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New Hollywood film copy protection

T

TourGuide

Golden Member
I was on HardOCP the other day reading about the new copy protection scheme the film industry has come up with and I saw it tonight. Apparently what they are doing is inserting a frame randomly in the film with a certain number of red dots in various positions on the screen. I was at Master and Commander tonight and I noticed this come up at least five times. It is VERY distracting and is SERIOUSLY affecting my enjoyment of movies if this becomes the new trend at the theaters.

I wasn't even looking for it when I noticed it come up, then I remembered reading about it. It makes me angry because it is a distraction while watching and it REALLY takes away from the whole movie going / theater experience.

I don't care if Hollywood wants to protect their content - heck they're entitiled to that. They just need to find a way to NOT RUIN the experience for the audience!
 
They used it in Kill Bill, that was the first time I noticed, and only barely. It helps them figure out which theater is giving their stuff away.
 
how does it prevent pirating? the theft doesn't come from the theater staff as much as it comes from independent parties....
 
I noticed it on 2 movies... Matrix Reloaded and Bruce Almighty. Haven't really looked for them at any other movies. I complained both times and got free movie tickets. 🙂

I would complain at every movie but I forget sometimes. You guys should too if anything they give ya coupons for popcorn and drinks. 😛

Originally posted by: Amorphus
how does it prevent pirating? the theft doesn't come from the theater staff as much as it comes from independent parties....
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Each copy of the movie for a certain location or theatre has a different pattern of dots. If they see a copy floating aroudn the net with that pattern they then put more security at that location to try to catch whoever is filming them. Kinda smart because if the rippers take out the frame with the dots they aren't always put in the same location so the theatre can catch them there also. 🙂
 
I saw it in Master and Commander and Kill Bill... on Master and Commander they had it on a screen where a wave crashed into the screen and it was almost all white... I think they could have picked a better place!
 
Originally posted by: CanOWorms
I saw it in Master and Commander and Kill Bill... on Master and Commander they had it on a screen where a wave crashed into the screen and it was almost all white... I think they could have picked a better place!
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I doubt it's a person picking where to put the dots. I'm sure its just a program that creates patterns on frames in the movie and puts out as many patterns that the company needs. Hence why you saw them in such an awkward place. A person wouldn't of put them where people could plainly see them. At least I hope not. 🙂
 
Great, ruin a product to make people more willing to pay for it. Real smart.

Maybe Ford can start selling cars that give you an electric shock at random intervals to reduce car theft.
 
Yet another reason for me to not visit theaters anymore. The last movie I saw in a theater was Southpark, and I don't plan on chainging that any time (read: decade) soon.
 
I AM going to complain about it the next time I am in the theater.

Here is another reason to go out and pick up that HT setup so I don't have to bother with the theater. Talk about a way to drive your customers away.
 
Originally posted by: McCarthy
Great, ruin a product to make people more willing to pay for it. Real smart.

Maybe Ford can start selling cars that give you an electric shock at random intervals to reduce car theft.
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Nothing like treating everyone like Criminals.

 
Couldn't someone copying a movie just cut out that frame? This idea isn't very good, it just makes movies annoying to those who pay and those who don't.
 
Someone said earlier they're not always in the same frame. How are you going to notice a fram missing? I dunno. I've been to three movies this week, Love Actually, School or Rock, and Elf. Didn't see any red dots. Maybe they're not in Canada yet?
 
Their focus groups couldn't tell they were there. Presumably because their focus groups were taken from schools for the blind.
 
One of the girls with us for the movie 'Elf' asked me about the red dots. She said she saw them every 20 minutes or so and she wanted to know what they were.

I thought it was funny cause' I know about the red dots but never make an effort to see them. But, apparently, others are noticing. She said they were annoying because they would take her focus off the real action.
 
Originally posted by: brxndxn
One of the girls with us for the movie 'Elf' asked me about the red dots. She said she saw them every 20 minutes or so and she wanted to know what they were.

I thought it was funny cause' I know about the red dots but never make an effort to see them. But, apparently, others are noticing. She said they were annoying because they would take her focus off the real action.
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This is exactly my point. They distract from the action in the film and break up the story. Hollywood needs to come up with a better system or merge with the RIAA for heaven sake.
 
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