you wonder why...
By GreenyMP on 11/20/2007 3:34:25 PM , Rating: 2
A couple flaws in the "Blu-ray sucks because of DRM" argument:

1. Anybody that wants to rip any blu-ray disk can. No amount of DRM has stopped this in the past, and it doesn't now. One might have been harder to crack than the other, but that is done. You don't have to crack it again for every disk.

2. There are Blu-ray burners available with which to make back-ups. There are no HD DVD burners available (AFAIK).


RE: And you wonder why...
By Pythias on 11/20/2007 4:28:11 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
1. Anybody that wants to rip any blu-ray disk can. No amount of DRM has stopped this in the past, and it doesn't now. One might have been harder to crack than the other, but that is done. You don't have to crack it again for every disk


That may be true, but I'd prefer not to have to break the law to do so.


RE: And you wonder why...
By BansheeX on 11/21/2007 3:42:39 AM , Rating: 3
First of all, a lesson in ethics. Don't immediately associate breaking the law as a bad thing. It was once against the law for blacks to use a white bathroom.

The special interest "law" for managed copy only gives you the right to one personal backup. If you create more than one copy, which you SHOULD be able to do, you're breaking the law anyway. What happens if your copy gets damaged, do you get to make another one? Stupid DRM limitations on both platforms will get cracked and you will have equal copying ability on both. It's a meaningless issue that some HD-DVD fans like to use as a rallying point.


RE: And you wonder why...
By Pythias on 11/21/2007 10:43:25 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
First of all, a lesson in ethics. Don't immediately associate breaking the law as a bad thing. It was once against the law for blacks to use a white bathroom.


Thank you, Most Holy One. May I wash your feet now?

Can you hear me rolling my eyes? Because I'm rolling them as hard as I can.

Some of us place a high value on the law and would prefer to change the law than simply ignore it.


RE: And you wonder why...
By Locutus465 on 11/21/2007 11:00:38 AM , Rating: 2
Except those laws restricted the rights of a group of people unfairly... While I agree the media companies can be over the top, the heart of the anti-copy laws isn't inherantly corrupt like the old anti-black laws were, i.e. in this case trying to prevent theft (yes, piracy is theft).

As for any other posters feelings regarding "having to break the law" to make a back up of their media, I guess it's up to each individual to decide what is morally correct for them selves. Personally I have absolutly no problems with it at all, and I think it's stupid of the media corperations to stress about legit backups. Other posters may feel differently and that's fine.


RE: And you wonder why...
By Pythias on 11/21/2007 11:07:59 AM , Rating: 3
The burning question here is: Who gets to decide whats fair? You? Me? Topo Gigio? Seven of Nine?


RE: And you wonder why...
By BansheeX on 11/21/2007 4:47:26 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
Except those laws restricted the rights of a group of people unfairly...


DRM does nothing but hurt legitimate consumers by assuming everyone is a criminal. It won't stop pirates. It restricts our right to have complete use and control of something we purchased. Managed copy is corporate speak for "limited backups" and a marketing facade to make use complacent with DRM. The copy is still DRM restricted so no playing with any player, no using with any device, no transcoding and streaming how you please. HD-DVD fanboys praising it as a glorious idea that is happy friendy bear in comparison to blu-ray need to shut up before I hit them with a rubber spatula.


RE: And you wonder why...
By retrospooty on 11/23/2007 10:28:12 AM , Rating: 2
"DRM does nothing but hurt legitimate consumers by assuming everyone is a criminal. It won't stop pirates. It restricts our right to have complete use and control of something we purchased."

Very well said... totally agreed.

"HD-DVD fanboys praising it as a glorious idea that is happy friendy bear in comparison to blu-ray need to shut up before I hit them with a rubber spatula."

As for the last sentence, I don't think anyone said HD-DVD DRM was glorious and BR was bad... What was said is that BR's DRM is far more intrusive than HD-DVD.

I can see by your first sentence that there is a light on up there, and thus there is hope, you just need to remove your Sony fanboy colored glasses to let it shine. ;)


RE: And you wonder why...
By mars777 on 11/21/2007 6:49:41 AM , Rating: 2
Buy AnyDVD HD and backup your BD discs as much as you like.

BD+ or not...


RE: And you wonder why...
By porkpie on 11/20/2007 4:29:35 PM , Rating: 1
A couple flaws in your "flaws"

1. BD+ has not been cracked yet. Maybe it will be in the future, but who knows?

2. Blu Ray burners don't backup DRM'd discs.


RE: And you wonder why...
By bisoy on 11/20/07, Rating: 0
RE: And you wonder why...
By jay0110 on 11/20/2007 4:16:51 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
I don't care if 99% of users won't take advantage of this... *I* will, and that's the only thing important to me.

Mention that to corporate heads and let me know their response.

quote:
From a content protection perspective, all you need to do is discourage casual piracy.

That was really effective in stopping DVD piracy, or was it?


RE: And you wonder why...
By ChristopherO on 11/20/2007 4:25:40 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
Mention that to corporate heads and let me know their response.

It doesn't matter. That feature is a mandatory part of the specification. The studio heads opinion on the feature is irrelevant if they choose to release films on the format.
quote:
That was really effective in stopping DVD piracy, or was it?

Yes it was. It has stopped casual piracy. People running P2P and downloading down-scaled MP4s of DVD rips are not casual pirates. For the most part the technolo