Cinavia DRM: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Blu-ray’s Self-Destruction
by Ganesh T S on March 21, 2012 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- Blu-Ray
- DRM
- Cinavia
Blu-ray Profile Updates
Despite setting out to clear the air about Cinavia in today's piece, we will also take the opportunity to provide a few comments on how the BDA is insulting the intelligence of the consumers. When Blu-ray Profile 1.0 was released, it imitated the tried and tested DVD menu system. By getting access to a simple menu interface to choose the audio and video tracks (theatrical or director's cut, for example), consumers were able to easily identify and adopt Blu-rays as the successor to DVDs for high definition content. Rarely used DVD features such as multiple viewing angles were rightly ignored by most of the initial Blu-rays.
The Blu-ray industry, in trying to make Blu-rays more attractive to the consumers, brought about BonusView (Picture-in-Picture) in a profile update in November 2007. With its usefulness as a medium for commentary tracks, it did solve an existing problem. However, subsequent profile updates haven't caught the imagination of the consumers. While the BD-Live (Profile 2.0) features are an inexcusable addition, Blu-ray 3D is at least acceptable because of the big push given by the studios for theatrical screenings in 3D.
As a tech journalist, I spend countless hours browsing public forums such as Doom9, AVSForum and VideoHelp to gauge public opinion about various topics in my area of coverage. I haven't seen a single post in praise of BD-Live. I have seen BD-Live in action on various discs, and they bring one or more of the following features to the consumers:
- Push the trailers of the studios' latest movies to the consumer: Why do studios think that a Blu-ray in the retail market is an advertising medium for future use? In addition, trailers are also forced before the main movie (and it is not clear if BD-Live can deliver new trailers for that segment, or whether BD-Live trailers have to be specifically requested by the users). As we mentioned earlier, consumers seem to prefer instant gratification and don't want to be forced to sit through multiple trailers in their home theater. In this situation, I find it hard to see consumers willfully going to the BD-Live section and requesting and waiting for a new trailer to download and play on their Blu-ray player.
- Downloadable games and activities realted to the movie: I have actually tried a few of these games, and my belief is that most Blu-ray remotes are ill-suited to these types of activities. With the rise of social networks with gaming apps, there are multiple available alternatives for casual games related to most popular movies, and nearly all of them are better than BD-Live offerings.
- Chat with other fans and other social activities: Blu-ray remotes are not comfortable enough for online chatting, and the big screen doesn't really seem to be the right place for social interaction.
- Avenue for firmware updates: With Profile 2.0 making it compulsory for players to have an Ethernet port connected to the Internet, it has become a convenient excuse for the Blu-ray industry to release discs which don't play on units with older firmwares. Requiring your player to get connected to the Internet and download a huge firmware update just to play back one's latest Blu-ray purchase is definitely one item encouraging people to 'pirate' movies.
Some of the Profile 5.0 Blu-rays (3D) often refuse to play in 2D on older profile players. This type of mess-up often leads to consumer frustration.
Despite the studios putting lots of money and effort into promoting 3D, it doesn't seem to have taken off as much as expected.
Blu-ray Rentals
Retail Blu-rays and rental Blu-rays (from services such as Netflix and RedBox) for a particular movie title are not the same. Last year, I had the opportunity to see the movie Rango in the theater. When the Blu-ray released, I found out that it contained two cuts (one theatrical, and the other, extended). I also found that my nearby RedBox kiosk had the Blu-ray version available for rental. Upon renting the movie (the RedBox movies come in a non-descript box), I found that the rental Blu-ray contained only the theatrical version. I am sure I am not alone in feeling frustrated by this type of treatment from the studios.
Providing separate versions of the masters for the rental and retail Blu-rays is okay as long as information is provided upfront. However, sweeping this under the carpet like what is being done now only increases the consumers' ill-feelings towards the Blu-ray industry.
UltraViolet : Blu-ray in the Cloud
The Blu-ray industry's move into online streaming with UltraViolet has also got off to a disastrous start, with Walmart now being roped in to help salvage the initiative. Vudu (owned by Walmart) is trying to help the UltraViolet consortium by becoming a player / source of UV copies in the cloud . However, it is not clear how and why studios expect consumers to pony up money again for content that they have already paid for. StreamingMedia's blog piece and CNET's op-ed both carry very convincing arguments about how the UV initiative is completely loaded against the consumers.
The aim of UltraViolet is to currently provide users with a copy of the movie in the cloud, though the initiative also provides for downloadable copies. As of today, it is easier for users to strip the DRM, rip and re-encode their purchased Blu-ray movies into any format they wish. Can the UV initiative provide something easier to use? While the Blu-ray industry tries to solve the problem, let us provide you with a few tips on getting the most out of the money spent on your Blu-ray collection.
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Valis - Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - link
DAT SCMS, DRM, SWG, Blu-Ray... The list goes on and on. Sony, hope it dies a slow an agonizing death. Will never buy a Sony product again, for as long as I live.jharper12 - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
My freshman year of college I downloaded music and movies. I went to a well regarded university with Tech in its name. That year, every person on campus had watched LOTR weeks before it came out. I was a pirate, for one year.I have always worked hard though, and after that first year I didn't have time to consume massive amounts of media. Convenience started to matter, and services started to pop up that legally offered a means to consume media for a reasonable fee. My pirating days were over, not long after they began.
Here's what bothers me. I have two HP LP2465 monitors hooked up to a nice home built computer. What do they lack? HDCP. I purchased AnyDVD HD for the sole purpose of playing my legally acquired Bluray collection on my computer. Someone should go to jail for that, and it shouldn't be me. Next up? I encountered that lovely little DRM issue with Silverlight while trying to watch movies on my paid subscription for Netflix. I have to run extra cabling to my Bluray players, so they can update to play discs that I bought... legally. I have to update, right as I'm excited to watch. The last time I didn't have to worry about DRM? My freshman year of college. Take note content industry, you didn't slow me down or even inconvenience me for that brief sliver of time in which I stole from you. No, only now, as a paying customer, do you make my life miserable. Thanks for that.
GoodToGo - Saturday, March 31, 2012 - link
I just wanted to say what an amazing read this was.*Tips hat*
PeTroL42 - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
The majority of my friends aren't geeks like I am so most of them have no clue as to what DRM even is. While DRM is a major headache for a person like me where I'd like to have all my content in a central location, DRM isn't a major headache for the average consumer who just wants to buy a BD at Best Buy and play the movie when they get home and most of the time this works out for the average consumer who buys everything legitimately. Of course there are headaches for the average consumer such as firmware updates but c'mon, issues like these aren't common for the average consumer. One other thing unrelated to DRM, some of my friends LOVE to show off their massive BD collection.Also, the scenario where a consumer unknowingly buys a pirated BD is pretty ridiculous unless you regularly buy your BDs on the streets of Downtown LA or China.
I understand why the Studios are taking measures like using Cinavia to protect their content.
I'm not being an apologist for the studios but movies cost A LOT of money to produce. Just ask any independent film maker. I feel anybody who reads this article and then goes and spends 50 to 100 million dollars to produce a movie, I'd bet you'd want to get the maximum profits out of that movie which includes the sale of BDs.
Also, low budget movies don't rake in a lot of profit. That's why low budget movies like Blair Witch Project or My Fat Greek Wedding garner a lot of attention when they make lots of money at the box office. This isn't common.
There's no doubt that piracy hurts everyone except the people who pirate the material and the people who buy the pirated material or get it free if its made available such as when Napster was around. Take PC Games for instance. The PC Game piracy is so bad that the Publishers are currently using some draconian methods to combat it. This ONLY hurts the legitimate purchasers of the game. Back in the day, (like 1998) I'd buy a game, bring it home, install it, the game would ask me for the serial # on the Jewel Case, I'd enter it, wait a few more minutes and then I'm playing. Now, you usually have to be connected online to even play single player games. Now Big Brother knows when and how long I've been playing their game.
I'm for the argument that if the Music industry had embraced technological advances such as MP3s instead of trying to combat it, they'd probably be in a better position than they are today but there's no doubt that piracy hit the music industry hard.
The reason for this long post is this. I was just thinking the other day that there isn't a legitimate way to purchase movies in file format so I could put it on my NAS and play it through my Western Digital set top box. The only options for a person like me is to either download the content through P2P or RIP a DVD or BD myself and encode it into a format that my WD set top box could read which I am not admitting to. Because of the DMCA, ripping movies is illegal. And why was the DMCA written into law? Because of rampant piracy. CDs aren't encrypted so the DMCA doesn't apply to CDs so legitimate purchasers are allowed under law to RIP it to MP3 and play it on any device they choose. CDs don't have encryption because they were created in the early 80s and MP3s weren't even invented back then.
If the average consumer has access to free stuff and they know how to use it, then they'll use it but if that access gets cut off and it becomes too difficult for the average consumer to figure out, then they'll eventually buy the stuff they want. If Napster and Kazaa and all those other easy file sharing programs were still around today, I'd bet Katy Perry wouldn't be selling the same amount of downloads from iTunes or Amazon.
This sounds selfish of me but If piracy wasn't so rampant now and people would actually pay for the content they want, then there probably wouldn't be a bill written into law such as the DMCA and then I'd be free to RIP any movie that I legitimately purchased and enjoy it today on any device I please or I could've been buying movies in MP4 or some other format that my set top box could read. Thanks Pirates! (and I'm not talking about Pittsburgh)
DVDRanger1 - Saturday, September 22, 2012 - link
The developers of the DVD-Ranger software have the first future-proof solution for Cinavia free DVD and Blu-raySanta Ponsa (Spain), 09/21/2012 – Many DVD and Blu-ray users know this problem: the DVD or Blu-ray playback stops suddenly with a cryptic error message or remains frozen or silent. This is caused by the relatively new copy protection system Cinavia.
Shortly after the Cinavia solution of DVDFab has been once again made useless by the Cinavia producer, DVD-Ranger Software offers help. The developers of DVD-Ranger have eliminated the Cinavia’s signal during the development of other software by accident. The Cinavia’s signal has been changed so that it has become unreadable. They have not fought against the Cinavia’s system directly; it is more likely triggered by a design error of Cinavia itself.
Pixbyte has chosen the release date for the DVD-Ranger 5 with Cinavia module to be 10/31/2012 (Halloween). At the moment, the solution is being tested by well known people in the world of copying. Approx. 55% of all reported Blu-ray Region A/B disks and DVDs have been successfully tested so far. It will be also tested on PS3, various Blu-ray players and PowerDVD.
Pixbyte is known by the DVD neXt COPY Software and DVD-Ranger products line. Pixbyte has been present for about 10 years on the backup and copy software market.
Price and availability: DVD-Ranger 5 is currently available as pre-order at a price of $69.99. The final release price will be approx. $89.99. The Cinavia module will cost approx. $39.99 (included in pre-order).
About Pixbyte:
Pixbyte is a trusted and respected researcher and developer of CD/DVD and BD recording and conversion technology. Its products are sold worldwide and are utilized by end-users and companies. The products are designed to provide speed and quality of copy operations and are developed continually in accordance with technological progress.
Cypher1994 - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - link
I like your Stanley Kubrick reference.ceceliagibson - Thursday, September 5, 2013 - link
Hi very useful info about cinavia errors, this will protect playstation devices against playing un authorized movies.Carole Harris - Monday, March 14, 2016 - link
Here is a bit more information on Cinavia, pertaining to what it is and how it functions: http://cinavia-removal.webs.com/But please, ignore the webmaster's link at the bottom of the article, as DVDFab can be used to remove Cinavia without question.
DVDRanger - Saturday, October 12, 2013 - link
Cinavia has been broken by a software company. I suggest to search for DVD-Ranger and CinEx to forget Cinavia forever.Marrie Hill - Sunday, February 13, 2022 - link
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