AfterDawn: News

New DRM coming for Blu-Ray and HD DVD

Several movie studios have licensed an audio watermarking technology from Verance Corporation for Blu-ray and HD DVD. The technology, called VCMS, adds a digital signal to analog audio which can be used by players to recognize content that's been recorded in a movie theater. The technology was approved by the AACS LA in February 2006, allowing it to be used on AACS encrypted discs. AACS is expected to release final license agreements requiring the inclusion of VCMS/AV detector technology in HD DVD and Blu-ray players in the next few months. Verance watermarking is already used on DVD-Audio discs.

"The Verance watermark technology provides value to all participants in the marketplace by encouraging availability of a broad selection of compelling titles for consumers to experience in new ways while discouraging the use of the emerging formats as a growth platform for piracy." according to Nil Shah, chief executive officer of Verance.



However AACS+VCMS is not enough for some studios. As expected, Twentieth Century Fox has confirmed that it will begin deploying the new BD+ technology, the Blu-ray-specific DRM that was finalised last month.

Sources:
PC Pro
Verance Corporation


Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 4 Jul 2007 5:19

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• 19 comments

• hughjars

  More pointless expense & garbage.
  
  6 mths to see it avoided or broken, max.
  
  .....personally I could care less, I never bother with 'Cams'. ;)

  4.7.2007 08:14 #1

• Pop_Smith

  Quote:audio watermarking technology - What is the point of this? Either a pirate or someone on the inside is going to figure out how to get around this if its something that needs to be removed.
  
  Plus, what are they going to do create thousands of different "audio watermarks" to get the exact theater in trouble that the movie was recorded at? Even if they do, what good does this do them?
  
  Quote:The technology, called VCMS, adds a digital signal to analog audio which can be used by players to recognize content that's been recorded in a movie theater. Does that mean that a Blu-Ray/HD DVD player will refuse to play a burned disk if it detects the "digital signal"?
  
  Can some say "Downgrading of firmware Blu-Ray/HD DVD player"? :P
  
  Peace

  4.7.2007 08:24 #2

• diabolic

  I wonder if this watermark will show up in audio editors like Adobe's soundbooth? If it does, maybe it'll be a simple hack. I haven't watched any cam movies but after paying to watch Transformers in theatres... I'll consider it.

  4.7.2007 08:55 #3

• ZippyDSM

  why would you want to play a crappy ass cam job on a DVD/HDVD/BR player? 0_o

  4.7.2007 11:32 #4

• aone

  i really should get into the encryption business. i'll always have a job. :P

  4.7.2007 15:38 #5

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by aone:i really should get into the encryption business. i'll always have a job. :PI know,you can hack any cheap ass algorithom as the 2nd coming of stopping piracy and the damn suits eat it up.

  4.7.2007 17:05 #6

• borhan9

  Originally posted by hughjars:More pointless expense & garbage.
  
  6 mths to see it avoided or broken, max.
  
  .....personally I could care less, I never bother with 'Cams'. ;)Tend to agree with you there mate.

  5.7.2007 02:06 #7

• SProdigy

  Yeah, why bother with cams on an HD player? They're already assuming that A) we'll buy their HD players B) buy their HD burners C) burn cams onto media compatible with their player. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm doing just fine streaming my HD rips from my PC to my HDTV, so this news means zilch to me.

  5.7.2007 04:45 #8

• maryjayne

  The point of owning a HD DVD or Blu-ray player is to watch high quality movies. I hardly classify cam vids as high quality.
  If I download a cam vid it is only to view the movie on my computer before I can get it on disc. Typically if you wait a week or two after a movie is release in theaters you can download the DVD rip anyway.
  Why do movie studios continue to waste their efforts on a lost cause instead of devoting more time in producing better movies?

  5.7.2007 06:18 #9

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by maryjayne:The point of owning a HD DVD or Blu-ray player is to watch high quality movies. I hardly classify cam vids as high quality.
  If I download a cam vid it is only to view the movie on my computer before I can get it on disc. Typically if you wait a week or two after a movie is release in theaters you can download the DVD rip anyway.
  Why do movie studios continue to waste their efforts on a lost cause instead of devoting more time in producing better movies?better movies and a better way to sale them to the public,they spend to much time trying to get every penny of their bloated 5X profits than trying to make a normal buck minus the graft..

  5.7.2007 07:36 #10

• hughjars

  The whole point of Blu-ray high def was to return to the profit margins that the CE companies had when SD DVD first started (this is why the BD Assoc originally said they would never licence to the Chinese and were so pi*sed off at Toshiba for doing so with HD DVD).
  
  The next issue arose because of the big selling point the designers made to the movie studios of DRM/security (and again the BD Assoc went out of their way to promise 'security' way beyond anything HD DVD would ever do).
  
  But this cr@p about cams is just more BS to justify that whole 'security' gravy-train.
  Well, they have to feed the gullible some kind of cover-story before they milk them for yet more millions pursuing this particular 'piracy' white whale, right?

  5.7.2007 10:45 #11

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by hughjars:The whole point of Blu-ray high def was to return to the profit margins that the CE companies had when SD DVD first started (this is why the BD Assoc originally said they would never licence to the Chinese and were so pi*sed off at Toshiba for doing so with HD DVD).
  
  The next issue arose because of the big selling point the designers made to the movie studios of DRM/security (and again the BD Assoc went out of their way to promise 'security' way beyond anything HD DVD would ever do).
  
  But this cr@p about cams is just more BS to justify that whole 'security' gravy-train.
  Well, they have to feed the gullible some kind of cover-story before they milk them for yet more millions pursuing this particular 'piracy' white whale, right?so whos cap'n arab? the media mafia CEOs or the security industry ecos selling them the harpoons?

  5.7.2007 10:51 #12

• cappyx

  why does any one care about copying or bootleg low quality movies with all the crap that spews out of hollywood. seems to me these inflated ego actors and actresses aren't worth shit and should be paid accordingly with extra money for titty shots. any more the diareah that spews out of hollywood isn't worth the time or effort of burning this bs. besides that what idiot pays 500 clams for a machine to play back yard crap movies on any way?

  6.7.2007 16:37 #13

• Mr-Movies

  A digital signal on top of an analog signal sounds like it might be easy to strip. Not knowing their specifications I still got to believe that detecting and canceling a square wave on a analog signal wouldn't be to difficult. Analog signals in the audible range tend to be slow changing, low frequencies, where as a digital square wave produces very high frequencies at its corners even in a low cycle rate. Just like a noise canceling headphone works I would thing that this technology could be used to strip their VCMS out.
  
  But as other have mentioned you could always flash your ROM or use some editing software on your PC. With this silly nonsense they sure waist a lot of our money and they just don’t learn.
  
  It’s also a good point that who would want to do this with such good equipment it just doesn’t hold water, make sense. People that take CAMCORDERS to movies end up posting the movies on the WEB via bittorrents and most watch them on there PC. Even if someone watches it on their DVD BD/HD player so what, consider it advertising because if they really like it they will buy the HI RES retail version. Now if you’re producing crap then you loose a sale and maybe that is the point, as most new movies are just that.

  6.7.2007 17:44 #14

• qazwiz

  Quote:The technology was approved by the AACS LA in February 2006, allowing it to be used on AACS encrypted discs.they ain't talking about theater rips they are talking more junk to mess with your purchased DVD's
  
  but assume that this is some sort of audio signature, use any blank space to get a sample to subtract out.... NO BLANK SPACE? use two or three samples to find common signal then use that to subtract out.....
  
  if it is an algorithm that changes according to what is being heard it will distort what ever signal range it is located in, so either the theater sound will be audibly distorted (in audible range) or not (out of audible range)... the first will be like static of am radio and won't be tolerated... it likely would send everyone AWAY from the theaters, (remember the theater watchers have increased by the industries own numbers despite all the piracy)
  
  so that just leaves an inaudable(to humans) signal, just send audio through a mid-pass filter stripping out the "Dog Whistle" and "Below Bass" ranges
  
  EDIT:forgot the square wave idea.... unlikely since a signal averager, the audible version of the Gaussian Blur, would remove any non-detectable, but audible distortion

  7.7.2007 09:44 #15

• connectr

  I have to agree with several posting - if Hollywood produced anything of real value or interest it might have a reason to go through the pain and aggravation of preventing piracy. But since all they seem able to do is make remakes of once good movies, or sequel to death any good ideas, maybe it is time to just say no to all of their garbage.

  7.7.2007 17:49 #16

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by cappyx:why does any one care about copying or bootleg low quality movies with all the crap that spews out of hollywood. seems to me these inflated ego actors and actresses aren't worth shit and should be paid accordingly with extra money for titty shots. any more the diareah that spews out of hollywood isn't worth the time or effort of burning this bs. besides that what idiot pays 500 clams for a machine to play back yard crap movies on any way?I saw the "cam" release of Transformers it was not great but it was not anal carnage either,goign to buy the DVD when it comes out,I wont touch emo spidy 3(1 was but not really worth a buy),franken'ghost rider or even Batman returns,X men is a joke as for as I am consered,hell the last movie I comic bought was Hellboy, TF is pretty good for what it is,my point being hoseywood is not a complete waste.

  7.7.2007 20:19 #17

• dirkpeter

  C'mon wizz kids all over the world there is some work to doe,please counter this challance !

  8.7.2007 05:44 #18

• lyrik

  I have not bought a HDDVD player yet. But it seams that HDDVD is winning the HD-war, since You can rip it to the PC.
  If we buy a HD-player we will buy films, but we will want to rip them as well! We will want to do anything that squezes pleasure from the film!;-)))-Make it our hobby!
  
  If they prevent us from that, then screw them and let them choke in the money they will come to loose!
  Their DRM encryption is in vain and only damage their buiseness.
  
  I have a HD videocam 1920 X 1080. I have a HD computer screen and a HD Plasma-TV. I could EASYLY record a cam-film in High Definition from the screen. In superb quality, -so what is their encryption wearth?!
  The nice thing about HD is not the old, crappy films they put on it, but the wonderfull movies one self can make- so *bleep* them!;-)))Shylock will never have his pound of meat. He will be ripped off trying to get it!;-)
  
  But actually there right now is an unbeatable encryption, if they only knew!;-)
  Microsofts DRM on .wmv-HD film. I bought Terminator 2 with that encryption. It could only play if you get a key from the internet. And the key is no longer transferred to the computer. It stays on the server!
  They would not let me play, becourse the film demanded that I live in US. They could spot my ip-adress and as I live en Denmark, they refused to play on my PC!
  I tried a proxy-ipadress, but they could spot that as well! To this day I have never been able to play the film i Bought from Microsoft!
  Well it makes me feel mad!! Do You like customers that are mad at You Microsoft?;-)
  
  Wmv HD-films can resite on ordinary DVD's!!
  
  What an opportunity that Microsoft blows away!
  
  I have tested the codec they use for HD material H.264 and found a chocking result:"It makes dull films!"- Look here on the .tiff screen dumps of a comparison of HD-DivX from my HD-Cam to the left, and Disneys example of H.264 encoding to the right:
  http://www.luen.dk/DivX_Disney_H264.tiff
  My new iMovie from iLife 08 package on the Mac wants me to make all my films H.264. So I started-but got very disapointed becourse I have bought the DivX prof-codec and it was much-much-better.
  There is no sparkle in the movies I have coded with H.264- so I made this comparison.
  Another possible set back for "Shylock"! I am looking forward to Your tests!:-)
  
  
  Greets
  Jens

  8.9.2007 01:07 #19