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Toshiba heads DVD Forum for two more years

Although Toshiba may be out of the HD DVD game, it’s certainly not done with being a force in the DVD Forum – the body behind both HD DVD and regular DVD formats.

At the recent 41st Steering Committee meeting, the DVD Forum approved Toshiba as the Chair Company serving from February 2008 to February 2010. Holders of Vice Chair positions are Sony for the CE Industry, Intel for the IT Industry and Warner from the Content Industry.

Also approved was the scope of WG-12, which states the mission: "To study and specify network applications and related network specification of DVD Forum formats, make recommendations for better interoperability and functionality of network connected DVD Forum specified devices and content, and communicate on relevant recommendations with other standard creation organizations."

Particularly notable was the approval that all CH-DVD format matters be made the responsibility of the China High Definition DVD Industry Association (CHDA) and Optical Memory National Engineering Research Center (OMNERC), though both organizations will report their activities to the DVD Forum.

While similar to HD DVD in that it uses blue-violet laser technology, CH-DVD is supported by media authoring methods owned and approved by the Chinese government. The specific schemes supposedly offer specific measures against piracy.

The China High Definition DVD Industry Association said last fall that it will “make a big push to launch CH-DVD player into the Chinese market in 2008” and “encourage all related industries to... to make the transition from standard definition DVD to high definition DVD.”

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But they're not that stupid
By stubbo on 3/5/2008 9:52:21 AM , Rating: 3
I think your missing a key point. If China enforce a proprietary format, including all the anti piracy stuff, then they control exactly what their population can see. If their playes don't play DVD but only play CH-DVD then they can censure all pre-recorded content as well as all the broadcast and net content they already censure. Why else would they adopt a format requiring dedicated hardware when, if they wanted to, they could flood the country with knock off blue ray players at a 10th of the cost of their retail values and let someone else do the hard work for them.




RE: But they're not that stupid
By saiga6360 on 3/5/2008 10:43:39 AM , Rating: 2
This would be true if China is not part of the free market economy. They can censure content but they cannot tell people what or what not to buy. If Blu-ray becomes successful everywhere else then there is no stopping it from encroaching the CH-DVD market, if there is one. CH-DVD's success will depend on how affordable the format is.


RE: But they're not that stupid
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 3/5/2008 10:51:47 AM , Rating: 3
China can decide not to allow the sale of or import of Blu-Ray movies. I would not put it past them to do this.


RE: But they're not that stupid
By fk49 on 3/5/2008 3:29:37 PM , Rating: 5
Can't quite do that when the Blu-Ray player at Wal-mart says "Made in China" =)


By elpresidente2075 on 3/5/2008 7:20:59 PM , Rating: 4
"Made in China" does not mean "Sold in China."


RE: But they're not that stupid
By griffynz on 3/5/2008 9:33:52 PM , Rating: 2
China already sells Sony Blu-ray players...


RE: But they're not that stupid
By Samus on 3/6/2008 1:47:27 AM , Rating: 2
I sure hope so, after all, they are made there. :P


RE: But they're not that stupid
By BMFPitt on 3/5/2008 11:13:31 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
This would be true if China is not part of the free market economy.
It's not, really. Not in any way good way of describing a free market. China is what I would call a communist corporation.


RE: But they're not that stupid
By zinfamous on 3/5/2008 12:46:09 PM , Rating: 4
uh, guys:

cen·sure (sen'sh?r) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. An expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism.
2. An official rebuke, as by a legislature of one of its members.

I think you mean "censor"


RE: But they're not that stupid
By deeznuts on 3/5/2008 12:52:10 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
This would be true if China is not part of the free market economy. They can censure content but they cannot tell people what or what not to buy.


Methinks you are not aware of China's control over their people. They won't be able to do anything about smuggling, but they sure as hell can stop imports of stuff they don't want.


RE: But they're not that stupid
By viperpa on 3/5/2008 2:38:39 PM , Rating: 2
China does not have a free market economy, they have a controlled market economy. The Chinese government can tell the people what they can or can not buy by controlling the goods into the country. China already controls content, so what stops them from controlling everything else?


RE: But they're not that stupid
By saiga6360 on 3/5/2008 4:45:17 PM , Rating: 2
The rest of the world? Their economy is tied up in a lot of foreign investments so if they start acting out like a little North Korean dictator then they may suffer quite a bit of backlash.


RE: But they're not that stupid
By tarv on 3/5/2008 2:59:07 PM , Rating: 2
I always thought that China was pursuing its own format to avoid royalty fees more then anything else?


By sgtdisturbed47 on 3/5/2008 3:49:36 PM , Rating: 2
China lol seriously, this is going to be funny.


Wow
By Carter642 on 3/5/2008 9:32:18 AM , Rating: 2
So the government that essentially turns a blind eye to the worlds biggest DVD piracy industry is introducing it's own domestic format that is piracy resistant? Without even mentioning the fact that it's based on a defunct format why would anyone in china buy this? They'd better either give these things out or send you to a gulag if you don't buy it because this sounds like annother very expensive doorstop.




RE: Wow
By Owls on 3/5/2008 9:51:48 AM , Rating: 4
You act as if the chinese people actually have a choice in the matter :)


RE: Wow
By Pjotr on 3/5/2008 12:09:43 PM , Rating: 2
There are many examples where USA (and also other smaller countries) have defined and used their own standards. With China having a population of about 4 times that of USA, I don't think it's expensive to handle their own standard.


RE: Wow
By Carter642 on 3/5/2008 1:50:56 PM , Rating: 2
They're not really defining a new format for new media here. They're adding security to an old format on old media.

How many chinese already have a DVD player that will play other formats? Will the government confiscate every non CH-DVD player in the country? Is every software company/music company/media company going to need to produce imports to china in CH-DVD format?

Anyone in china who thinks that this is going to do anything other than piss off importers of media is mistaken. It's not going to do a thing about piracy either.

The primary targets of chinese piracy are imported media, and it's not like the pirates go to the local store, buy a movie and then churn out 1000 copies. Sourcing cracked media is simple. Even if the chinese require it to be sold in china in CH-DVD someone can download a copy from offshore in any format they want to burn it in.

Piracy needs to be cut off at the retail level. If people get arrested for selling knock off media then it's hard to make money. If you can't make money then there's no reason to be in business. But at the moment it's pathetically easy to buy bootleg copies of most any media in china.


Irony
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 3/5/2008 9:27:28 AM , Rating: 2
China could very well force adoption of CH-DVD in their country. Sort of a "Country specific format". I'm interested to see what the angle is for the Chinese Government. This must give them superior control of some sort over the other media types.




RE: Irony
By jadeskye on 3/5/2008 9:41:24 AM , Rating: 2
i was beginning to wonder what was happening with CH-DVD. i think what you propose there is probably the most likely event. Among other things it'll provide a foothold at least on the piracy issue.


RE: Irony
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 3/5/2008 10:02:06 AM , Rating: 1
I was thinking more along the lines of a better method of restricting what is watched in the country.


Reason
By Chosonman on 3/5/2008 12:21:17 PM , Rating: 4
It seems to me it's pretty clear why China wants their own HD format. They want to be able to control their media industry. Right now every DVD, HD DVD, Blue Ray disc that is sold is subject to royalty fees that are paid to the institutions that created those formats. That's about 8cents or more per unit sold. Additionally, having their own format would make Western media industries negotiate with China directly in order to enter their market and use their proprietary media format. This is huge. This means that anyone who wants to sell music, software, movies, or anything that you can fit on a DVD will need to pay royalties to China and on top of that the Chinese government can control the type of media they will accept. This would probably also mean prices in China for media can be directly controlled by the Chinese government, and not as much by the West. If China pays less for information technology, media, etc, it benefits them through the trade agreements they have with the West.